Source Cards & Note Cards Research Papers in MLA

Source Cards Lined 3x5 index cards; minimum of 5 Record all of the publication information on the card in MLA format. In the upper right hand corner, number the source cards. The first source you take notes from will be #1; the second source you take notes from will be #2, etc. In the upper left corner, put location of the source – library and call number, database name, etc.

Why do I need source cards? To identify where each piece of information on note cards came from without having to write out source information repeatedly To ease the process of making your Works Cited page To help relocate a source if necessary

Sample Source Card Location of source Source number 1 Author of story/ MAD 742.32 Ref 1 Author of story/ article Hemingway, Ernest. "The Big Two-Hearted River." The Nick Adams Stories. Ed. Philip Young. New York: Bantam Books, 1973. 159-180. Print. Publisher Title of anthology City of publication Year of publication Editor of anthology (Notice Ed. is capitalized when preceding editor’s name) Page range of story/article

Note Cards Lined 3x5 index cards; minimum of 50 Using index cards gives you the flexibility to change the order of your notes and group them together easily. Goal is to gain research information to develop your research paper. Don’t waste time writing down extraneous information (e.g., excessive biographical information).

Note Cards Skim the selection/article. Notice the headings and topic sentences. Do not take notes until you have discovered the important facts or ideas. Once you decide to take notes from a source, create a source card before beginning the note cards. Write source number on each note card in upper right-hand corner along with a sequencing number (order you write the cards). So, 1.1 means the first note card you made from source #1; 4.8 would mean the 8th card you made from source #4.

Note Cards Write a “slug” or subtopic on the first line in the upper left of the index card. On each card write only information related to that one slug; do not repeat slugs within a source; when you change sources, you may repeat. Write the note—paraphrase! No complete sentences!

Note Cards After the note, write the exact page number from which the note is taken (no page ranges). Use print preview or printout for page number for internet sources. If information crosses pages (e.g., a paragraph that continues onto a second page), write the page number after the information that ends on the first page; then continue on the same note card and write the other page number at the end of that information. Do not have any page ranges. Even if you have to put a page number in the middle of a line, put the page number where it changes.

Article Excerpt

Sample Note Card 1.1 Complex pastoralism Leo Marx’s theory – nature as ideal; stripped of its beauty or perfection by machine or other force; machine – steam engine of 19th century p. 1

Sample Note Card 1.2 Nick’s escape State of shell shock from war; fishing trip in rural Michigan; Nick’s camp on meadow next to river away from town (civilization – often the machine); failed escape not because of civilization but because of his own mind (p. 1); mind as machine rather than an actual machine or civilization (p. 2)

Note Cards Use your own brand of short hand, but be sure both you and I can read and understand the notes later. On the note cards, you can use contractions and abbreviations, and omit articles (a, an, the), conjunctions, and any form of the verb “be.” Do not take notes in complete sentences since you are more likely to plagiarize. A subject and a verb constitute a sentence, even if they are in a subordinate clause.

Note Cards Take notes in your own words. Jot down facts and ideas, not the author’s words. If you use more than four words directly from the text, you must put them in quotation marks to give the author credit for the phrasing. You may use no more than FIVE quotes from secondary sources in your notes. The whole idea of the paper is to synthesize the information you use so that it becomes yours. If you use only part of a quote, be sure you use ellipsis marks (. . .) and quotation marks.

Note Cards I am not taking notes for you. Do not ask me what you should write down. You are researching and taking notes. At first, you will not know with certainty the exact focus of your paper. As you take notes, you will begin to notice common threads and patterns and a rough outline of your paper will begin to form in your mind. This can help guide your notetaking.

Note Cards Before you take notes, you may want to quickly skim sources/overviews to get an idea of common threads or keywords relating to your topic. As you read you will begin to narrow and focus your research. Also, it is very likely that you will need more than 50 note cards in order to complete your research paper. Fifty is just a minimum number to use as a basis or starting point. The more focused you are and the better your notes are, the less work you’ll have to do after your note cards are turned in.