Reading and effective note-making Mel Kinchant Academic Skills Adviser academicskills@napier.ac.uk

Taking effective notes when you are doing your reading & research helps you to; Be active in your learning and to really engage with the information you are reading. You need to try to engage using a before, during and after approach. If you are able to develop an effective note-making system, when it comes to drafting your assignments, you will already have done a lot of the hard work! It helps you to keep a clear record of your reading and will save time that you might otherwise spend going back to look for something that you had read, but can’t remember where! It also helps you to reduce a wealth of information into more manageable chunks.

Making effective notes Although there might be certain aspects of your learning that you are expected to remember, largely you are expected to form your own views that have been informed by the academic literature. As such, when you read a text, making notes can help you to consider the information in light of other sources you have read. It enables you to think about the possible links and connections between different sources of information.

Before … Before your reading try to consider areas that you are hoping to find out about, perhaps write down some questions that you are hoping to find the answer to. It can be helpful to try and predict what the text might be saying. It doesn’t matter if your prediction turns out to be wrong as this will have helped you to tune into and engage with the topic.

During … Note a response to key questions for example … What is the purpose or argument of the article? What concepts / ideas do the authors use? What data or evidence does the article draw on? What conclusions do the authors draw from the evidence? How does this relate to your assignment? Are there different interpretations or perspectives? How does this argument fit in with others in the field. These are just examples of aspects you may wish to capture in your notes & this will depend on the topic, the type of source you are reading and your particular assignment.

After … Review your notes Consider adding a summary or reflection on your thoughts in relation to the text as a whole. Add notes related to links and connections with other sources as your reading and research progresses. Compare and contrast information from a variety of different sources.

Top tips … Try not to cram too much into your page. Leave space to add further information at a later date. Try to avoid copying chunks of text. Always try to make your notes in your own words as you go along to help avoid any potential issues with plagiarism. If you can make notes in your own words, this can also help you to feel confident about your knowledge and understanding of the text. Always note full publication details for each source. You will need this later on for referencing and again to help you avoid any accidental plagiarism.

Top tips … Try taking notes in different ways to suit your learning style and /or for different purposes. For example creating a table to compare & contrast one process or theory against another might be easier than potentially lengthy sentence descriptions about similarities and differences in your notes. You may wish to consider using a mind map or concept map if looking at relationships between different aspects. Reading and note making effectively is a skill which you can develop. It takes time and can feel like hard work, particularly if some of the texts you are reading feel challenging. As with any skill however, the more you do it the easier it will become. You will reap the rewards of your hard work when it comes to your assignments.