- The main objective of note taking is to understand key concepts in a text. Whether you're earning a degree, brushing up on world history or learning about being a mother or father for the first time, taking good notes is the foundation for successful research in any field. While developing your comprehension by reading newspapers, magazines and fiction is useful, you can gain a significant advantage using academic materials. Social science texts promote specific skills learned by highlighting, using shorthand and interrogating key concepts. A big part of the thinking process with academic texts is questioning what you read, and keeping track of your reactions as you read makes it easier to pull your thoughts together once you're finished with the text.
- Annotating is just another name for writing in the margins. Annotating as you read makes it easier to internalize important concepts in the text -- just make sure the book belongs to you before writing in it. During this simple task, your mind interprets and reorganizes the text, putting the author's ideas into your own words. Annotating gives you an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of what you read -- and the chance to agree and object to what you read. This critical exercise is particularly helpful if you're researching a project or plan to write a reaction paper based on what you've read. Annotating is also a good way to avoid plagiarizing, however unintentional it may be.
- Highlighting is perhaps the most popular method of marking text, but by itself it's not very useful. This is where developing your own system of shorthand can come in handy. You'd be surprised at how much time you can save by using symbols and shortened forms of words. A few basic examples are "e.g." for "for example," "i.e." for "that is" and "re" for "regarding." You might also use arrows as a substitute for the words "decrease" and "increase." The idea is to supplement your highlighting with notes based on the most important ideas. Be as creative as you want -- just be sure you'll understand your writing when you come back to it later.
- Most people organize their notes the linear way -- by heading and subheading moving down a page. But depending on the subject matter (and how the author or your instructor communicates it) spidergrams may work better than the linear approach. Spidergrams are illustrations consisting of bubbles (each with its own concept) that connect by topic or other relation, and are typically rooted with one main concept at the center -- just begin from there and work your way out. Spidergrams are helpful for visual learners and they're a good way to keep notes succinct and grouped together.
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