Notes about Notes
Always link your notes to a source. Include the title of your source and the link whenever possible. If you are using a book, include the book title and page number.
Take your detailed notes in the “Details” section. Do not copy and paste large chunks of text here. Necessary quotes are fine but most of your notes should be in your own words.
Use the “Cues / Key Ideas” column to pull out the headings or main idea keywords. This is how you will be able to, at a glance, know where in your notes you are looking for information.
Use the “Summary / My Ideas” section to either write an overview of the source to help you remember what this source was generally about and why it was valuable and/or list any new questions or ideas this source inspires to help guide what you will look for next.
Consider trying to use text or highlight colors to your advantage. Choose your own color system. For example:
Red text = questions you still need to answer
Green highlight = important moments in a timeline
For the slides template:
Reorder your pages to keep sources together if you’d like. This could help you keep similar kinds of sources together if that makes sense for the work you’re doing.
Keep one blank copy of a notes template so that you always have a blank one to duplicate