There is no magic formula to taking notes when reading. You simply have to find out what works best for you. Your note-taking skills will develop with practice and as you realise the benefits. This section is designed to help you get started.
1. Highlighting and Emphasising
A quick and easy way to be active when reading is to highlight and/or underline parts of the text. Although the process of highlighting is not ‘note-taking’, it is often an important first step. Many people also recommend making brief notes in the margin. Of course, this is not a good idea if the book or journal does not belong to you! In such cases, make notes on a photocopy or use sticky ‘post it’ notes or similar.
Highlighting key words or phrases in text will help you:
· Focus your attention on what you are reading – and make it easy to see key points when re-reading.
· Think more carefully about the key concepts and ideas in the text, the bits that are worth highlighting.
· See immediately whether you have already read pages or sections of text.
· When you come across words or phrases that you are not familiar with it may be useful to add them to a personal glossary of terms. Make a glossary on a separate sheet (or document) of notes, so you can easily refer and update it as necessary. Write descriptions of the terms in your own words to further encourage learning.
2. Making Written Notes
Although highlighting is a quick way of emphasising key points, it is no substitute for taking proper notes. Remember your main purpose in taking notes is to learn, and probably to prepare for some form of writing. When you first start to take notes, you may find that you take too many, or not enough, or that when you revisit them they are unclear, or you do not know which is your opinion and which is the opinion of the author. You will need to work on these areas - like all life skills, taking effective notes improves with practice.
There are two main elements that you need to include in your notes:
The content of your reading, usually through brief summaries or paraphrasing, plus a few well-chosen quotes (with page numbers); and
Your reaction to the content, which may include an emotional reaction and also questions that you feel it raises.
It can be helpful to separate these two physically to ensure that you include both (see box).
The style that you use is very personal: some people prefer a more linear approach, and others like the visual elements of mind-mapping or diagrams. It is worth trying a number of approaches to see which one(s) work best for you, and under which circumstances. Your notes may also take various forms and style, for example:
Linear, or moving from one section to the next on the page in a logical way, using headings and sub-headings;
Diagrammatic, using boxes and flowcharts to help you move around the page; and
Patterns, such as mind maps, which allow a large amount of information to be included in a single page, but rely on you to remember the underlying information.
As well as notes on the detailed content, it is also worth compiling a summary at the end of each section or chapter. A summary is, by definition, precise. Its aim is to bring together the essential points and to simplify the main argument or viewpoint of the author. You should be able to use your summary in the future to refer to the points raised and use your own explanations and examples of how they may apply to your subject area.
3. Reviewing and Revising Your Notes
Once you have gone through the text and made notes as you go, you will have a reasonable summary of the document, and your reactions to it. However, as you read the whole document, other things may emerge. For example, as you reflect on your reading, you may notice themes emerging, or you may find that your earlier reactions have softened or sharpened as you have gone through, particularly for books.
It is therefore helpful to review your notes a few days after completing them. In particular, you may want to:
Use headings or different sheets (or documents) to separate different themes and ideas;
Use brightly coloured pens or flags to highlight important points in your notes. You may find it useful to have a simple system of colour-coding, using different colours for particular themes or issues; and
Note where your opinions changed, and why.
4. Organising Your Notes
Depending on your circumstances, you may find you accumulate a lot of notes.
Notes are of no use to you if you cannot find them when you need to, and spending a lot of time sifting through piles of papers is a waste of time. It is therefore important to ensure that your notes are well-organised and you can find what you want when you need it.
How you organise your notes will depend on whether they are ‘physical’, written on paper or ‘digital’, stored on a computer, or a combination of the two. It will also depend on your personal preferences, but good options include binders and folders, whether real or digital. There are also a number of apps that can help you to store and recover information effectively.