This chapter is about organizing and taking notes from the sources that you have used thus far. In order to save and organize information that you find from prints (books, notes you've written, photocopies, etc.) you need to decide on an organizational scheme. Decide if you want to organize documents by the type of source they are, by the author, or some other way that you like. Also make sure each printed document has publication information, you've dated your notes, and you have written brief notes on the print about how it will help you. For digital information, the easiest way to save and collect it all is to create a single folder in your documents file, but there are multiple other ways as well. You can also use email yourself documents or links. Your smart phone is also a good option to collect digital info. Using your phone is good for interviews because you can record the conversation and then save it. There are multiple apps to help you including notes apps, voice recorder apps, and to do list apps. Other ways to collect and manage digital resources include saving them as bookmarks in your browser, using bookmarking sites, using clipping tools to add portions of a page to your collection, using bedfordresearcher.com to save bibliographic info, and using web document sites. You can use one or all of these strategies, but always remember to back up your files by making copies.
People often ask how and why they should take notes. It is very useful because if helps you keep track of the important information or ideas you need later. It will help you narrow down which part of the source you will use later that way you don't waste your time re-reading the whole source. Taking notes also helps you understand your sources because it makes you think about them. The best way to take notes is to choose ONE method and consistently stick with it. You can use note cards, post it notes, a word document, or write on the photocopy of the source. Whatever you choose, use one method the entire time to make it easier for you. When you take a direct quote from a passage, make sure to use quotation marks so that you do not accidentally plagiarize. If you want to modify and direct quote, you can use an ellipses (...) or brackets ([ ]), but make sure to still use quotation marks. Ellipses are used to take out parts of sentences you don't find necessary and brackets are used if you need to change or add a word to make the quotation make sense for you. Also, if part of an original quote is wrong, use the word "sic" in the brackets after the incorrect part so that readers know it wasn't your mistake. paraphrasing is also something that needs to be discussed. Make sure when you paraphrase (restating a passage in your own words) you do not paraphrase too close to the original and that you still cite the source you used. Page 107 has a tutorial on paraphrasing. Something else you may want to do for important passages or sources is just summarize main points. Be careful not to plagiarize and note the author, title, and page number (if necessary). While taking notes on all of your sources another thing you can do is record your reactions and impressions. Does it makes sense? Do you agree with a certain passage? Also make connections among your sources using similarities and disagreements.
The last part of this chapter is about creating the bibliography.As you find sources that you want to use, you will use a running list of them as your bibliography, which has complete publication information. You can organize them in a list however you would like. As your paper progresses, you will add sources and you can delete sources that you don't use if you wish. After you have your basic bibliography, you will add a few sentences about the source to make it an annotated bibliography. Going from a normal listed bibliography to an annotated bibliography will remind you why you needed a source or how it might be used. This chapter will help me when I need a reference on how to organize, collect, and make a bibliography using my sources.
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