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VIII. An Alternative to Notecards |
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Notecards have been the traditional way of gathering information and organizing a research paper. However, an acceptable alternative to notecards is organizing notes on the computer. The key is having the same type of sensibility when you sit in front of the terminal as a student would have who is using notecards. You can start by merely typing in the information from any source (book, magazine article, Web site), being careful to quote directly where appropriate and to paraphrase in a way that accurately represents the views of the source. Then include the parenthetical reference at the end of the notetaking, so you will not have to return to the source later to dig up this information. As a reminder, know that the parenthetical reference has the author's name and the page number: (Smith 23). If the source does not have an author, put down the first element that appears on the works cited page for the entry. If the element is not the author's name, it is usually the title of the book, article or Web site: (The Jungle 23). When you have completed putting the notes on the computer for one source, look over what you have written to organize those notes by sections. Your outline will be helpful in your figuring out the order of those notes. By putting up section headings and making them bold to distinguish them from the notes, you will be setting up signposts to organize the work. If you are struggling at all with organization of notes, always print out a hard copy and then figure which notes should be placed where. If your paper has sections on the past, present and the future, then you can at least develop a rudimentary system of organization. Also think in terms of what notes will flow better together, and where natural transitions from one idea to another may lie. If you are going to gather notes on the computer, you better become very comfortable with cutting and pasting your notes from section to section. I often find typing up notes from a single source much easier if I slap them all out at once and then separate them according to their appropriate sections immediately afterward. The one concern you must have when taking this approach is having a distinct parenthetical reference entry for each note. Otherwise, you will lose control of your sources. After a while, you should develop a rhythm of typing up notes and knowing where to cut and paste. Again, once you find yourself lost in your notes, print out a hard copy and set everything according to sections. If you proceed in this manner and have gathered enough sources, you will find your paper fleshing out in front of you. After you are done typing and organizing your notes, be careful to not fall into the temptation of stringing together these notes and thinking you have a paper. The most common and greatest mistake for students who don't use notecards is that they don't ever really write the research paper. When you use notecards, it essentially forces you to write the paper, since you have to transfer notes into fuller sentences and ideas on the computer. With your notes already on the computer, you must make the conscious effort to write each section. I like to write directly below the notes I've taken and then delete the notes. As a back-up, I save one file as a note file and then use another file to write the paper. Despite this lengthy explanation, I do think this method is faster and easier than the traditional notecard approach.  |
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