Researching and note-taking

The best time to have ideas is when you are reading, read with a pen and notebook to hand: read interactively. Think about what you're reading and write down your thoughts. When a thought occurs under these circumstances it will be in reaction to a piece of the text at hand. Copy out the quote, and a page reference so you can find it again to check it if necessary, and then put your idea underneath it. If you tie the idea in with the quote in this way, then your ideas will always be text-based.

It is always important to make a note of the publication and page numbers you take notes or quotes from. It is often easiest to have a separate piece of paper for every publication or source you are using and note the following at the top:

• Author/s or editor/s
• Date of publication
• Title
• Publisher
• Place of publication

If the piece you're reading is a chapter in a book, take the names of the editor/s of the book, the title and the page numbers of the chapter you are studying. In the case of an article in a journal, note the journal title and page numbers.

Then, in the margin you can note which page number each quote or set of notes comes from so it will be very easy to come back to and reference in your finished paper. Click for more information on how to write up and present the information you have researched.

Click to find more heritage resources.