Taking down notes and

making parenthetical

documentation

Lesson 7

introduction:In doing library research:

● You need to be discriminating because your note cards could only take in secondary data that provide direct answers to support the thesis statement.

● Relevant secondary data need to be quoted ● Sources need to be cited in a research tool which is

called note card.

Lesson● Note-taking is one skill that we should

develop and master as a researcher.

● It is your means of building up proofs and evidences in order to make your research credible and scholarly

● It is could be our basis in outlining our ideas .

Several Advantages in note-taking ● Unlike Photocopying and downloading,

note taking develops the habit of critical reading and advance organizing.

● You only take down those that you think are useful in your study

● This ideas are carefully selected and written in your own words .

● They are also organized in the way you want them to appear in your research paper, so you will most likely avoid plagiarizing ideas.

Plagiarism● It is an offense you commit when

you use words and ideas without properly acknowledging the sources.

● Menasche (1997) classified plagiarism into two:

■ Plagiarism of ideas

■ Plagiarism of Language

Plagiarism of language:● Happens when you lift verbatim

a part of an article or copy an entire article without citing its sources and claim it as your own.

● Directly lifted statements must be enclosed in quotation marks to signify that those words are not your own

Plagiarism of ideas

Plagiarism is an offense with serious sanctions. Some universities expel students who have committed the offense, or strip graduates of their degree once they are found guilty of plagiarizing their research papers.

● Summarizing , paraphrasing and re- organizing of ideas without citing the sources.

Qualities of a good note: Roth (1999) offers the criteria in checking the quality of your notes:

a. Legibility

b. Accuracy

c. Completeness

Legibility● Writing legibly means writing

clearly.

● Hasty scribbling is a big NO in note-taking, unless you want to have a hard time during the rough drafting.

ACCURACY●Accuracy means correctness of

data.

●It’s a must to note down facts and figures as precisely as we can.

●Directly “quote” statements if paraphrasing would sacrifice the accuracy of your data.

completeness●It is quite related with accuracy.

●This requires thoroughness on your part as a researcher.

●Going back to sources because you did not write your notes correctly is a waste of time and energy.