NOTE MAKING & SUMMARIZING
Note making is a skill which helps us to collect the most important information from a large amount of
text. Note making helps in getting important information and thereby summarizing a long text. Note
making helps us to find the key points and understand the concept of the passage. The notes help us to
summarise the text in an effective manner.
MARKING SCHEME: Note making consists of 5 marks
Title 1 Mark
Indenting and numbering 1 Mark
Notes 2 Marks
Abbreviations/ Key/ Glossary 1 Mark (write at least 4 abbreviations.)
Note-making Format: Taking notes is a method of organising and summarising data from
multiple sources. The following components make up the standard Note-Making format:
TITLE: The title of your notes should reflect their main subject matter.
SOURCE: Identify the notes’ source, such as the book, article, or lecture, in the text.
CURRENT DATE: When taking notes, be sure to include the current date.
TITLES & SUB TITLES: Take advantage of headings and subheadings to structure your notes and
facilitate later research.
USE BULLETS: Use bullet points to highlight key points and specifics in a list. Use simple, direct
language, and zero in on the most important ideas rather than trying to include everything.
USE ABBREVIATIONS: When taking notes, abbreviations can help you save time and space. Use
“w/” instead of “with” or “b/c” instead of “because,” etc.
HIGHLIGHT IMPORTANT POINTS: Utilize highlighting to draw attention to specific points or
single out specific pieces of information that are crucial to your understanding of the whole.
USE DIAGRAMS/VISUAL AIDS: Use visual aids, such as flowcharts or graphs, to break down and
internalise information that might otherwise be difficult to grasp and retain.
SUMMARISE: Write a brief paragraph or two summarising the main ideas and information from the
notes. This is a great way to quickly review and recall the most crucial points.
REVIEW: Regularly reviewing your notes is an excellent way to ensure that you retain the most
crucial information from the course.
Effective Note-making Strategies:
Select only the relevant data and include only the essential phrases from the passage.
Try to use a minimum amount of words. Complete sentences would not be accepted as notes. Thus, the usage
of full sentences must be avoided.
Only really important examples need to be included.
Eliminate the use of auxiliary verbs, prepositions etc.
It is necessary to give a suitable title to notes and maintain proper indentation.
It is mandatory to make at least four headings and subheadings.
The summary should be brief and should be made using notes prepared. It is important that one keeps in mind
the word limit of the summary and strictly adheres to the notes.
It is mandatory to include at least four abbreviations in your notes. Add a full stop after each abbreviation to
make it clear for the reader. They should be common and easily identifiable. For example- “carbs.” for
carbohydrates
It is necessary to prepare a key to abbreviations (minimum four) and enclose it within a box.
The presentation of this writing skill is of utmost importance.
SUMMARIZING
Summary is a concise restatement of the main points, usually at the end of a piece of writing or a report. To
put it another way, it is a brief account of an original work.
MARKING SCHEME:
Summary – 3 marks
Content (80 words) 2 marks
Expression 1 mark
EXAMPLE: Read the passage given below:
BALANCING THE SCALES
Artificial intelligence (AI) is making a difference to how legal work is done, but it isn’t the threat it is made
out to be. AI is making impressive progress and shaking up things all over the world today. The assumption
that advancements in technology and artificial intelligence will render any profession defunct is just that, an
assumption and a false one. The only purpose this assumption serves is creating mass panic and hostility
towards embracing technology that is meant to make our lives easier.
Let us understand what this means explicitly for the legal world. The ambit of AI includes recognizing human
speech and objects, making decisions based on data, and translating languages. Tasks that can be defined as
‘search-and-find’ type can be performed by AI.
Introducing AI to this profession will primarily be for the purpose of automating mundane, tedious tasks that
require negligible human intelligence. The kind of artificial intelligence that is employed by industries in the
current scene, when extended to the law will enable quicker services at a lower price. AI is meant to automate
a number of tasks that take up precious working hours lawyers could be devoted to tasks that require
discerning, empathy, and trust- qualities that cannot be replicated by even the most sophisticated form of AI.
The legal profession is one of the oldest professions in the world. Thriving over 1000 years; trust, judgement,
and diligence are the pillars of this profession. The most important pillar is the relationship of trust between a
lawyer and clients, which can only be achieved through human connection and interaction.
While artificial intelligence can be useful in scanning and organizing documents pertaining to a case, it cannot
perform higher-level tasks such as sharp decisionmaking, relationship-building with valuable clients and
writing legal briefs, advising clients, and appearing in court. These are over and above the realm of
computerization.
The smooth proceeding of a case is not possible without sound legal research. While presenting cases lawyers
need to assimilate information in the form of legal research by referring to a number of relevant cases to find
those that will favour their client’s motion. Lawyers are even required to thoroughly know the opposing stand
and supporting legal arguments they can expect to prepare a watertight defence strategy. AI, software that
operates on natural language enables electronic discovery of information relevant to a case, contract reviews,
and automation generation of legal documents.
AI utilizes big-data analytics which enables visualization of case data. It also allows for creation of a map of
the cases which were cited in previous cases and their resulting verdicts, as per the website Towards Data
Science. The probability of a positive outcome of a case can be predicted by leveraging predictive analytics
with machine learning. This is advantageous to firms as they can determine the return on investment in
litigation and whether an agreement or arbitration should be considered.
(a) On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, make notes on it using headings and
subheadings. Use recognizable abbreviations (wherever necessary- minimum four) and a format you
consider suitable. Also supply an appropriate title to it. (5)
(b) Write a summary of the passage in about 80 words. (3)
a) Artificial Intelligence: Not a threat
1. Not a threat
1.1 is of help
1.2 makes life easier
1.3 no profession defunct
2. [Link] help legal field
2.1 [Link] speech and object
2.2 making decisions based on data
2.3 translates langs.
2.4 do search and find tasks
3. AI. cannot perform high level tasks like
3.1 writing legal briefs
3.2 advising clients
3.3 apprng in courts
3.4 sharp decision making
4. Function of AI.
4.1 collates data
4.2 predicts probable outcomes
4.3 tells return on invest.
4.4 considering agreement or arbitration
Key to Abbreviations
Abbreviations Words
AI Artificial Intelligence
recog. Recognizes
langs. Languages
apprng. Appearing
invt. Investment
Summary
Artificial Intelligence: Not a threat
Artificial Intelligence is not a threat but makes life easier especially in the legal field. It cannot perform certain
high-level tasks like writing legal briefs, advising clients, making sharp decisions and appearing in courts but
it can collate data, aid research and decisions based on data. It can recognize human speech and translate
languages. It can also predict probable outcomes, tell return on investment, consider agreement or arbitration
and is thus advantageous to legal firms.