Note Making

In this section, you'll find techniques to develop your note-making skills for both reading
and listening. Over the academic year, we also run workshops specifically targeted at
developing your note-making techniques.

The only way to make sense of all the information and remember it later is to make
notes. Relying on your memory alone is not a feasible option! Note-making is not
simply a process of writing down everything you hear or read, but involves selecting
key information and, crucially, going over your notes later.
Since your notes are seen only by you, note-making is a highly individual process. In
this section, we suggest common ways of making notes, but always adapt these so
that your notes make sense to you.

Why make notes?

There are many reasons why making notes is an important skill for students:

Memory aid: Research has shown that making notes helps your memory in two
ways. Firstly, by going over your notes in the days following a lecture or reading a
text, you retain much more of the information than if you don't look at any notes.
Secondly, the very act of writing or typing notes helps to cement knowledge in our
long-term memory.

Concentration: Reading long academic texts and attending complex lectures can be
heavy going. Being active during this time by making notes helps you concentrate on
the material.

Understanding key points: To help you to understand, process, and interact with
new ideas, you frequently need to identify the key points or arguments in a text or a
lecture. You also need to summarise the points in your own words so you can easily
refer back to them later.

Reorganising material: Different writers and lectures impart their knowledge in their
own style. This may not match yours. By making notes and later reorganising them
in a way that suits you, you'll be able to understand and remember them more easily.

Written assessments: Your notes form the basis of your assessments and are a
helpful way of setting out your initial ideas.

Exam revision: Notes form an essential part of preparing for exams.

Common Abreviations used.

Symbol Meaning

& and

+ plus, in addition to

> greater than/more than/better than

< smaller than/lesser than/worse than

= is the same as/is equal to

≠ is not the same as

∴ therefore

∵ because

↑ increases/increased/falling

↓ decreases/decreased/falling

→ leads to/produces/causes

w/ with

e.g. for example (from the Latin 'exempli gratia')

id. that, that means (from the Latin 'id est')

etc. and the rest (from the Latin 'et ceters')

NB important, note this (from the Latin 'Nota Bene')

p. page (plural: pp.)

para. paragraph

chp. chapter
 Symbol Meaning

ed. edition

C17 17th century

no. Number

vol. Volume

Future reference: You may need your notes in later years of study if you refer back
to the same materials. This will save you a lot of time compared to going through
them again!

Note-making tips
 Your notes should be brief, informal and in your own words. If you copy
material directly, you may not fully understand it and you run the risk of
committing plagiarism if you use the copied notes in an assignment.
 Copy down the main points from the material and the connections between
the various elements (main points/sub points, examples, key facts, opposing
views etc)
 If you want to note down a direct quote, write it in quotation marks. Record the
source details (date, subject, lecture, title, author, page number etc.) so that
you don't have trouble finding them later and can reference the quote
correctly.
 It’s easy to feel very productive while making notes. However, sometimes
students find they waste time copying out information which they never use
again. Review your notes once you complete an essay. Did you use around
85% of your notes? This is an average to aim for – anything less than this and
you could be wasting your time making notes on irrelevant material.
 Make sure you have coloured pens, highlighters, notebooks and digital
devices to make your notes easy to make and easy to understand.
 Get familiar with the different note-making styles so that you know which one
works best for you in different contexts.
 Decide how you are going to make notes before you start but be ready to
adapt them for various situations. A chronological list of dates suits a list
format, while thinking up initial ideas may be better in a mind-map style.
 Use symbols and abbreviations to make your note-making quicker and more
concise (see list below).
You can download this Method as a Word document or PDF to print out or to save
for future use.
(Important: The PDF will open in this window so remember to click on the browsers
back button to return to the Skills Hub).

 Find out if there are any conventional symbols and abbreviations used in your
subject. Use these so that you become familiar with them.
 Make up your own symbols and abbreviations if this feels useful to you. Just
be consistent with their use!
 Consider using digital note-making tools, such as OneNote and Evernote.
They allow you to include different types of notes, including multimedia;
synchronise content between your devices; easily edit and rearrange your
notes; search quickly through your notes; add tags; and share content with
others and collaborate.

Remember
Note-making is highly personal, and very context-dependent. Your notes may look
very different from your friend’s, and very different when you take notes from reading
compared to from lectures.

Note-making styles
The test of a good set of notes is that they capture the important information, and
they help you understand it when you look back at them. As long as these points are
followed, you can choose to make notes in any way that works for you.

Below are three common note-making styles. Experimenting with them and others to
see which works best for you.

Linear format
The linear format is the most common method of note-making, and it translates very
well for digital note-making too. Linear notes are particularly useful when there is a
clear structure to the material, for example, a list of dates or a discussion of
advantages and disadvantages to a viewpoint. The notes are written in lines down
the page. To present them well:

 Use sequences of numbers and letters to show the relationship between

items
 Use sequences at different levels of importance so that minor items are not
confused with major ones, and items on the same level are linked visually.
 If useful, use colour to highlight key points of interest. Try to keep the same
colour for different things, e.g. green for questions, yellow for key statistics,
blue for disadvantages, etc.
 Use lots of space between sections so that it is easy to see the breaks, and to
add extra information later.
  Don’t repeat what you have already noted down if it is mentioned again.
 It’s a good idea to reorganise your notes once you have finished to make
connections even clearer and the notes more interesting to look at (and so
easier to understand).

Linear Note Making Tips

1. Date (make it clear)

2. Clearly indicate The Source

3. Add Quotes to clearly avoid plagiarism

4. Use symbols and abbreviations

5. Use signs to identify key points

6. Add page number of notes

7. Use e.g. to highlight Examples

8. Ask questions, highlight in a box

9. Headings to highlight main topics

10. Add page numbers for references

11. Keep spaces to add notes later

12. List number points

13. List bullet points

14. use highlights to emphasise key points

Pattern notes

Pattern notes (also known as mind maps) are more visual. This is a good style of
notes to make when a new topic is being introduced, and there is no set order to the
ideas. This style can also be great if you learn visually because connections are
displayed with lines and groupings. Pattern notes start with the main topic in the
centre of the page, and related ideas are linked all around it. To present them well:

 Use as many colours, pictures and diagrams as possible to make it interesting

to look at and clear to understand.
 Each idea related to the main topic can have it's own sub-topics.
 Make links between the sub-topics where needed.
  Use all of the space that you have! This makes your notes clearer and easier
to understand. Be aware that you may need to add a new page once the
space is filled. In this case, make sure to tidy up your notes afterwards.

Pattern Note Making Tips

1. Clearly indicate The Source

2. Easy to read - divided into sections, numbered and highlighted

3. Examples to help you remember points

4. Add questions whilst reading (ie add question mark)

The Cornell format

This format was invented by a professor in Cornell University in the 1950s and is
designed primarily for note-making during lectures. The page is divided into three
sections, and each section is used for a different purpose. The Cornell format
encourages you to be more effective and active during the note-making process,
which should therefore help you absorb the material. To present your notes well:

 Draw a line down the left-hand side of the page, making a slightly wider-than-
normal margin. In the large section on the right, you take notes during the
lecture in any way that you want (most likely following the linear notes format).
 After the lecture, pull out the central points, the most important facts, the key
dates etc., and write them in the left-hand margin. This will help you organise
and understand your notes.
 Draw a horizontal line near the bottom of the page. In this section, you will
write a one or two sentence summary of the lecture at the end, capturing the
main idea.
 Make sure you add to all three sections during/straight after the lecture. This
helps to take in the material. You can also use highlighting to make the main
points stand out.
 Writing a good summary at the end makes revision much easier later in the
semester.
 Since you need to be active during the lecture, it can take practice. Don’t be
concerned if your first few attempts at Cornell notes aren’t as thorough as
you’d like. You’ll get it!

The Cornell format at a glance.

Opposite is a helpful view of what the Cornell format should look like (there is a textural
description of the format below the image).

You can download a template of this image as a Word document or PDF to print out or
to save for future use.
(Important: The PDF will open in this window so remember to click on the browsers back
button to return to the Skills Hub).

Cornell Note Making

1. Clearly indicate The Source

2. Put questions in margins

3. Use symbols, for example 'therefore'

4. Make a summary in own words

5. Use different colour text to separate questions from notes

6. Use headings and subheadings to divide notes from sections

7. Use numbers to identify separate points

8. Leave areas of space around notes so more information can be added later

Making notes from reading

Before reading

 Note the source. You will need this information to complete your
footnotes and references.
 Get an overview of the text if possible. If there are introductions,
abstracts or chapter summaries, read these first. Briefly examine
any lists of key points, dates or events.
 Note down any questions about the text that come to mind. Ask
yourself what you expect to be answered in the reading.

While you are reading

 Narrow down the most useful sections of the text to read.

 For each paragraph, find the key point. This is typically near the
beginning. The bulk of the paragraph generally takes the point,
explains, develops and illustrates it. The concluding sentence
often returns to the idea in the first sentence and explains how
 the middle of the paragraph modified or developed it. (These are
guidelines rather than hard rules!)
 Ask yourself if the key point of the paragraph is useful to you.
Are you going to include it in an essay? Does it confirm a main
idea that you already have? Does it give an interesting
counterpoint? Is it a cornerstone argument of the subject? If so,
make notes, in your own words. If there are a few paragraphs
making the same point, can you summarise these in one or two
sentences?
 Will you use any part of the paragraph as a quote? If so, note it
down exactly as it is written, in inverted commas and with the
source.
 Be selective! Imagine that you are spending money every time
you note something from a text. You only want to spend your
cash on the most interesting, the most important and the most
useful parts of the text. Do not note everything as this is a waste
of your (imaginary) money and (real) time. Don’t note down
something unimportant ‘just in case’ you need it later.

After reading

 Review and reflect on your notes. Revisit your questions from

the beginning. Are they still important? If so, have you got the
answer down in your notes? Check you have noted all the
important points. Are there points that need expanding?
Annotate your notes with any new thoughts or questions.
 If needed, reorganise your notes so that they are more visual
and memorable to you. You may have been doing this as you
made your notes from the text anyway, so don’t waste time
rewriting them just to make them neater. It can be useful to type
up handwritten notes to make them easier to read, while also
reorganising them.
 Finally, file your notes so that you can easily find them later. You
could use a ring-binder for handwritten notes or create a system
of folders on your computer.

Making notes in lectures and seminars

Before the lecture or seminar

 Do any background reading that you have been asked to do.

This means that you will understand the main ideas or context of
 the lecture or seminar and have fewer unknowns when you
make notes.
 Look at the handouts. Your lecturer may have uploaded notes
and slides to Canvas for you to read before the lecture. They
can be useful as a basis for your own notes. You can annotate
them with your own thoughts.
 If you have questions, bring them and see if they are answered
in the lecture. Alternatively, ask them in the seminar.
 Many lecturers record their lectures and make them available to
you. If your lecturer doesn't do this, ask them if they could.

During the lecture or seminar

 Arrive early. Don't miss the beginning of a session since that is

often the most valuable part. The teacher may review previous
sessions or outline objectives and the lecture structure, which
will help you in identifying key points for your notes. If you get
distracted easily, sit near the front.
 Label your notes with the date of the seminar or the date and
title of the lecture. This will help you find information later on.
 Make your own notes. Don't rely on your lecturer's notes or
notes written by friends. Writing your own notes will improve
your understanding.
 You could use a digital note-making tool
like OneNote or Evernote. These tools allow you to tag your
notes with key terms, making them easily searchable.
 Do not attempt to write everything down. Your notes should be
an interpretation of the material. Try to capture the logic of the
argument or key points of information. Use headings and sub-
headings in your notes to make this clear. Lecturers often
provide guidance about the structure and format of their lecture.
Listen for phrases such as 'there are three key reasons for x' or
'it is essential to note that y'.
 Include details so that your notes will make sense to you when
you read them. Write specific examples that will help you
remember key points and label graphs, tables or charts.
 Note down terms and points that you do not understand. Follow
these up through individual research, later in the seminar or
during your tutor's office hours.
 Stay until the end. At the close of the session, your tutor may
helpfully repeat points, draw conclusions and summarise
material.

After the lecture or seminar

 Look up new terms so that you understand them and try to find the
answers to any points that you didn’t understand.
 Don’t be tempted to rewrite your notes exactly, just in a neater format.
This is a waste of time and a rather passive form of learning. Instead,
 reorganise your notes, so that they make more sense to you. Make
them more visual – use highlighters to emphasise key points; draw
arrows between ideas that connect to each other in some way; put
opposing theories in boxes next to each other, etc. It can be useful to
type up handwritten notes to make them easier to read, while also
reorganising them.
 Reflect on your notes. What were the key points? Did you agree?
Could you summarise the lecture or the seminar discussion in one or
two sentences? How did this lecture relate to what you have already
learned? You can do this type of reflection yourself, or perhaps with
other students who were in the same session.
 Finally, file your notes so that you can easily find them later. You could
use a ring-binder for handwritten notes or create a system of folders on
your computer.