Research Shortcuts

SHORTCUT 12. Key Your Notes for Easy Access

SHORTCUT 12 Key Your Notes for Easy Access To make footnoting and source-cltlOg easy, we've suggested that you systematize with bibliography master sheets, and that you put a reference number on each sheet. Since each source is fully cited on these sheets, you need never again write down all that information until you get to the final draft, so long as you key each reference to the appropriate master sheet. Some researchers use just the author's last name as a reference key. We also include the master-sheet reference number, as a double-check. When the research is done, we may have two books by the same author or two authors with the same last name. Adding the reference number shows us which is which. (The reference number alone might suffice, except that it's easy to slip and mark two master sheets with the same number. Using both name and number guards against that eventuality.) There's one more vital number needed to key each piece of information you collect: the page number (or numbers) on which the information appears in the source. If your facts are challenged, it's a snap to support them when you know just where you got them. If you're footnoting, you'll need those precise page numbers for the footnotes. Your bibliography sheets don't include page numbers, because one source may have many valuable pages of information. You must remember to cite the specific page number of your reference right in your notes. Think three and you won't forget: (I) reference number, (2) author's last name, and (3) page number. This three-part key should be used for all the following: 35 Copyrighted Material 36 RESEARCH SHORTCUTS 1. Notebook notes. For every note you take, write down the key first, at the head of the note. (Re-key every new page.) Here's how your notes might look: #5, Jones, pg. 7. "It's easy to measure your own heartbeat rate." Put right thumb (if r-handed) on l-h wristbone. Keep l-h palm up. pg. 8. Now curl r-h index finger around wrist opp. to where thumb is already in position. Adjust the 2 fingers until you feel pulse, "generally just above the wristbone." 2. Photocopies and computer printouts. As you photocopy or print, immediately write-on each photocopy itself-(1) the reference number, (2) author's last name, and (3) page number of the source of this photocopy. (We circle this key so it's easy to spot.) 3. At-hand references. So you won't overlook any reference you expect to copy directly as you write the paper (for example, information in a pamphlet that you've checked out of the library), turn to the applicable section of your notebook and note the essence of the passage. Follow that with the words see source and key this note, too, at the beginning with its respective three-part key. Here's how your notebook might look: #5, Jones, pg. 7-8. Instructions for measuring your pulse to determine heartbeat rate. See source. 4. Interviews. One interview may answer several research questions. (For help with interviews, see Part IV.) To have the answers where you'll need them when you write the paper, cross-reference your interview notes in the applicable sections of your notebook. To give an example, let's assume that page three of a telephone interview with Dr. Tom Jones contains his instructions for determining heartbeat rate. Here's how the note might look in your section headed when is exercise harmful? Copyrighted Material Key Your Notes for Easy Access 37 #8, Jones interview, p. 3: instruction for how to check your heartbeat rate. 5. First draft of the paper. When you write the paper's first draft, transfer each three-part key in parenthesis or in the margin right alongside the data it refers to. Then, when you type the final draft, it's easy to substitute the entire reference (author, title, and the rest) just by leafing through the bibliography master sheets. Your first draft might look like this: "It's easy to measure your heartbeat rate," says Dr. (first name) Jones, writing in (#5, Jones, pg. 7). To do it, if right-handed, put your right thumb on your lefthand wristbone, keeping your left hand palm up. Now curl your right-hand index finger around...