Take notes.
Note-taking is an important aspect of research. Keep in mind that you may not be able to take materials home with you. You can keep your notes in a notebook or on index cards.

• List all bibliographical information. For an encyclopedia, list the volume number, copyright date, publisher, and author of the article, if provided. For Internet sources, list the website address and the article's author, if provided. For interviews, list the person you interviewed, his/her job title or position, the name of the company or agency he or she works for, and the date of the interview.
• Write down important details—information that stands out and is related to your project topic.
• Summarize—briefly describe how each resource helped you and what information it provided.
• Paraphrase—restate what the author said in your own words, giving the authors credit for their ideas in your final product.
• Carefully record direct quotes—write down any quotes that you might use, word for word and comma for comma. List the source, the page number and the context of the statement so you don't forget why it is important to your subject.
  

Sample Note-taking Form

You need Adobe Acrobat to view the sample note taking form which is in PDF format.