Taking good notes is an important academic skill. Done properly, notes can help you test your learning, draw together relationships between concepts, provide prompts for essays and help you revise for exams. There are many different note-taking methods and techniques available and as long as you have a system in place which works for you it doesn’t matter which one you like. You may find that you end up using different methods depending on the topic, the assignment or the type of resource you are taking notes from. For this reason it’s good to have a range of methods in your toolkit.
Good notes perform a range of tasks. They should summarise the resource so you don’t have to keep going back over the same information, they should prompt you to ask questions as you draw connections and help you to develop your understanding of a topic. Notes can save you a lot of time and stress in the long run so it is worth spending time planning how to construct a system which will work for your needs. This guide takes you through some of the most established techniques for note-taking, how to use them for different materials and how to use them in your work.
You will be taking notes in different situations depending on whether you are learning from readings, lectures or recordings. Each of these scenarios requires a slightly different approach so you can make the best notes for future you.
A large proportion of your notes are likely to come from readings, either set texts or materials you have found yourself.
Taking notes from lectures is a process which extends beyond the live lecture itself.
Learning from recordings has become far more common since the pandemic. This could be either recordings of live lecturers or specifically created recorded content. Although this method of learning offers greater flexibility there are some pitfalls to be aware of.
Which note-taking system or systems you use is up to you and may depend on how you want to use your notes. Below are outlines of some techniques you might want to try to see if they work for your needs.
The Cornell Method is one of the most popular techniques for recording academic notes. This template offers space for you to record your main thoughts on a topic or reading but also prompts you for some extra information. You can record the title, author and page numbers of what you're reading - vital when it comes to good referencing. There is space at the side of the page for you to note down any keyword, thoughts and questions about a topic which can help you start to think more about what you are reading and how it connects with other ideas. Finally there is space at the bottom of the page to summarise your reading in your own words.
Find out more about the Cornell Method.
You can read a summary of the pros and cons of these and other methods on the LifeHack website.
The Outline Method involves thinking about the main points of a reading and using these as headers to make further notes. Under each of these main headings you can record as many sub-headings as needed followed by any evidence which backs this up or thoughts you have about the material. This method requires you to think about the main topics in your reading and may work best after you have already read through the material once to get an idea of what is being said. It can also be a useful revision tool when reviewing notes for an exam. The main advantage of this method is that it makes it simple to determine the main points of the reading which is useful for quick revision of a topic.
Find out more about the Outline Method.
You can read a summary of the pros and cons of these and other methods on the LifeHack website.
Mind mapping is a great way to explore connections. It's also useful if you respond to more visual methods rather than lots of text. Sometimes referred to as spider diagrams, mind maps put a topic at the centre and then draw branches to sub-topics. These can be further divided into more sub-topics and so on. Limited space means that this type of note-taking won't be as detailed but this can stop the problem of just copying down what you have read. The main advantage to this method is that it is easy to draw connections between ideas to help you build up a picture of current thinking. This is especially useful if you're doing any type of literature review.
Find out more about mind mapping.
You can read a summary of the pros and cons of these and other methods on the LifeHack website.
Most methods of taking notes have been designed for people using a traditional pen and paper. These days it is increasingly common to use digital tools to record your thoughts. You may just want to type your notes straight into a document in a linear fashion but you could also try the Boxing Method. Designed specifically for writing on screens, this method allows you to group your notes according to topic and place them into boxes on your page. You can then group and rearrange the boxes as you develop more knowledge. To keep your notes organised you might also want to add headings or other annotations. This helps to keep notes on related concepts together and forces you to be concise and only record key concepts.
Find out more about the Boxing Method.
You can read a summary of the pros and cons of these and other methods on the LifeHack website.
If you prefer to take notes in a digital format there are several options to choose from.
If you would like to sharpen your techniques for reading scholarly literature effectively, this Cambridge University Libraries online course on critical reading can help you to better understand what you are reading and how to use it in your work. The course is on Moodle so you will need to log in and enrol using your Raven password.
There are several ways to include information from your notes in your writing and you will be expected to use a range of methods to get good marks.
Whichever technique you use you need to include references to any ideas that were not your own, even if you are using your own words. This helps to acknowledge the original source of the material and prevents accusations of plagiarism. You can read more about referencing and any of the above techniques in the Good Academic Practice Guide from Cambridge University Libraries.
The development of artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT has raised a lot of questions about how these can be used to aid in the writing process. The University of Cambridge sets out clear guidelines on the use of these tools on its Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct site and advises that they should not be used.
Put your new note-taking skills to the test. Watch this following short video (4:42) on evaluating sources and make some notes using one of the techniques listed above. Then go back and rewatch the video to see how much relevant information you managed to record. Remember - your task is to record the key points, not every word.
If you cannot watch the video for any reason you may want to try taking notes from this transcript instead.
The ability to take useful notes in a variety of situations can help to save you time and stress in the long run, and can even help you to gain better marks for your written work. Below you will find a range of resources to help you develop your note-taking skills.