READING AND MAKING NOTES 9781350321854_txt_print.indd 1 11-10-2022 12:20:59 POCKET STUDY SKILLS Series Editor: Kate Williams, Oxford Brookes University, UK Illustrations by Sallie Godwin For the time-pushed student, the Pocket Study Skills pack a lot of advice into a little book. Each guide focuses on a single crucial aspect of study giving you step-by-step guidance, handy tips and clear advice on how to approach the important areas which will continually be at the core of your studies. Published 14 Days to Exam Success (2nd edn) Reading and Making Notes (3rd edn) Analyzing a Case Study Referencing and Understanding Plagiarism Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and More (2nd edn) Brilliant Writing Tips for Students Reflective Writing (2nd edn) Completing Your PhD Report Writing (2nd edn) Doing Research (2nd edn) Science Study Skills Getting Critical (3rd edn) Studying with Dyslexia (2nd edn) How to Analyze Data Success in Groupwork (2nd edn) Managing Stress Successful Applications Planning Your Dissertation (2nd edn) Time Management Planning Your Essay (3rd edn) Using Feedback to Boost Your Grades Planning Your PhD Where’s Your Evidence? Posters and Presentations Writing for University (3rd edn) 9781350321854_txt_print.indd 2 11-10-2022 12:20:59 READING S L L I AND MAKING K S Y NOTES D U T Sy THIRD EDITION e r Tf d Eo KG e C n On a Pe J 9781350321854_txt_print.indd 3 11-10-2022 12:20:59 BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP, UK 1385 Broadway, New York, NY 10018, USA 29 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, Ireland BLOOMSBURY, BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published in Great Britain 2010 This edition published 2023 Copyright © Jeanne Godfrey 2023 Cover design: eStudio Calamar The author has asserted their right to be identified as the author of this work under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc does not have any control over, or responsibility for, any third-party websites referred to or in this book. All internet addresses given in this book were correct at the time of going to press. The author and publisher regret any inconvenience caused if addresses have changed or sites have ceased to exist, but can accept no responsibility for any such changes. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress ISBN: PB: 978-1-3503-2185-4 ePDF: 978-1-3503-2191-5 eBook: 978-1-3503-2190-8 Series: Pocket Study Skills Typeset by Integra Software Services Pvt. Ltd. To find out more about our authors and books visit www.bloomsbury.com and sign up for our newsletters. 9781350321854_txt_print.indd 4 10-11-2022 09:10:14 Contents Acknowledgements vii 7 Fine-tune your selection 39 Introduction viii Summary 42 Part 1 Now you are at university … 1 Part 3 Decide how you are 1 Active reading and note-making 1 going to read 43 8 Ways to read 43 READING 9 Finding the time to read 49 Summary 53 Part 2 Decide what you are going toread 7 Part 4 Understand, question and 2 What your lecturers are evaluate what you read 55 looking for 7 10 Understand the text accurately 55 3 Understand your assignment 11 What to do if you get stuck 74 title 11 12 Make up your own mind 79 4 Take control of your reading 13 Get the wider picture 85 list … 16 Summary 87 5 … and go beyond it? 25 6 Reliable and academic sources 29 Contents v 9781350321854_txt_print.indd 5 11-10-2022 12:20:59 MAKING NOTES Part 7 Make the most of your notes 129 Part 5 The essentials 89 19 Review and rework your notes 129 14 Active and purposeful notes 89 20 Using your notes in assignments 133 15 Key features of effective notes 94 Summary 137 Summary 103 Final comment 138 Part 6 Decide how you will Appendix 1: Examples of common make notes 105 abbreviations for note-making 139 16 Different note-making formats 105 Appendix 2: Definitions of words 17 Making notes in lectures and used in this guide 140 seminars 115 References 141 18 Tools and technology 121 Index 143 Summary 128 vi Contents 9781350321854_txt_print.indd 6 11-10-2022 12:20:59 Acknowledgements My thanks go to all my students, past and present and future for helping me develop insights into reading and making notes. I am grateful to Kate Williams for asking me to write this book and for her continuing support. I would also like to thank Sallie Godwin for her excellent illustrations. Thanks also to Helen Caunce and Emma Pritchard at Bloomsbury, to Deborah Maloney at Integra and Maggie Lythgoe for her eagle-eyed copy-editing. The extract from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) report on nutritional labelling is reproduced with the kind permission of the National Heart Forum. The article extract by Andrew Oswald is reproduced with the kind permission of Wiley-Blackwell Publishing. Acknowledgements vii 9781350321854_txt_print.indd 7 11-10-2022 12:20:59 Introduction Reading and making notes are fundamental to studying at university, and this pocket guide will take you through the key points of these two processes quickly and clearly. Confidence comes from knowing what to do and how to do it, but when you start out at university you may not know exactly what is expected of you. Some commonly held misconceptions about university study are listed below. Ten myths about reading and making notes at university ##11 You need to read most things on your reading list, starting at the top and working your way down. ##22 The best way to find your own sources is by using Google and Wikipedia. ##33 You need to read the text carefully from start to finish. ##44 Reading quickly is the most time-effective strategy. ##55 As you read, you should look up all the words you don’t understand. viii Introduction 9781350321854_txt_print.indd 8 11-10-2022 12:21:00 ##66 You can’t criticise what an academic text says because you are not an expert. ##77 Intelligent people understand a text straight away. ##88 You don’t need to make notes, you can just annotate, copy and paste. ##99 Effective notes have all the points from the text copied down. ##1100 Making notes in lines and columns is the best technique. This pocket guide will show you why these ideas are incorrect and what you can do instead to meet your tutor’s expectations and use your reading and notes effectively and successfully. Reading and Making Notes gives you practical advice and uses real assignment titles, reading lists and text extracts. It also uses real university marking criteria and tutor feedback. Introduction ix 9781350321854_txt_print.indd 9 11-10-2022 12:21:01