Writing Fellows logo that incorporates college shield and a pen.

Schoolcraft College Writing Fellows

Button that serves as a hotlink to the Writing Fellows Home page. Button that serves as a hotlink to Resources for Students. Button that serves as a hotlink to resources for faculty. Button that serves as a hotlink to resources for Writing Fellows. Button that serves as a hotlink to resources for avoiding plagiarism. Button that serves as a hotlink to resources on Writing.

Drafting the Paper:
Organizing Notes

References and Resources

As you begin to write your paper, you should first review your notes by re-reading all of your note cards. This process will re-fresh your memory about the materials you had found during your research.

There are a couple of strategies that researchers have found are helpful ways to organize notes.

    Strategy #1: Organize by Topic

    Organize your research notes by general topic. For example, if you were writing a paper on Tajikistan History. You might organize your note cards into the following categories:

      blue bullet used to denote item in a listHistorical Background
      blue bullet used to denote item in a listEthnic Background
      blue bullet used to denote item in a listEarly History
      blue bullet used to denote item in a listThe Russian Conquest
      blue bullet used to denote item in a listThe Revolutionary Era
      blue bullet used to denote item in a listImpact of the Civil War
      blue bullet used to denote item in a listThe Basmachi
      blue bullet used to denote item in a listCreation of Tajikistan
      blue bullet used to denote item in a listCollectivization
      blue bullet used to denote item in a listThe Purges
      blue bullet used to denote item in a listThe Postwar Period

    The categories used in this example were taken from:

    Strategy #1: Organize from Outline

    Some researchers prefer to begin their paper by constructing an outline. Your professor might even require an outline as part of the writing process.

    Once the outline is finished, they organize their cards according to the sections of their paper. If you use this strategy, you might want to write the section number of the paper on each note card.

If you are aware of a resource that should be included on this page, please contact us at fellows@schoolcraft.edu.


Arrow that is used to graphically demonstrate return-to.
Return to
Draft Your Paper
Arrow that is used to graphically demonstrate go-to.
Go to
Outlining

Man sitting on floor next to dog. He is surrounded by his research notes.

Dogs and cats love to help hold down your research notes so that they do not fly away. However, their favorite trick is to disorganize your notes by sliding across them. Disorganizing research notes is also a favorite activity of small children.

To protect yourself against such less-than-helpful assistance, you might consider color coding your note cards by topic. One easy way to do this is to simply draw a line across the top of a card with a highlighter.

Another technique is to write on each note card the section number that corresponds to your formal outline.


Go to College Home Page
Go to
Schoolcraft College's home page.
Schoolcraft College Writing Fellows
18600 Haggerty
Livonia, MI 48152
734-462-4400 (ext. 5292)
fellows@schoolcraft.edu
Writing Fellows is one of the services provided by the Learning Assistance Center.
For more information about other services provided by the Learning Assistance Center, go to the LAC Home Page or call (734) 462-4436
This page was last updated on January 12, 2006
© Schoolcraft College Writing Fellows Program