4/6/2023 0 Comments Smart notes mt kilimanjaro![]() ![]() Therefore you will save time if you take notes as you go along, the author, the source, the page number for your referencing later). Nobody’s memory is that good they can remember everything, and this difficulty exponentially increases with each additional text you read. Taking effective notes saves time in the long run. Consider whether the writer(s)’s arguments are strong: What evidence do they give for their claims? Is it convincing? What are the counter arguments? Do they acknowledge and successfully refute them? Does it contradict or confirm conventional wisdom? It is a good idea to keep some questions in mind to help you keep a scholarly distance from the text. Never take the author’s words as some kind of biblical truth. When reading any part of the paper you must always remain critical. ![]() Only look up the word if you decide that understanding the unknown word is necessary for your reading purpose. You may be able to deduce the meaning from the context, or perhaps decide that that word is unimportant to your reading purpose. Read the paragraph and the page around the mystery word. This will potentially lead you to other useful texts, but will also tell you whether that text and its ideas are widely known.ĭo not stop reading and run for the dictionary every time you encounter an unknown word in the text. You may also like to check whether the text you are reading has been cited by other scholars. If the same author or article keeps cropping up in several other texts then you can be fairly sure that it is something you need to read. This is a great way to get a sense of which texts are central to a topic. With luck, that text will be a gateway into several other useful texts and each of those, several others. You can save time researching a topic by using the bibliography of a good article you have found. Searching for literature can become time consuming and frustrating. Or if you are looking for specific data, you could just jump to the results. For example, if you are reading to get an overview of the literature on a topic, then you may want to read just the literature review. Again, with your purpose in mind, do not be afraid to jump to the section that sounds like it includes the information you need. Remember headings are your friends! This is obvious but it can save you a lot of time. ![]() If you have got what you need, or if you discover that the text is not so useful after all, just move on, either to a different text or a different part of the text. It might be as dull as ditchwater, but persevere it holds nuggets of useful facts. If it is relevant, then you can decide if you want to read further. This is (almost) always in the introduction and the conclusion. ![]() Usually the first task is to identify the position of the author: the claim, thesis, or argument. You do not need to treat an academic text like a novel you won’t spoil the ending if you jump to the end. The CRAP test video shows how to do this: Then, before you begin you should critically evaluate the text itself. Read the abstract first! Check it if relevant to your purpose. To determine how changing CO2 concentrations affect flowering plants To remember, here’s a tip: write your purpose on a Post-it and stick it on the side of your computer screen, e.g. As you go along you may discover that you can get more out of the text, but you should always keep in mind your purpose. Do you want a thorough understanding of the paper or just an overview of the topic? Are you looking for data, examples, opinions? Do you need to verify something you read elsewhere? Only after identifying what you are reading for should you approach the text. You should condition your reading by first identifying what you want to get out of the text. It is inefficient to just dive straight into a text and hope you find something that you need. The trick is not to read fast but to read smart. How is a student to find time to eat let alone sleep with the mountains of books and articles to read, digest and cite. Equally, starting a paper or a thesis can seem like embarking upon Mt Kilimanjaro with just a woolly hat and a broken compass – and no mountaineering experience. Reading lists can be daunting, especially those 400 page books and long, potentially very dull articles. ![]()
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