Filling Out Bibliography Cards:

Page three of the xerox package will tell you what to look for and how to find possible research sources.  See the bottom of that page for when to take notes.  Be sure to note when to use 3 x 5 cards as opposed to 4 x 6 cards.  5 x 8 cards are unacceptable.

Each time you encounter an item which you think might be good for your paper, you should create a 3 x 5 bibliography card as follows: be sure to double space the entry on the card as below:

Example # 1
(a book by a single author)

The above is an example of a bibliography card filled out for a book-length study by one author (you must fill out the card according to the requirements given to you in our text and in The Little, Brown Handbook, etc.) 

The numeral in the upper right-hand corner identifies this as the FIRST card you have filled out.  The next one will be number two; the next number three, etc.  This number is very important because it means that every time you take something from this item and put it on a note card, you will repeat that numeral to identify it; in other words, you don’t have write the author/title every time you fill out a note card.

Remember this about a book with numerous items: if you have a book which is a collection of, say fifteen different essays/articles, each by a different person, each of those is potentially a different source, and each, thereby, requires a separate card.  The last name of the person who wrote the article (Robertson, above), not the one who edited the book, is the name which goes first on the bibliography card.  And the major title is the title of the article, not the title of the book, though both will go on the card.  And the name of the editor (Schmidt, above) will appear nowhere in your internal notes or in your Works Cited list.  The above item will go into your Works Cited list under Robertson.  So if you have three items in a book, one by Smith, one by Jones, and one by Johnson, you will have three cards, one devoted to each of those three names

Our text tells you how to fill out bibliography cards for items which appear in reference works, in magazines, in journals, etc.  Fill out the cards carefully, for the forms of those cards will dictate the form on your Works Cited page.

I suggest that, for the 102 paper, you find upwards of ten promising looking sources, for you will probably discover that some do not have what you want, or that some duplicate each other.

Once you have a reasonable number of bibliography cards, you now have a preliminary bibliography, and you can begin taking notes, as explained below.

 Taking Notes:

When you are ready to take notes, consult one of your sources and begin skimming.  Let’s say that in the William Jones item (example 1, above, you find a passage about SETTING which you think you might like to use for your paper.  Jones might say, for instance, “In The Mill on the Floss, Hardy gives setting such importance and dimension that it can be said virtually to function as a character in the novel’s development.”  THE FIRST THING TO DO is to get a 4 x 6 card which you will fill out as below:

 

 Top line the label or “slug” which tells you what information the card contains.  Put it in pencil in case you wish to change it later.  The upper right-hand number corresponds to the number on the BIBLIOGRAPHY CARD from which you took this material.  Note also that the material on the card is WRITTEN AS A FRAGMENT AND IN YOUR OWN WORDS.  Only rarely should you put the material on the card as a quotation (for how often to quote, see research advice on separate pages.)

PUT ONLY ONE POINT per card.  If a few pages later, Jones says something else you like about setting, fill out another card as above.

If you find material from, say Robertson (example # 2 above), likewise fill out a new card, but THIS TIME PUT A NUMBERAL 2 IN THE RIGHT-HAND CORNER to identify this as a different source.

The principle is that every time you change sources or information, you make a new card.  Suppose you find, in Jones something about CHARACTER.  You fill out a new card again, with CHARACTER AT TOP LEFT and NUMBER 1 AT TOP RIGHT.

Continue filling out cards as you continue to find material which you think will support whatever you are saying in your paper.

This method does not apply only to literature:  for any kind of research of material which you will eventually put into any kind of paper, take your notes like this, and you will find it easy to move your notes around and insert them wherever you wish.

 Converting Notes into Material in Your Paper:

A Sample Page (from another part of the site.)  Note that in your paper, the passage would be double-spaced. 

The passage in italics represents finished text in your paper with proper citations.  Let’s see how material on a 4 x 6 note card got into the paper.  We are dealing with the UNDERLINED portion at the end of the passage.

 Note that the language WHICH YOU PUT ON THE CARD is fragmentary and in the most simple language possible.  However, when you put that note into the paper, you do so in your own sophisticated language. (See underlined sentence at end of passage).                                      

Symbolism is of the utmost importance in The Hobbyist.  Perhaps most symbolic is the set of tools which John Spencer uses to pursue his passion.  Whenever life deals him a blow, he retreats to his workshop and approaches his tools as if they were friends, confidants, or lovers.  For instance, within an hour of his being removed from his insurance position, we see him resorting to his saws and planes in preparation for beginning a new book shelf (172—this page number refers to the novel).  As William Shaw points out, "At such moments, no human being can approach the intimacy with which Spencer endows his equipment and work area" (23).  His wife and children know full well that when they hear the saw's whirring and the hammer's din, none of them can approach him.  As the novel unfolds, and Spencer increasingly loses touch with reality, such moments become more and more common.  This series of events reaches a peak when, after he realizes he is losing his home, he spends seventy-two hours in his workshop, refusing to emerge even for food (Robinson 333).

By doing the above, you have (1) used an idea from someone else; (2) used your own language (not his); and (3) told the reader where you got the material (Robinson will appear in your Works Cited page with appropriate title, publisher, etc.)  DON'T UNDERLINE WHEN IT GOES INTO PAPER.

Every time you use something from a source, whether you quote (William Shaw, above) or put it into your own words, use the above technique.

This Above All:  only by starting with complete and correct bibliography cards, followed by meticulously taken note cards, can you achieve the necessary accuracy while avoiding plagiarism.