You will record the information you find for your paper on your note taking sheets. Basically, there are three ways to take notes: a direct quote, a paraphrase, or a summary.

DIRECT QUOTE – In a direct quote you copy word for word from the source. Put the author’s words in quotation marks.

Example: "Absent a natural predator, thousands of the ungulates have starved during tough winters, and there has been no selection pressure to keep deer fast and moose powerful."

PARAPHRASE – To paraphrase, restate what you have read using your own words. Use this method when you are trying to retrace the thinking of one of your sources. Put quotation marks around only key words or phrases you borrow directly from the sources.

Example: elimination of predators has resulted in an overpopulation of deer and moose and led to their starvation in hard winters.

SUMMARY – A summary is similar to a paraphrase, but it covers a longer passage and reduces what you have read to a few important points using your own word.

Example: (Original Text) "Myths and legends have portrayed the wolf as a threat to human existence. Feared as cold-blooded killers, they were hated and persecuted. Wolves were not merely shot and killed; they were tortured as well. In what was believed to be a battle between good and evil, wolves were poisoned, drawn and quartered, doused with gasoline and set on fire, and in some cases, left with their mouths wired shut to starve. Convinced that they were a problem to be solved, U.S. citizens gradually eradicated gray wolves from the lower 48 states over a period of 25 years."

(Summary) Gray wolves were eliminated from the contiguous states within 25 years because of fears and misconceptions based on fairytales and legends.