Chapter 7 Reading Response

When I'm taking notes (which is rare to begin with), I make sure to keep the ideas concise and to the point so I'm not writing too much and I can keep a good pace going. When I'm taking notes that I'll be using for research, however, my method changes a little bit. I still try to write concise notes that aren't full of fluff so I can just get the main point when I go back over the notes, but now I have to make sure to cite the source that I got the idea from. I won't necessarily write out the full citation right then and there, but I will make a note of where I got the information such as the title of the book or a website URL. This helps me avoid plagiarism later on when I'm integrating the information into my argument. When I'm scanning through a lot of sources, I'll remember certain facts I came across that I found useful, I just won't remember exactly where they came from if I don't write it down as soon as I decide to use any of the information I found. And since plagiarism can be so accidental a lot of the time, it's worth the extra 20 seconds it takes to write down the source as you're going than to risk someone realizing you've plagiarized and getting into serious trouble. As the book states, it's also a matter of respect to mention whoever's ideas you're using to back up your argument because you're giving them the formal recognition that they had a useful idea and that you found it helpful. So, while I try to make my note taking as short of a process as possible, I don't try to shorten it by negating to write down sources and risking the chance of plagiarism since it can lead to such severe punishment and possibly even expulsion.