annotations on assignments

Understanding Annotation: A Comprehensive Guide

What is annotation, the purpose of annotation, types of annotation, how to annotate effectively, annotation tools, annotation examples, annotation in different disciplines, annotation vs. abstract, annotation in digital learning, the future of annotation.

Let's take a journey into the world of annotation, a concept that often makes students cringe and researchers sigh. But, don't worry — this guide will help you understand annotation in a simple, friendly, and clear way. Whether you're a newbie or someone who just needs a refresher, this comprehensive guide will provide a clear definition of annotation and its many uses.

So, what exactly is the definition of annotation? In its simplest form, annotation refers to adding notes or comments to a text or a diagram. It's like having a personal conversation with the author, or making sense of a complex graph. It doesn't stop there, though. The process of annotation is much more than just dropping notes — it's about understanding, interpreting, and engaging with the material. Let's break it down:

• Understanding: Annotations help you to grasp the ideas and concepts presented in the text or diagram. You might underline key phrases or highlight important data points, all in the service of better understanding what you're reading or viewing.
• Interpreting: By providing your own insights or explanations, you're not merely reading or looking at the material, but actively interpreting it. This could be as simple as jotting down "This means..." or "The author is saying..." next to a paragraph.
• Engaging: When you annotate, you're not just a passive reader anymore. You're actively engaging with the material, questioning it, agreeing or disagreeing, even arguing with the author! This active engagement helps to deepen your understanding and retention of the material.

To sum it up, the definition of annotation isn't just about making notes — it's a method to read, understand, interpret, and engage with any piece of content more effectively. And guess what? There's more to annotation than you might think! Stick around as we delve deeper into the purpose, types, and tools of annotation in the following sections.

Now that we've nailed down the definition of annotation, let's talk about why it's so important. Why do teachers, professors, and researchers keep insisting on it? Well, there are several reasons:

• Improves comprehension: Annotating helps you understand the text or diagram better. It's like having a personal guide walking you through a dense forest of words or a complex maze of data. By highlighting and commenting, you can make sense of the material more easily.
• Enhances retention: We've all been there. You read a page, flip it, and — poof! — everything's gone. But with annotation, you can remember more. When you actively engage with the material, you're more likely to remember it. It's like the difference between watching a movie and participating in it.
• Facilitates analysis: Annotation is not just about understanding, but also about analyzing. By adding your own thoughts, insights, and interpretations, you can dig deeper into the material, uncovering layers of meaning that might not be immediately apparent.
• Promotes critical thinking: When you annotate, you're not just accepting information passively — you're actively questioning, evaluating, and critiquing it. This cultivates critical thinking skills, which are crucial in today's information-saturated world.

Remember, the purpose of annotation is not to make your book look like a rainbow or to fill the margins with a clutter of notes. It's about making the material work for you, helping you to understand, remember, analyze, and think critically. So next time someone mentions annotation, don't cringe. Embrace it. It's your secret weapon in the world of learning!

Now that we've got a grip on the definition of annotation and its purpose, it's time to dive into the different types of annotation. You might be thinking, "Wait a minute, there's more than one type?" Yes, indeed! And picking the right one can make a world of difference. So, let's explore:

• Descriptive Annotation: This kind of annotation is like a sneak peek of a movie. It gives an overview of the main points, themes, or arguments without revealing too much. It's like a book cover — enticing enough to draw you in, but not revealing all the secrets.
• Critical Annotation: This type goes a step further. It not only describes the content but also evaluates it. It's like a movie review, discussing the strengths and weaknesses, the relevance of the content, and the author's credibility. It helps you decide whether the material is worth your time.
• Informative Annotation: This annotation is like an all-you-can-eat buffet. It provides a summary of the material, including all the significant findings and conclusions. It's ideal when you need a detailed understanding of the content without having to read the whole thing.
• Reflective Annotation: This type of annotation is a bit more personal. It includes your thoughts, reactions, and reflections on the material. It's like a diary entry, capturing your intellectual journey as you engage with the material.

So, next time you're tasked with annotating, consider the type of annotation that best suits your needs. Remember, the goal is not to make your work harder, but to make it easier and more effective. Happy annotating!

Here you are, equipped with the definition of annotation and an overview of its types. But, how do you do it effectively? Let's break it down:

• Get clear on your purpose: Why are you annotating? Is it to understand better, remember, or critique? Your purpose will guide your annotation process.
• Take a quick preview: Before you start annotating, skim through the material. Get a feel for its structure and main ideas. This way, you'll know what to pay special attention to.
• Be selective: Resist the urge to highlight or underline everything. Limit your annotations to crucial points, unfamiliar concepts, and interesting ideas. The goal is to create signposts that can guide you back to key information when needed.
• Make it meaningful: Don’t just underline or highlight. Write brief notes that summarize, question, or react to the content. This makes your annotations a tool for active learning.
• Use symbols or codes: Develop your own system of symbols or codes to denote different types of information. For example, a question mark could indicate parts you don’t understand, while an exclamation mark could point to surprising or important insights.

Remember, effective annotation is not about how much you mark, but about how well you understand and engage with the material. Keep practicing and refining your approach, and soon you'll become an annotation pro!

So, now that we know how to annotate effectively, let's talk about some tools that can make this process even smoother. These are especially handy if you're dealing with digital content, or if you want to share your annotations with others. Here are some noteworthy ones:

• Pencil and Paper: Sometimes, the old ways are the best ways. Nothing beats the flexibility and simplicity of annotating with a good old-fashioned pencil. You can underline, highlight, make notes in the margin — the possibilities are endless!
• Highlighters: These are great for emphasizing key points in your text. Just remember not to go overboard and turn your page into a rainbow!
• Post-it Notes: If you don't want to write directly on your material, or if you need more space for your thoughts, these little sticky notes can be a lifesaver.
• PDF Annotation Tools: If you're working with digital documents, tools like Adobe Reader, Preview, and others offer built-in annotation features. These can include highlighting, underlining, and adding comments.
• Online Annotation Tools: Websites like Hypothesis and Genius let you annotate web pages and share your annotations with others. They're like social media for readers!

These tools are just the tip of the iceberg. There are many other annotation tools out there, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. So, don't be afraid to experiment and find the ones that work best for you!

Let's put the definition of annotation into real-world scenarios. Here are some examples to help you get a better sense of how annotation works.

• Novels: You're reading a gripping mystery novel and you come across a clue. You underline it and jot down your theories in the margin. That's annotation!
• Textbooks: Remember the last time you studied for an exam? You probably highlighted important information and made notes to help you remember key points. That's annotation too!
• Articles: When reading a long article online, you might use a tool to underline key sections and add your own thoughts. This not only helps you understand the content better but also lets you share your insights with others. Yep, that's annotation.
• Research Papers: If you're conducting research, annotation is your best friend. Underlining important data, writing summaries of complex sections, and noting down your ideas can make the whole process much easier.
• Social Media: Ever added a funny caption to a photo before sharing it with your friends? Guess what? That's annotation too!

As you can see, annotations can be as simple or as complex as you need them to be. They're all about adding extra information to make the original content more useful or meaningful for you. So, next time you're reading something, why not give annotation a try? Who knows, you might discover some fascinating insights!

Now that we've nailed down the definition of annotation, let's see how it's applied across different disciplines. You might be surprised to know that annotation isn't just for the world of literature or academia. Here's how different fields use annotation:

• Sciences: Scientists use annotations to note down observations during experiments. They can also annotate diagrams to explain complex processes.
• Arts: Artists often annotate their sketches with notes about colors, textures, or ideas for future works. Art historians may also use annotations to provide deeper insight into famous paintings or sculptures.
• Computer Science: In the world of coding, annotations can provide extra details about how a piece of code functions. They're like a roadmap for other programmers who might need to understand or modify the code later.
• Geography: Geographers use annotations on maps to highlight specific features or explain certain phenomena. For example, they might annotate a map to show the path of a storm or the spread of a forest fire.
• Business: Business professionals annotate reports and presentations to highlight key points. This helps everyone stay on the same page and understand the main takeaways.

As you can see, no matter the discipline, the power of annotation is universal. It's all about enhancing understanding and fostering communication! So, the next time you're working on a project, why not consider how annotation could help you?

Dealing with academic or professional texts, you've probably come across both annotations and abstracts. But do you know the difference? Many people get confused between the two, but they serve unique roles. Let's clear the air by exploring the definition of annotation versus an abstract:

Annotation: An annotation adds extra information to a text. It could be a comment, explanation, or even a question. Imagine you're reading a complex scientific paper. You might annotate it by jotting down a simpler explanation of a concept in the margins. That's annotation—helping to make the text more accessible and understandable for you.

Abstract: On the other hand, an abstract is a short summary of a document's main points. Think of it as a mini version of the text. If you've ever written a research paper, you've probably had to include an abstract at the beginning. It gives readers a snapshot of what the document covers so they can decide if they want to read the whole thing.

So, in a nutshell, an annotation is more about adding value to the text, while an abstract is about summarizing it. Both have their places and can be super helpful when dealing with complex or lengthy texts. Understanding the difference between the two is another step in mastering the art of reading and writing effectively.

Now, let's shift gears and explore how annotation plays a role in the digital learning space. With the advent of technology, education isn't limited to chalkboards and textbooks anymore. We've moved onto laptops, tablets, and even mobile phones. So, where does the definition of annotation fit in this digital world?

In digital learning, annotation takes on a slightly different form. Instead of scribbling in the margins of a book, you're adding notes to a PDF, highlighting text in an eBook, or leaving comments on a shared document.

Let's say you're studying for a history exam with a friend, and you're both using the same digital textbook. You come across a paragraph that you think is particularly important, so you highlight it and leave a note saying, "Must remember for the exam!" When your friend opens the book on their device, they can see your annotation and benefit from it. This is the power of annotation in digital learning—it promotes collaboration and makes studying a more interactive experience.

And it's not just for students, either. Teachers can use digital annotation to provide feedback on assignments, clarify points in a lecture, or share additional resources. In a world where online learning is becoming the norm, understanding and using digital annotation is a skill worth mastering.

Having explored the definition of annotation in various contexts, it's exciting to imagine where it might head in the future. As we continue to integrate technology into our lives, the role and methods of annotation are likely to evolve with it.

Imagine a world where every bit of text you interact with—be it a digital book, an online article, or even a social media post—can be annotated with your thoughts, questions, or insights. And not just that, imagine those annotations being instantly shareable with anyone around the globe. We're already seeing glimpses of this in digital learning platforms, as we previously discussed.

Moreover, the rise of artificial intelligence might add another layer to annotation. Imagine AI systems that can automatically highlight important parts of a text, suggest resources for further reading, or even generate annotations based on your personal learning style. Now that's a future worth looking forward to!

While we are not there yet, the journey towards that future is already underway. And as we make strides in this direction, the definition of annotation will continue to expand and adapt. It's a fascinating field that underscores the importance of understanding, interpreting, and communicating information in our increasingly interconnected world.

If you're looking to improve your annotation skills and learn more about organizing your creative projects, check out Ansh Mehra's workshop, ' Documentation for Creative People on Notion .' This workshop will provide you with practical tips and techniques for effective annotation, as well as help you develop a comprehensive documentation system for your creative work.

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Student Annotations (Instructors)

Instructors.

Instructors can create an assignment that allows students to annotate a file. This feature allows teachers to provide an attachment as part of the assignment without downloading or uploading it multiple times or assigning it individually to students.

This assignment type provides students with the following annotation options:

• Add a text box
• Add shapes, for example, circle, square, or rectangle
• Highlight parts of the attachment
• Pen tool for drawing and writing

Type annotations, for example, underline, highlight, and squiggly will only work for text within an uploaded document. Type annotations will not work on images, even if the image is of text.

Creating an Annotations Assignment

• From your course, click Add Materials.
• Select Add Assignment.
• Under Format Options , click Annotations Assignment .

Upload a file from your device.

Accepted file types: Docx, HTML, JPG, PDF, PNG, PPTX, RTF, TXT, XLS, XLSX, and XML.

• Fill in the rest of the Create form.
• Click Create .

Reviewing or Grading an Annotations Assignment

After a student has submitted their assignment, the instructor can review and grade it from the class assignment.

• In the Submissions area, select Needs Grading .
• Review the student's responses.
• Type a grade into the Grade box.
• Add notes for the student in the available text box.
• Check whether or not you want the grade and notes to Show to the student.
• Click Submit .

Student Annotations offer students a new assignment experience; however, the student display and available options can vary at the elementary and secondary grade levels.

• Elementary: Draw or Type
• Secondary: Start Assignment
• Annotate the file from the Doc Viewer using the annotation tools available in the editor. Changes are automatically saved.
• Elementary: I'm Done
• Secondary: Submit
• Optionally, to clear annotations, click Clear All . Then, click Clear All again to confirm.
• To go back without saving, click Back .

Students who have submitted their work can select the assignment again to review their submission.

Elementary Options

Continue assignment.

Students who have not submitted their assignment can resume working where they left off.

• Click into the assignment.
• Click Continue .
• Click Previous Submission to revert to a previous submission of the assignment.
• Click Open Submission to confirm the reversal. Click Stay Here to keep annotating the current version.

Try Again After Submitting

A student can return to an assignment if an instructor wants the student to try the assignment again.

• Click on the assignment.
• Click Try Again .
• Continue annotating the assignment. Previous annotations will still display.

Secondary Options

• Click Edit Draft .
• Continue annotating the assignment.
• Click Back to exit the assignment

Re-Submit Assignment

• Click Re-Submit Assignment .

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Assignment Samples & Examples

Table of Contents

Assignment samples, assignment instructions & rubrics, useful tools to plan assignments, useful tools to search & organize sources, useful tools to analyze sources & develop your ideas, writing strategies, learning strategies.

Here you can find the complete list of all the student assignment samples as well as practical tools and examples that are hyperlinked as PDF, Word or Excel files across Resource Pages.  

This is a full literature review paper written by an OISE student on the topic of Computer-mediated Communication (CMC) and Written Corrective Feedback (WCF) in Writing Centers (WC). Throughout the paper, you will find several annotations. Yellow annotations refer to the structure of the paper, its content and how ideas are developed. Purple annotations refer to writing elements and language elements (e.g., paragraphs, paraphrases, summaries, quotes, stance and voice, cohesion, etc.).

This assignment sample is hyperlinked in the following Resource Pages: 

• How to Draft an Academic Paper
• How to Write Introductions
• How to Write Conclusions

This is an experiential reflection assignment written by OISE student Hongyu Chen about their observations of a Mandarin language class and language teaching methodologies.

This assignment sample is available the following Resource Pages: 

• What is Reflective Writing?
• How to Write Reflectively

These are two examples of annotated bibliographies with slightly different structures.

These examples are illustrated and hyperlinked in the following Resource Page: 

• What is an Annotated Bibliography? 
• How to Write an Annotated Bibliography

This is a research proposal paper written by an OISE student on the relationships between textual production, student collaboration and social networking sites. Hover over the highlighted parts to find annotations and comments about the structure and content of this research proposal.

This assignment sample is hyperlinked in the following Resource Page: 

• How to Write a Research Proposal Paper

This is a set of instructions for a final paper with notes written by an OISE student. The notes show you the process of understanding and planning the assignment on the student’s part.

This sample is hyperlinked in the following Resource Page: 

• How to Understand & Plan Assignments

This is a rubric for an Annotated Bibliography assignment that shows the professor’s expectations and evaluation criteria. Students can use these evaluation criteria as guidelines when working on the assignment.

This rubric is hyperlinked in the following Resource Page: 

These are detailed guidelines on how to prepare a quantitative research proposal. Adapted from the course APD2293 “Interpretation of Educational Research”.

These guidelines are hyperlinked in the following Resource Page: 

Download this template and use it when planning your work for an assignment.

This template is hyperlinked in the following Resource Page: 

This is an example of how to start planning and thinking about your research proposal assignment. You will find a student’s notes and ideas about their research proposal topic - "Perspectives on Textual Production, Student Collaboration, and Social Networking Sites”.

This example is hyperlinked in the following Resource Page: 

Download this template and use it to brainstorm keywords for core concepts and related terms when searching sources for your assignment.

This template is hyperlinked in the following Resource Page:

• How to Find Sources for Assignments

Download this template and use it to keep track of your library searches when looking for sources for your assignment. At the top, you’ll find an example of how to use the template.

Download this template spreadsheet and use it to record and organize the bibliographic information of the sources you found. It will help you keep track of the sources collected. At the top, you’ll find an example of how to use this spreadsheet.

• How to Organize Literature

Download this template spreadsheet and use it to record and organize the key information of the sources you found + your notes about the relevant points from each source after reading them. It will help you when you analyze your sources and need to develop ideas for your assignment. At the top, you’ll find an example of how to use this spreadsheet.

The examples and templates below are linked in the following Resource Page:

• How to Analyze Literature and Develop Ideas for my Literature Review

Download this spreadsheet for an example of how you can summarize findings and record your analysis for each source you’ve read. The research topic in this example is assessment practices of online mathematics and statistics courses at the undergraduate level, with a focus on students’ and instructors’ perspectives. You can first browse the overall information of the example sources and pay attention to the final two columns for findings and critical analysis.

This is an example of how to use a table to organize your ideas and visualize the connections among them. These will become the points to include in your assignment.

This is an example of how to use a concept map to organize your ideas and visualize the connections among them. These will become the points to include in your assignment.

This is an example of how to use a literature review matrix to organize your ideas and visualize the connections among them. These will become the points to include in your assignment.

This is an example of how to use an outline to organize your ideas and visualize the connections among them. These will become the points to include in your assignment.

For users with accessibility needs: this example shows a well-structured paragraph featuring three main elements: a topic sentence, supporting statements and a conclusion or transition sentence.

You can find this example as an image in the following Resource Page: 

• What are Paragraphs

For users with accessibility needs: this example shows the structure of a paragraph using the sandwich strategy.

• How to Write Paragraphs  

For users with accessibility needs: this example shows how different voices are used within a paragraph.

• What are Stance & Voice and How to Apply them in Academic Writing

This example with annotations shows how a student writer takes a stance and shifts between voices in a paragraph about Mathematics programs.

This example with annotations shows how a student revised a paper section by identifying the key points to make sure they flow logically.

• Revising, Editing & Proofreading

This example shows how to use concision strategies in a paragraph.

This example with annotations shows how a student revised, edited and proofread the introduction paragraph of a paper on language policies in Beijing.

This sample shows a student’s notes during a lecture about the topic “Assessments in online mathematics courses in the post-secondary context”.

• How to Take Notes in Class

This sample shows how a student reviewed, consolidated and organized their notes after class. These notes refer to a lecture about the topic “Assessments in online mathematics courses in the post-secondary context”.

This sample shows a student’s notes of an academic article using the Cornell system.

•   How to Take Notes of Readings

This sample shows a student’s notes of an academic article using the outline method.

For users with accessibility needs: this sample shows a student’s notes of an academic article using the mindmap method.

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9 How to Annotate Texts

One of the greatest challenges students face is adjusting to college reading expectations. Unlike high school, students in college are expected to read more “academic” type of materials in less time and usually recall the information as soon as the next class.

The problem is many students spend hours reading and have no idea what they just read. Their eyes are moving across the page, but their mind is somewhere else. The end result is wasted time, energy, and frustration…and having to read the text again.

Although students are taught how to read at an early age, many are not taught how to actively engage with written text or other media. Annotation is a tool to help you learn how to actively engage with a text or other media.

View the following video about how to annotate a text.

Annotating a text or other media (e.g., a video, image, etc.) is as much about you as it is the text you are annotating. What are  YOU  responses to the author’s writing, claims and ideas? What are  YOU  thinking as you consider the work? Ask questions, challenge, think!

When we annotate an author’s work, our minds should encounter the mind of the author, openly and freely. If you met the author at a party, what would you like to tell to them; what would you like to ask them? What do you think they would say in response to your comments? You can be critical of the text, but you do not have to be. If you are annotating properly, you often begin to get ideas that have little or even nothing to do with the topic you are annotating. That’s fine: it’s all about generating insights and ideas of your own. Any good insight is worth keeping because it may make for a good essay or research paper later on.

The Secret is in the Pen

One of the ways proficient readers read is with a pen in hand. They know their purpose is to keep their attention on the material by:

• Predicting what the material will be about
• Questioning the material to further understanding
• Determining what’s important
• Identifying key vocabulary
• Summarizing the material in their own words, and
• Monitoring their comprehension (understanding) during and after engaging with the material

The same applies for mindfully viewing a film, video, image or other media.

Annotating a Text

Review the video, “How to Annotate a Text.” Pay attention to both how to make annotations and what types of thoughts and ideas may be part of your annotations as you actively read a written text.

Example Assignment Format: Annotating a Written Text

For the annotation of reading assignments in this class, you will cite and comment on a minimum of FIVE (5) phrases, sentences or passages from notes you take on the selected readings.

Here is an example format for an assignment to annotate a written text:

Passage # Quotation and Location My Comments / Ideas

• Direct quote (paragraph #) Add your comments here

Example Assignment Format: Annotating Media

In addition to annotating written text, at times you will have assignments to annotate media (e.g., videos, images or other media). For the annotation of media assignments in this class, you will cite and comment on a minimum of THREE (3) statements, facts, examples, research or any combination of those from the notes you take about selected media.

Here is an example format for an assignment to annotate media:

Passage # Describe Passage My Comments / Ideas

• Passage Description Add your comments here

Introduction to Literature Copyright © by Lumen Learning is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Annotating and Note-Taking

If you do not take notes as you read, you are wasting time and energy. Without notes, you will almost certainly have to reread substantial parts of the text to find passages that are important, and you will almost certainly lose track of the ideas you had as you were reading. While note-taking does slow down your reading, it greatly increases your overall reading efficiency. If you don’t make notes as you go, today’s great observation will likely become tomorrow’s forgotten detail.

There are many ways to take notes, and you need to find methods that work for you and your reading situation. Your annotation method will almost certainly vary depending on whether you are reading a hard copy or an e-version of a text.

You may also find that you need to take notes differently depending on the kind of text you are reading. For example, do you need the same kinds of notes for a textbook that contains information you will be tested on as you do for an article that you are going to write about? Be ready to alter your note-taking strategy so that your notes are most useful to you.

Understanding What to Take Notes About

If you’ve been following the activities in this section, you already have two helpful guides as you read:

• First, you have any notes you made while pre-reading. Even if you didn’t take notes during this phase, you have information about the reading that you might decide to add to your notes as you go.
• You also have the list you made when you were focusing on the purpose for the reading. Refer to that list as you read to help you stay on task.

As you read, here are some particularly useful types of notes:

• Summaries or paraphrases of key ideas in the text
• Your responses, including your questions, points of agreement and disagreement, and notes about connections you see
• Informational notes, including definitions of words you aren’t familiar with and references to other sources
• Your comments on passages that are significant and that you might use in your own writing

Understanding How to Take Notes

Note-taking doesn’t look the same for everyone, and the method you choose will depend on the medium of the text (print or electronic), whether you can write on the text or not, and your preferences for things like color. It will also depend on what accommodations work best for you. Take the time to find the best method for you!

Writing Directly on Hard-Copy Texts

Through most of your K-12 education (and mine), you were probably told never to write in your textbooks, but now that you’re a college student, your teachers will tell you just the opposite. Writ­ing in your texts as you read—annotating them—is encouraged! It’s a powerful strategy for engaging with a text.

Most college and university bookstores approve of textual annotation and don’t think it decreases a textbook’s value. In other words, you can annotate a college textbook and still sell it back to the bookstore later on if you choose to. You won’t get the full price you paid for the book, but you wouldn’t get that even if you don’t write in it at all, so you might as well take notes! Note that I say most —if you have questions and plan to sell back any textbooks, be sure to ask at the bookstore before you annotate.

Most textbook rental companies will let you do some limited writing and highlighting, but they often allow less than college bookstores. Be sure to read the fine print and FAQs about marking up a rental.

When annotating in a textbook or other double-sided printed material, pencil often works best. It won’t soak through the pages, which matters when you need to read the text or take notes on the other side. In addition, you can erase marks if you decide that what you originally wrote isn’t helpful. If you want to use ink, choose a ball-point pen rather than gel or permanent marker, since ball point ink is less likely to soak through. If using erasable pens, test in an inconspicuous area to make sure they actually erase on that paper.

Many students use brightly-colored highlighting pens to mark passages in texts. Highlighting alone, though, isn’t particularly helpful. Using high­lighters creates big swaths of color in your text, but when you later go back to them, you may not remember why those passages were highlighted. If you want to use highlighters, be sure that every time you do, you also make a note so that you know why you highlighted that passage in the first place.

Here is a photograph of my notes on the first printed page of Mitchell’s article. I’ve done the notes in pencil, and if you look closely, you can see where I had to erase a mistake or two.

Taking Notes on Digital Texts

Some annotation tools allow you to work collaboratively with others. This means that you will have not only your own annotations, but those of other students working on the same text. Currently, Perusall and Hypothes.is are popular in higher education, and your professors may ask you to use them. Again, take a few minutes to learn how the note-taking system works before you start.

There are also many apps for annotating electronic files, including PDFs and web pages. You’ll probably need to try different ones to find something that works for you. I personally use Goodnotes (usable on all major platforms), but some others to consider include Explain Everything (for Android and iOS tablets and phones; also usable on a computer) and Notability (for iOS tablets and phones). These apps (and others sure to come) go well beyond making notes in the margins, allowing you to change colors, draw, and take pictures of material to include, among other features. They can be particularly useful for those with learning disabilities and attention disorders since you can readily vary your note-taking approach. While these apps can cost some money, if they make your annotating more productive, they are well worth it.

Keep in mind that the purpose of annotation on digital texts is exactly the same as on hard-copy texts. You want to make sure that you can use ideas and passages from the text for your learning and your assignments. If the tool gets in the way of that (and your professor isn’t requiring a specific tool), try something else.

Here is a copy of my notes on the second page of the PDF of Mitchell’s article. These notes were done on my iPad with the app GoodNotes , which is my preferred notetaking method as of this writing. I use different colors: purple to indicate summary notes and green to indicate my responses, as well as blue for information I looked up.

Taking Notes Indirectly on Hard-Copy Texts

If you can’t write on the text itself, such as when you are using a library book, you can try copying or scanning the pages you need; however, if you need a lot of pages, this can become time consuming (and potentially expensive). Instead, you can take notes outside of the text—either by hand or electronically.

One way to do this is with sticky notes. Sticky notes give you the ability to attach your notes to the relevant pages and passages. The space is limited, but you can use multiple stickies if need be.

Alternatively, you can take notes on your own paper or in your word processor or an app. These methods give you as much space as you need. There is a risk of notes being separated from the text, but if you are careful about your organization, you should be able to find them when you need them.

Double-entry journaling is particularly useful when you need to keep track of both the main ideas in a text and your reactions, thoughts, and writing ideas as you are reading. In some ways, this can work even better than taking notes directly on the text because you aren’t bound by the size of the margins.

To set up a double-entry journal, create three columns. If you are doing this on paper, you can simply draw lines down the page. If you are doing this in a word processing document, you can set up a three-column table.

In the furthest left-hand column, make note of the location in the text. For print sources, pages and paragraph numbers are usually most helpful (which is what the ¶ symbol means in the first column, below). For electronic sources, paragraph numbers are often most helpful.

In the middle column, you write summary only. This is so that you can clearly differentiate what the author is saying from your ideas. In the right-hand column, you write your responses and ideas. Your journal will look something like this:

Notice that every time you add a summary element, you also respond. Your journal will be most useful to you if you summarize frequently (at least every two or three paragraphs) and if you make a point of responding every time you summarize. If you are diligent about summarizing and responding, you will have a strong record of both your reading and your ideas for a paper when you are done reading. As a result, you will be in good shape to both understand and use what you have read.

Once again, it’s your turn, but this time, you should experiment. Using the guidance above, try at least two different ways of taking notes on a reading.

Once you’ve done taken the notes, reflect on the methods you tried. Which method(s) seem to work well for you? Why do you think it/they worked? Which method(s) did not work well for this reading? Why not?

Can you think of another reading situation where a different method would be better? What is that situation and what method(s) do you think would work better? Why?

• No matter what you are reading for academic work, take notes!
• Take notes on the ideas in the text, but also take notes on your ideas as you read and any words or concepts you looked up. Also make sure that you are marking passages that might be useful for any project you are working on.
• Find note-taking methods that work for you, whether you write in books, on digital texts, or in your own notebooks or apps.

Media Attribution

Taking Notes, Photo by Flipsnack on Unsplash

Text Attribution

This chapter contains material taken from the chapter “Annotate and Take Notes” from The Word on College Reading and Writing by Carol Burnell, Jaime Wood, Monique Babin, Susan Pesznecker, and Nicole Rosevear and is used under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

A method for taking notes about a text that uses columns to differentiate summary from response.

Reading and Writing Successfully in College: A Guide for Students [Revised Edition] Copyright © 2024 by Patricia Lynne is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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