RP02
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60 YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT
on analysis of the information that you have collected over many months from a wide variety of sources. The richer your collection of notes and the better your system of filing and retrieval, the more resources you will have at your disposal for your analytical review. It is very difficult to change or improve your system at a later date, so time spent now on devising a system which is tailored to your needs is well spent. THE NEXT STEP: DEVISING YOUR OWN INFORMATION SYSTEM
The aim of this section is to devise your standardized note-taking, referencing, storage and retrieval system. TASKS
Explore the range of information sources which you judge to be relevant to your line of enquiry. List these, and consider what type of information you think you will gain from them. Using a set of notes which you have made from your reading of your subject literature, decide on the system which you will use to collect, reference, store and retrieve all the information that you will collect over the next year or two (or three or four!). Think carefully of the conditions under which you will be making your notes or collecting information, e.g. in the university library, at home, in a distant library, at an interview etc. This will affect the medium in which you make your initial notes; it can be cards, paper sheets, photocopies, tape recordings etc. Will you then transcribe all the notes onto one medium, e.g. cards or a computer database, or will you keep them on a range of media? Decide on a standard form of referencing for each snippet of information. When you have decided how you will preserve your information, decide on a system of referencing. Consider how you will cross-reference your notes with your bibliography list. Under how many headings or key words can you organize your information? Do you need to back up your information in case of a disaster? How you will be able to retrieve your information will depend on how it is referenced and stored. Try to evolve a system which reduces the amount of rewriting of text and references. This will reduce the amount of errors. Computers can help here. CONSOLIDATION AND ASSESSMENT
When you are prepared, you should arrange a tutorial with your tutor or supervisor. Discuss with him/her your decisions on relevant information sources and search methods.