How to Take Notes From a Textbook Without Copying It Out

Knowing how to take notes from a textbook is mostly knowing what not to do. The two habits many students fall into, copying page after page or skimming with a highlighter, both leave you with little to show at exam time. This guide sets out a method drawn from the learning centers at Cornell University and UNC Chapel Hill: decide why you are reading, preview the chapter, read one section at a time, close the book and write from memory, highlight sparingly, and put a page number on every note. A worked example shows the difference between a copied note and a useful one.

Why copying the textbook does not work

A note you wrote from memory is a note you have already practiced recalling.

The Learning Center at UNC Chapel Hill puts the problem bluntly in its handout on reading textbooks effectively. Students tend either to read every word and copy pages of notes for hours, or to skim and flip pages. Both approaches, the handout says, are passive: "the first approach turns the reader into a copying machine," and the second skips active engagement altogether. Neither leads to a high level of comprehension or retention.

Its handout on taking notes while reading agrees. Copying down information "does not engage your brain" and takes a lot of time and energy, while highlighting large amounts of text is simpler but does not do much to engage the brain either. The fix: do something with the material before you write it down.

How to take notes from a textbook, step by step

The steps below combine the Cornell and UNC guidance into one routine for a single chapter. Each step draws on one of their handouts.

1. Set a purpose

   Cornell's 3 P's for Effective Reading start with purpose: why these pages were assigned and whether they feed an exam, a discussion or a paper. That decides what kind of notes you need.

2. Preview the chapter

   Look at the headings, figures, bold words, introduction and end-of-chapter summary first. UNC's textbook handout also suggests beginning at the end: read the summary and review questions first to see what you are expected to know.

3. Turn the first heading into a question

   In the SQ3R system on Cornell's textbook reading systems page, you turn each heading into a question so you read with a specific purpose. "Causes of inflation" becomes "What causes inflation?"

4. Read one section

   Read to the end of that headed section, looking for the answer. UNC suggests short stretches, a paragraph or two or up to a page, and no more than 5 to 10 pages in one sitting.

5. Close the book and write

   Look away and write the main points from memory, in your own words. UNC's note-taking handout recommends exactly this: pause, think about what you just read, then take notes from memory, focusing on the main points instead of details.

6. Check and fill the gaps

   Open the book and add what you missed. UNC's handout says it is fine not to remember everything.

7. Mark and cite

   Highlight the few lines that explain the heading, write the page number beside every note, and move to the next heading.

8. Review from your notes

   At the end of the chapter, cover your notes and recite the main points under each heading, as the SQ3R review step describes.

Three textbook reading systems compared

The routine above borrows from named systems. Cornell's textbook reading systems page describes three of them, adapted from D. L. Van Blerkom's College Study Skills. It credits SQ3R to Francis P. Robinson, a psychologist at Ohio State University.

SQ3R suits dense chapters with clear headings; P2R suits long readings, and Cornell's page says its ten-page chunk can be adapted to the book. For more techniques that work before, during and after reading, see the guide to active reading strategies.

Highlight sparingly, and only after you understand

None of these systems bans highlighting. S-RUN keeps it, with a rule: underline material that explains the section's heading. Cornell's 3 P's say to use a highlighter selectively when you need quotes for a paper. What the handouts warn against is volume. UNC's note-taking handout advises you to avoid over-highlighting, because highlighting too much can keep you from focusing on the main ideas.

So read the section first and highlight second. Marks made on a first read catch whatever sounds important; marks made after your notes catch the lines that answer the heading's question. The research on whether highlighting helps at all is weighed in does highlighting help you learn.

Put a page number on every note

UNC's handout lists one benefit of good reading notes as keeping "a record of what you read so you can more easily locate it in the future." Page numbers are what make that work. For online texts, the same handout suggests labeling a sheet of paper with the text and the chapter or page number before you jot notes on it.

• Head each page of notes with the book's author, short title, edition and chapter.
• End each note with its page, such as (p. 214), or (pp. 214 to 216) for a point that spans pages.
• Mark exact wording. If you copy a phrase word for word, put it in quotation marks with its page, so you never mistake it for your own paraphrase later.
• For an ebook without stable pages, record the chapter and section heading instead.

A quote with a page number can be cited in a minute, as the guide on how to cite a quote shows, and keeping paraphrase separate from quotation is the core of paraphrasing a source properly.

Choosing a format for textbook notes

UNC's note-taking handout says there is no one right way to take notes while reading. Four formats from the two centers cover most textbooks.

Cornell notes are the strongest default for a course with exams, because the cue column builds the self-test into the page. The full layout and steps are in the guide to Cornell notes.

A worked example: a copied note and a useful one

Here is a short passage written for this example, in the style of an introductory economics textbook, as if it appeared on page 42.

The copied note is accurate and nearly useless: the definition word for word, with no page and no sign of understanding. The second note was written with the book closed. It asks a question, restates the idea in plain words, keeps one example, says why it matters, and ends with the page, which leads straight back to the exact wording if an essay needs it.

Common mistakes

• Starting at the first sentence. Skipping the preview means reading without knowing what matters. A few minutes on headings and the summary pays back quickly.
• Taking notes mid-paragraph. UNC suggests finishing a section or page before writing, so you summarize instead of copy.
• Notes with no pages. Without page numbers, a note cannot be checked or cited without rereading the chapter.

Tips for faster textbook notes

• Use the book's own questions. End-of-chapter review questions are a ready-made cue column.
• Write test questions as you go. UNC suggests creating the questions you would ask if you were setting the exam, then using them to self-test.

Taking notes from a textbook works best as a loop: preview, ask, read a section, close the book, write, check, mark, and cite the page. The notes come out shorter than copying would make them, and each one has already been recalled once. For a page layout that turns those notes into a self-test, start with Cornell notes, and for more on reading and studying well, see the study and reading guides.