Active reading will help you get engaged with texts that serve a purpose to inform, rather than to entertain. Active reading will save you time and provide you with what you need to do research or to study for a class.
Maybe you are taking notes in class or maybe you are taking notes on a film. How do you effectively take notes? Capturing key ideas in notes helps you to retain the information. Consider taking notes if it has not been part of your practice in the past. Also, consider taking detailed notes on textbooks, books, or articles you have to read.
If you are taking notes from something you will use in a research paper, be sure to record:
The author or authors, the title, the page numbers --both where you find the information and the first and last page number if you are using an article or a chapter (not the entire book), the place of publication, the date of publication, and the url (if you have one). If you have a journal article, you also need the name of the journal and the volume and issue numbers.