How to Write a Source Card
Choose a medium for your source cards., Find the author of the book., Find the title of the book., Look for the publisher, place of publication, and date of publication., Add a line about where you found the source., Order your sources cards by...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Choose a medium for your source cards.
Often, notecards (also known as index cards) are used to make source cards, as they are neat and easy to reference, but you can also create a list in a notebook or on your computer.Make sure to keep all the information in the same place, as this will make it easier for you to write your reference list later, once you've finished writing your paper.
This article will focus on how to write your source cards on notecards, but the same technique can be applied to writing source cards in a notebook or on your computer. -
Step 2: Find the author of the book.
The author’s name will be on the outside cover of the book, as well as on the inside title page.
As you will eventually alphabetize the source cards by the authors' last names, put the author’s last name in the upper left-hand corner of the notecard, on the first line.
Place a comma after the name, then list the author’s first name and middle name or initial (if provided).
For example, if the author’s name is “Bobby Dee Brown,” it will look like this:
Brown, Bobby Dee. , Underneath the author's name, you will include the title of the book, along with the subtitle (if it has one).
The title and subtitle will be listed on the cover and the title page.
If the book does have a subtitle, use a colon to separate the main title from the subtitle.In the example below, “Cats Like to Jump” is the main title and “Cats and Their Peculiarities” is the subtitle:
Brown, Bobby Dee.
Cats Like to Jump:
Cats and Their Peculiarities When writing out source cards by hand, the title of the book should always be underlined, so it is easy to identify.
If you are typing out your source cards on a computer, however, the title of the book should be placed in italics instead. , All of this information is generally on the back of the title page, though sometimes it can be found on the front side, as well.
This information should be written on the line beneath the book title.
Put the city of publication first, followed by a colon, and then the publisher.
After the publisher, add a comma and then the date.
In the example below, “Kansas City” is the city of publication, while “Brown Prairie Publishing" is the publishing company and “2011” is the date:
Brown, Bobby Dee.
Cats Like to Jump:
Cats and Their Peculiarities Kansas City:
Brown Prairie Publishing,
2011. , With so much information online these days, some citation styles require you to list where you found the information, so it’s important to know where the source came from.
Even if you just found the book at the library, you should include that information on the source card, in case you need to find the book again.
It should look something like this:
Brown, Bobby Dee.
Cats Like to Jump:
Cats and Their Peculiarities Kansas City:
Brown Prairie Publishing,
2011.
Kansas State University Library. , If you like, you can also include a number in the upper right-hand corner of the card, starting with “1” on your first source.
Then when you are writing out notes for your paper, you can just include the reference number for each source card beside the relevant information in your notes.
This will significantly speed up the referencing process when it comes to actually writing your paper.
However, it’s still safer to include the author’s name and the date of publication (or a shortened form of the title) next to the information when taking notes.
This way, if you lose your source cards for whatever reason, you can still easily identify the source for the notes you took. -
Step 3: Find the title of the book.
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Step 4: Look for the publisher
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Step 5: place of publication
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Step 6: and date of publication.
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Step 7: Add a line about where you found the source.
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Step 8: Order your sources cards by number.
Detailed Guide
Often, notecards (also known as index cards) are used to make source cards, as they are neat and easy to reference, but you can also create a list in a notebook or on your computer.Make sure to keep all the information in the same place, as this will make it easier for you to write your reference list later, once you've finished writing your paper.
This article will focus on how to write your source cards on notecards, but the same technique can be applied to writing source cards in a notebook or on your computer.
The author’s name will be on the outside cover of the book, as well as on the inside title page.
As you will eventually alphabetize the source cards by the authors' last names, put the author’s last name in the upper left-hand corner of the notecard, on the first line.
Place a comma after the name, then list the author’s first name and middle name or initial (if provided).
For example, if the author’s name is “Bobby Dee Brown,” it will look like this:
Brown, Bobby Dee. , Underneath the author's name, you will include the title of the book, along with the subtitle (if it has one).
The title and subtitle will be listed on the cover and the title page.
If the book does have a subtitle, use a colon to separate the main title from the subtitle.In the example below, “Cats Like to Jump” is the main title and “Cats and Their Peculiarities” is the subtitle:
Brown, Bobby Dee.
Cats Like to Jump:
Cats and Their Peculiarities When writing out source cards by hand, the title of the book should always be underlined, so it is easy to identify.
If you are typing out your source cards on a computer, however, the title of the book should be placed in italics instead. , All of this information is generally on the back of the title page, though sometimes it can be found on the front side, as well.
This information should be written on the line beneath the book title.
Put the city of publication first, followed by a colon, and then the publisher.
After the publisher, add a comma and then the date.
In the example below, “Kansas City” is the city of publication, while “Brown Prairie Publishing" is the publishing company and “2011” is the date:
Brown, Bobby Dee.
Cats Like to Jump:
Cats and Their Peculiarities Kansas City:
Brown Prairie Publishing,
2011. , With so much information online these days, some citation styles require you to list where you found the information, so it’s important to know where the source came from.
Even if you just found the book at the library, you should include that information on the source card, in case you need to find the book again.
It should look something like this:
Brown, Bobby Dee.
Cats Like to Jump:
Cats and Their Peculiarities Kansas City:
Brown Prairie Publishing,
2011.
Kansas State University Library. , If you like, you can also include a number in the upper right-hand corner of the card, starting with “1” on your first source.
Then when you are writing out notes for your paper, you can just include the reference number for each source card beside the relevant information in your notes.
This will significantly speed up the referencing process when it comes to actually writing your paper.
However, it’s still safer to include the author’s name and the date of publication (or a shortened form of the title) next to the information when taking notes.
This way, if you lose your source cards for whatever reason, you can still easily identify the source for the notes you took.
About the Author
Nancy Gomez
Enthusiastic about teaching hobbies techniques through clear, step-by-step guides.
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