We have established a few things for note-taking. First, know what a course is about. This is vital for restricting your revision to the relevant stuff and being able anticipate questions that might be coming. Second, it's best to start off your research with a review paper or several introductions to recent papers. I am working on a post which has all the review references I ever read in one place. Sit tight for that one, it's gonna be useful, especially for people who have had a rather too leisurely Easter break.
Before that, some more on note-taking.
Use your own words. Copying swathes out of paper is tempting because of the illusion of progress it creates. There are several problems with this. First, revision is reduction, so you are immediately failing in this respect.
Second you may understand the material now as the implicit logic is still kicking about in your minds from reading the paper, but when you revisit the notes in a month's time you'll kick your past self when the logical steps are not there and you simply have to go back to the original paper, obviating the initial work.
The other thing about using your own words is that you are exploiting the generation effect, the fact that when you produce information (as opposed to just reading and copying it) you remember it better (e.g. De Winstanley & Bjork, 2004). Converting key ideas into metaphor is a step further because of the deeper level of processing required, which better ossifies the ideas in memory.
Next, shorthand or prose? Prose. We all think we have a special shorthand that saves us massive amounts of time but which we later struggle to decipher. There's a lovely bit in Extras when Darren is jotting down the name of Andy's proposed show in his special shorthand:
Darren Lamb: What's it called?
Andy Millman: "When the Whistle Blows".
Darren Lamb: [writing] "When the W Blows".
Andy Millman: Don't just write "W" you'll forget what the W stands for.
Darren Lamb: "When the Wind Blows".
Andy Millman: "Whistle"!
Darren Lamb: Got it. [writing]
Darren Lamb: "W" equals "Wind".
Andy Millman: "Whistle"!
Darren Lamb: [writing] "When the Whistle Blows".
"Don't just write "W" you'll forget what the W stands for" is good advice for revision too. In your notes you should write in prose. Or at least prose in lists. Short hand is bad for laying down logic, it's bad to come back to, as Darren illustrates, and what's better, practising writing just before exams or sharpening your nib for months in the lead up to them?
So 1) use your own words and 2) use them in prose.
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