ENG 204D: Creative Nonfiction Research: Organizing Your Research

• Tips for Organizing Your Research
• Forms

Here are a few simple (and free) ways to keep track of your research. No additional software or subscriptions required!

Organizing Your Documents

If you are scanning or downloading a lot of source material, you may want to keep it in a centralized place. All UH Students have access to Google Drive and can use this cloud-based system to organize your research. The best way to organize your materials is to develop a system that works for you, that you understand and will use. Below are a few suggestions for organization.

Option 1: Hierarchal Folders

• Create one main folder for your project.
• Within it, add subfolders. The following are a few suggestions for organization:
  • By Type of Document: Notes, Interviews, Articles & PDFs, Photos, Drafts, Timeline
  • By Topic: Person, Event, Town, Historical Era

Option 2: A Single "Master Document"

For those that dislike toggling between documents and files, some writers use a single document to capture all of their research notes. Using Google Doc or Sheets (or Word), use headings to delineate various sections of your research. You might include the following sections: Questions, Quotes, Research Notes, Timelines, Sources with links, Ideas for scenes, To-do list.

Tracking Your Research Sources

Track where and what you've searched using a spreadsheet. Note bibliographic information and search terms you used for both successful and unsuccessful searches.

• Research Date
• Name of archive, library, or website
• Details of records searched (eg. collection name or book title)
• Search Details (Include search terms and details of results. Include both successful and unsuccessful searches)
• Source Citations (book page number, archival reference number, etc)