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US NoodleTools How-to Guide: Notecards

This guide provides tutorials and support pages to help you use NoodleTools.

Create Notecards

Step 1:

Navigate to the Sources screen. Make sure your source citation is created first! 

Click the "New" link next to your citation in the "Notecards" column.

 

Step 2:

Enter information where applicable: 

Title
(required)

A few words describing the notecard's main idea. 

URL

The URL in your citation might not be a direct link to the content. You can add a different URL here if it helps you get directly back to the source.

Source
(usually required)

If you created your notecard from the Sources screen, this field is auto-filled. If you created your notecard from the Notecards screen, be sure to select the source citation here.

Page

If there are page numbers associated with the material you are entering in the "Direct quotation" field, enter them here (you'll need them for in-text citations or footnotes).

Tags

Add short (1-2 word) tags to help you identify and label concepts within each notecard. Type a comma between tags (for example, typing frogs, climate change will add tags "frogs" and "climate change").

Direct quotation

What should I enter in the "Direct Quotation" field on a notecard?

Paraphrase or summary

What should I enter in the "Paraphrase/Summary" field on a notecard?

My ideas

What should I enter in the "My Ideas" field on a notecard?



Step 3:

Click the Save and Close button when you are done.

Important note: Notecards are auto-saved as you type. Clicking Save and Close at the end saves a final time, but you can use the Manage Versions option to retrieve past saves, if your work is interrupted or your computer crashes. See "How to view the auto-save history of a notecard (and revert to a previous version)."


 

How to export and print notecards

Overview: Notecards can be saved to an external file to open in a word processor. You may wish to export your notecards as you've added them to your outline, so that you can copy and paste ideas from your notes in one window while you write your paper. After exporting, you can also print your notecards if necessary.
 

Instructions

Step 1:

Navigate to the Notecard Tabletop View screen. 

 

Step 2:

Click the blue Export/Print icon button at the top of the screen.

Note: To export only selected notecards, see "How to select notecards on the Tabletop or Detail views."

 

Step 3:

Select an file format option from the menu:

 

Export as Web Page (HTML file)

Opens a new browser tab with your notecards' content.

Export to Google Docs

Creates a Google Document in your Google Drive. You may be prompted to select your Google account.

Export to Word (DOCX file)

Creates a Word (.docx) document that you can download and open in Word Online, Microsoft Word or Apple Pages.

Export to RTF

Creates a plain-text file of your notecards' content, without images. The .rtf file can be downloaded and opened with any word processor. 

Outline only

Exports your outline without notecards, in the file format you choose from the menu. See "How to export and print the outline."

Outline with notecards

Exports notecards that you've added to your outline, along with the structure and topics of the outline itself, in the file format you choose from the menu. See "How to add notecards to the outline."

Important note: If selecting an option above does not generate the file, be sure that your browser does not have a pop-up blocker enabled that would prevent a new window from opening. 

 

Step 4:

On the Print window, select an option:

  • Export all notecards: Exports all notecards that are on your Notecard Tabletop.

  • Export notecards from pile: When selected, you will be prompted to select a pile that you've created. 

By default, all items in the notecard are exported. Deselect any items you do not want to export. 

 

Step 5:

Click Submit to create the new file. To print, open the resulting file in the applicable word processor and use the application's Print command.

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