How to Study

Your Starting Point
Initial self-evaluation
A ( )
B ( )
C ( )
Reading
A ( )
B ( )
C ( )
Memory development
A ( )
B ( )
C ( )
Time management
A ( )
B ( )
C ( )
Textbook note taking
A ( )
B ( )
C ( )
Classroom note taking
A ( )
B ( )
C ( )
Classroom participation
A ( )
B ( )
C ( )
Basic library skills
A ( )
B ( )
C ( )
Computer skills
A ( )
B ( )
C ( )
Library note taking
A ( )
B ( )
C ( )
Writing papers
A ( )
B ( )
C ( )
Test preparation
A ( )
B ( )
C ( )
Overall study skill level
A ( )
B ( )
C ( )
Chapter 1
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How to Start Out Right
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Reading
Speed, comprehension, and recall are the three important components
of reading. Comprehension and recall are especially interrelated—
better to sacrifice some speed to increase these two factors. To test your
reading and comprehension skills, read the passage below (excerpted
from American Firsts by Stephen Spignesi, New Page Books, 2004).
Then close the book, jot down the key points made in the selection
you read, review the text, and compare your notes with the reading
selection. You will get a good idea of how well you understood what
you read and just how good your “top-of-the-mind” recall is.
Bar codes are everywhere these days. They are automatically
printed on almost every manufactured item—even though
there are still many retail outlets that do not use bar code 
scanning devices. Someday, though, everyone will, the thinking
goes, and so the code is printed on more than 95 percent of
consumer items.
A bar code consists of 12 numbers separated by double lines 
at the beginning, middle, and end of the sequence. A laser/
optical scanner reads the pattern of the numbers and instantly
identifies the item and its correct price. Bar codes have been
a boon to the retail industry, as well as the United States 
military, which requires that every single item it purchases 
have a scannable bar code. Bar codes allow speedy checkouts
at stores, continual inventory updating, and accurate informa-
tion about purchasing patterns.
Bar codes were invented in 1948 by Bernard Silver, a graduate 
student of Drexel Institute in Philadelphia, and Joseph Wood-
land, his partner. They initially worked with ultraviolet ink, but
eventually settled on the pattern matching system in use today.
Some conspiracy theorists believe that the government even-
tually plans to have bar codes placed on every citizen, either on
the back of the wrist or on the forehead, for constant monitor-
ing of the populace. Interestingly, it was recently announced
How to Study
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that laser bar code technology has advanced to the point where
bar codes can now be imprinted directly onto meat and eggs and
be read without damaging the product.
This means that, yes, bar codes can now safely be placed on
human flesh. Imagine a future in which you order a ticket to a
baseball game at home on the Internet using your own personal
bar code ID number. When you get to the stadium, you hold out
your hand, and an optical scanner reads the bar code tattooed
(or whatever) on the back of your wrist. The master database
(which everyone will be sharing by then) confirms that you did,
indeed, purchase a ticket, and you get whisked through the
entrance in the time it takes to swipe a bag of chips across a
grocery store cash register scanner.
Science fiction? Not really. We’re pretty close to this scenario
already.
Score: If you can read the material straight through and accurately
summarize what you’ve read, all in less than two minutes, give your-
self an A. If you have some problems reading and understanding the
text but are able to complete the assignment in less than four minutes,
give yourself a B. If you are unable to complete the assignment in that
time, remember what you read, or produce accurate notes at all, give
yourself a C.