We explain what an information sheet is, its characteristics, function and various examples. Also, how to make an information sheet.
What is an information sheet?
The chips They are a type of study tool that allows us to extract information from its original context and concentrate it in a single site, for which we usually attend to certain precise and determined information. The latter will vary depending on the type of file we are talking about, for example, in a bibliographic file there will be the editorial data of a book that we have cited and that we are therefore registering.
However, an information sheet is a type of basic sheet, which allows us to save information on any subject, in an organized, hierarchical and summarized way. As its name indicates, it is focused on the information it collects, so that when we return to them we can recover the basic and fundamental data of what we have recorded.
See also: Mind map
Information sheet characteristics
Broadly speaking, an information sheet is characterized by the following:
- Contains information on a specific topic, organized in a hierarchical and summarized way.
- You have this information in a simple way, easy to read, to be able to retrieve it immediately and have the data regarding where it comes from.
- The information it contains is usually structured in: title, subtitle, content and source consulted.
- Accompany the information with images, graphs, tables or illustrations, if necessary.
- Depending on its content It can be geographic, historical, biographical information sheets, etc..
What is an information sheet for?
The fact sheets are a study and learning tool, which allows us to store key information to return to it later and also organize our sources of information.
We can consult them when we review the information prior to an exam or an exhibition, for example. But even if we don’t go back to them, the elaboration of the fact sheets is, in itself, a learning dynamic that forces us to understand, summarize and transcribe the information.
How to make an information sheet?
To correctly prepare an information sheet, it is advisable to follow the following steps:
- Choose the topic and search for information. The first step to sign up is to know what we are talking about: what is the subject in question and what information we consult about it, going to our available sources: books, web pages, magazines, etc. Let us remember that the information will be of higher quality when it is a reliable source, which we can cite, and which has a clear or institutional authorship.
- Choose the relevant information. From all the information that we find, we must choose which one we want to sign, and with it we will prepare a small summary, that is, extracting the most important ideas and placing them in the file in hierarchical order: the most general first, the most specific later.
- Complete the fields of the file. Once we have saved the most important ideas, we must complete the other fields of the file, which provide a frame of reference and information to the content: the title (what the file is about), the subtitle (which explains what the title), the source (where the information came from), etc.
- Add artwork and other elements. If the file so requires, and if it is possible, we can choose to include an illustration, ours or someone else, a graph, a table, etc. Remember that if we take an illustration or other material from a source, it must also be cited in the file.
Information sheet examples
The following are two examples of a fact sheet dedicated to very different topics:
- Factsheet on Pharaoh Narmer
FILE
Qualification: Narmer (31st century BC)
Subtitle: First dynastic pharaoh of Ancient Egypt
Content:
It is thought that he was the unifier of the two kingdoms of Ancient Egypt (Upper and Lower) and founder of the first pharaonic dynasty.
The estimated date of beginning of his reign was the year 3100 a. A., Possibly like successor of the king Horus Scorpión II.
He is identified with the pharaoh Menes.
Among the works of his reign are the construction of the city of Shedet and the temple to Ptah in Memphis, as well as the modification of the course of the Nile and drying of the marshes near the latter city through engineering works.
His remains are thought to have rested in the Abydos necropolis, with ceremonial tombs at Saqqara and Tarjan.
His successor to the throne was Pharaoh Aha.
Source: Wikipedia.org
Image:
(taken from Shutterstock).
- Dragonfly factsheet
FILE
Qualification: Red dragonfly (Sympetrum striolatum)
Subtitle: One of the most common dragonfly species in Europe
Content:
Like all dragonflies, it is a flying insect with two pairs of transparent wings and three pairs of legs.
It has an elongated and tubular body, which in females and young specimens is yellow in color, but in mature males it turns red.
It prefers lakes, ponds, and slow rivers as its habitat, and can be found throughout Europe and parts of Asia.
They are predatory insects, ambushing other smaller arthropods.
After mating in the air, the eggs are released by the female directly into the water, where her aquatic life larvae hatch.
The adult specimens appear after a complete metamorphosis.
Sources: National Geographic, Wikipedia.org
Image:
(taken from wikipedia).
Factsheet images
