Having carefully chosen your sources, you can begin to read through them. However, you can still continue to narrow the text down to relevant sections by using differing reading strategies:

Skimming - reading for the general thrust of a passage or chapter Scanning - reading quickly to find specific information Search reading - scanning with attention to the meaning of specific items Reading in-depth - reading the text fully and taking appropriate notes

Whatever strategy you use, try not to start noting everything indiscriminately - think about what you want to find out and pick out the relevant points for your notes. If you are going to quote from another source, make sure you have taken down the quotation accurately - maybe even using another colour ink to separate it.

It's worth pausing during your reading and asking yourself what you've just read. This will help to stop the feeling of reaching the end of a page and not knowing anything about what's been said! Take short breaks to refresh yourself.