SOAPS, SPECS and gutting

The single important thing I learned this year in Modern World History was how to organize information. SOAPS, SPECS and learning how to gut a book were concrete skills that I can continue to utilize in my studies. I'm not an abstract thinker or a very creative person so I need structure when I work. I would get stressed out when I had a source because I didn't know what to do with it. I would just annotate and take notes but couldn't glean the most important info. SOAPS and SPECS help me identify background info on the source and where the argument is coming from. When doing research I would completely avoid books because I didn't know the most effective way to extract information. I thought that you had to read the entire book, which was more time than I wanted to dedicate to my research. But now I know the most efficient way to use a book in research and am not limited to just the internet any more.