When you have to remember long names or numbers, breaking them down into pieces can help you memorize them more easily and effectively. For example, the number 2134916523 can be broken down into 210, 49, 16 and 523. Learning these four numbers is easier than trying to memorize the large number by repeating "two, one, three, four" and so forth. You can follow the same strategy to break down a word with difficult spelling into its syllables, with Massachusetts becoming Mas-sa-chu-setts.
You can associate every kind of information with personal facts, experiences or interests, so that you can recall them more quickly. For instance, you can easily remember that president George H. W. Bush was elected in 1988 if that is your year of birth. Likewise, the European Union has 27 states, as was your age when you got married. These are just examples; everyone has different experiences and facts with which to associate information.
When studying history, court cases or anything that involves a story, try to visualize it, like becoming the director of a movie based on the event. For example, bring to mind German soldiers invading Poland and the British and French declaring war on the former (with the appropriate accents, of course). If during the test you are asked about who declared war on Germany, it will be easier to recall your imaginary British and French characters than to try to remember the words from the book.
Bringing the page to mind is an effective way to memorize science theories containing terms that you cannot visualize or associate with anything. When contents don't span several pages, you can remember how each paragraph begins, ends and what it is about; this is like "scanning" the book's page in your mind. However, this technique is suitable only for information you want to remember in the short term, as there are no strong connections with other data "stored" in your memory to make it last.