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Resource lists

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Resource lists

Student browsing a library shelf

Resource lists could include recommended reading (books and journal articles) alongside other materials such as videos and audio recordings - and if these lists are long, they can be daunting. How can you absorb all this? The short answer is you can't - and you don't have to. There are lots of ways of reading more effectively and efficiently, and you probably know a lot of them already.

Reference books

Use the structure of the book to help to find your way around. These are all designed to help you get the information you need:

  • List of contents for the general organisation of the book
  • Titles of chapters or articles
  • Index of keywords at the back

When you focus on the sections that might help you, don’t read every word, but skim through quickly to see if there’s anything there for you. You can find out more about the technique under the scanning and skimming heading.

Journal articles

Journal articles may be a big part of your reading list. They can be found in academic journals that feature subject-specific peer reviewed articles written by experts. If an article has been peer reviewed, it means that other experts in the field have checked the article before it was published. You’ll often find these articles when browsing university online catalogues.

Articles in academic journals are usually laid out to help the busy reader. The editors expect you to hunt for information, not just to curl up for a comfy read on the sofa. The abstract at the start of the article will quickly tell you whether it’s worth reading the rest of it. The conclusion is another good place to look.

Websites

Academic websites are online resources that are associated with educational institutions. They follow the same conventions as academic journals in that they are designed for the busy reader. A quick look at the abstract helps you assess the content before diving deeper.

Look for clues in the URLs to find academic sites: ‘.ac.uk’ in Britain and ‘.edu’ in the United States. While many tutors don’t recommend Wikipedia as a completely reliable source of information, it may help you get started on a topic. It could also be useful to check the references at the end of a Wiki page; this will help you to check the reliability of the information provided and could lead you to other interesting sources.