Reading: Where to start and how to read effectively
Published on 2 December 16
Reading. You've been doing it most of your life and you've been sourcing what to read for at least the last three years of your education, but it can still be a stumbling block. Whether you're beginning your research or are looking for fresh inspiration, here are a few tips to help you think about what to read and also how to read efficiently and effectively.
Where to start
No matter how long you've been researching, sometimes the amount of literature available can be overwhelming, but you have to start somewhere:
- Hopefully you know the key researchers in your chosen field – so start with them. Don't just read their publications look at the bibliographies, the acknowledgements to see who they are quoting and working with.
- However, this won't be anywhere near enough and you will need to make sure you are familiar with all the library search facilities and services, (the online workshop knowing where to look is a really good start). Also ensure you know how to keep up to date with publications in your area.
- Look at all the relevant 'searching' resources on my learning essentials. There’s everything from using different types of material to how to use specific databases. It’s better to get to grips with anything you might need sooner rather than later!
Critical reading
Now you've made a start you'll need to look at what is most relevant to your research. There will be lots of things of interest but you really need to keep in mind the specifics of your research to help you focus. Whilst surrounding reading is useful don't think you have to read everything vaguely related to your topic or you'll be back to square one with an unmanageable amount of literature. You need to approach literature in a methodical way that will help you decide quickly whether or not it's useful:
- Check the publication date? Older information might not necessarily be useless but you do need to be aware of the date and look for later contributions or more recent revisions.
- For journal articles read the abstract. A well written abstract can really give you an indication of how useful the piece is.
- For books look through the contents and the index to get a sense of what the book covers. Skim read the introduction to understand the authors approach.
- Look at the conclusions; don't see this as a short cut to understanding the author's arguments, but it should help you see whether or their arguments are relevant to you.
- Remember the basics when looking at new information – ask questions about reliability and objectivity as well as relevance. The library's online workshop on evaluating sources is a really useful resource – even it's just a reminder. Also see RMIT's really useful guide to Critical Reading.
- Think about the way you read, at this stage learning to scan or skim read effectively will be helpful. Make notes that remind you in the future why you found the piece useful (or not!) Remember though once you're ready to fully engage with a text it's better to read at a slower pace and really try to think about and understand the information.