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Reading Lists: Getting Started with your Reading List

Resource types

Reading lists contain different types of resources that can help you in your studies, such as:

  • Books
  • Articles
  • Journals
  • Other online resources, such as webpages or videos

You can see which type of resource an item is by looking at the descriptor below each item:

Item importance

Reading lists contain essential readings and other further readings.

Resources marked as Essential are the required readings for the module. They are also sometimes referred to as main text, core reading, key reading, etc. You should be able to tell if an item is essential or not by looking for the descriptor below each item:

If an item is not essential, this descriptor should not appear. Although not essential, these resources are useful to gain a further understanding of the topic. These could be useful for assignments.

If you're unsure whether something is essential or not, the best thing to do is check with your lecturer.

Student notes

You may see student notes on your reading list. These are left by your lecturer to give you more information on a reading, such as which chapters you are expected to read.

Navigating your reading list

There are various ways to navigate your reading list and find what it is you're looking for.

Some examples are:

 

Table of contents allows you to quickly find the section you want, for example a specific week's reading.

Type lets you filter the list by resource type, for example to view only articles or only books.

Filter will enable you to filter the reading list, such as to show resources that are online only or only essential items.

Search helps you to find the item you are looking for by author or title.