How to Read an Academic Book

This short Library video will show you how to read a book for university-level research-based assignments.

Selecting a Book

When selecting a book consider the following:

• What information do I need for my assignment?
• Does this book relate to my research topic?

Evaluate the Book

Now evaluate the book. Ask yourself:

• What is its purpose?
• Who is its intended audience?
• Look for cues that this is indeed a scholarly text and not a popular text. If unsure ask your librarian

Skimming

Remember: We do not read scholarly texts cover-to-cover. Skimming a book first can help you decide which parts of the book to read in depth, and which parts of the book to focus less on. Strategic readers use certain parts of a book that signal important or relevant information like:

• The table of contents
• Back cover
• Inside cover
• Forward or introduction

These areas tell us whether this book will meet our needs. The back of a book contains the index: an alphabetical list of terms, names, and subjects complete with corresponding page numbers. Finally, references and end notes not only help us evaluate the quality of the book's supporting evidence but they can also lead us to additional sources. Skimming refers to reading only main ideas to get an overall impression of a text. We skim due to lack of time to determine what to read more thoroughly later. When you skim, pay special attention to:

• Introductions and conclusions
• Chapter titles, headings and subheadings
• Charts, diagrams, and graphs
• The beginning and end of each section or chapter

Remember that skimming helps introduce you to the ideas in the book and helps you evaluate whether you should read parts of the book more thoroughly later on. Thinking critically, we mark sections to visit later noting things like underlying assumptions, beliefs or values, arguments and conclusions, and evidence presented. Taking notes and recording page numbers of important points saves us having to re-read later for a potentially useful passage.

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This concludes the library video on how to read a book.