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Reading Lists Online: guide for academic staff

Adding Resources

Getting started

Before you start adding resources the bookmarklet tool needs to installed onto your web browser. Go to the Getting Started section of this guide for more information.  

To add resources which are already in stock in the Library use the Discovery search tool to find books (print and electronic), journal articles and conference papers.

If you are working on a reading list and it is still open in another tab or window, you will need to refresh the page to show your newly added item. Once you have finished adding all the items you want on your list, you must publish it, in order for students to see the changes. Click on the Publish button, in the reminder bar at the top of your list. Clicking Publish will also notify the Library to review your list for new book purchases. 

Publish button

 

Adding items

Detailed instructions of how to add different items to your reading list can be found below.

If the article/paper is not available via the library please see the Scanning for Teaching page as it may be possible to purchase copyright cleared version.

There may be books that you want to add which are not in the Library's stock. Use Amazon or publishers websites to find these titles. 

Use the Subject LibGuides to find journal titles and databases that are relevant for your modules.  If the journal or database you want to add is not available via the Library please contact your Academic Librarian

You can also direct your students to information on websites. 

Editing your reading list: key features

Watch the recording to learn about some of the key features available to you when editing your reading list.

Helping your students

Note for Students

You can add specific notes to your list for students which will help guide them through their readings. You can add annotations and comments to highlight what is useful about an item or how they could use it in an assessment.

Note for Students

 

The Importance of Importance

Don't forget to set the importance level for any items that you add to your list. This enables students to see at a glance which are the most important resources. The library use these importance levels for purchasing and assigning loan categories too. 

When adding an item to a Reading List you need to select a category from Purchase by Student, Essential or Recommended (PER). 

Importance Levels

PER mainly refers to books and can be described as follows:

P=Purchase by Student: This category indicates that students are expected to purchase the item themselves. The Library would have one copy in stock (possibly on reference).

E=Essential: These are titles which students are expected to refer to but not necessarily to purchase.  The Library will buy an e-copy (if available) and/or print copies according to a purchasing policy. Please contact your Academic Librarian for more details.

R=Recommended:  Less vital than essential, but still a sought after item.  The Library will buy an e-copy (if available) and/or print copies according to a purchasing policy. Please contact your Academic Librarian for more details.

 

Sections and Paragraphs

When you are creating a list for an Approval or Review event it is standard practice to use the section headings of:  Purchase; Essential; Recommended; Journals; and Websites. Once your module has been approved, you can rename the sections of your list and add new ones. Students might find it helpful if you broke up your list into weekly readings or themes. You can also add paragraphs to give additional information. This will help students to navigate your list easily.

Use the action bar

action bar

or the 3 dot action button 3 dot action button to add sections/paragraphs and the 3 dot action button 3 dot action button to edit them. 

Adding a section

More detailed instructions on how to do this can be found below.

Example Reading List

Click on the image below to see an example reading list with weekly readings:

Weekly Readings