One of the things you may be worried about is the amount of reading you will be expected to do. You may be given a reading list, or there may be just one specific book for your course.
VISIT THE LIBRARY
Make sure you visit the library often and make friends with your librarian.
Whether it's a university, a college or your local public library, the librarian is there to help you. In many cases there may be a subject-specialist librarian, who will be able to tell you exactly which books you will require and where to find them.
Take your reading list along with you and find out where books for your subject are stored. Make a note of the Dewey decimal number on the spine of each book, as this will enable you to find them again easily. For example, 649.1 is the number category for childcare books.
If the book you require is not on the shelf, you may have to use the computerised catalogue system to find it, so learn how this works. You could ask the librarian to help you with this.
Books can sometimes be ordered from other colleges or other libraries, but make sure you do this well in advance of your assignment hand-in date, because it can sometimes take several weeks for them to arrive.
Always make sure you know how long you can keep the books, or you may end up with a huge fine. Make a note of the library telephone number so you can extend the borrowing time and renew them without having to go back to the library. If you are returning to study after a long period away, you may find it easier to read the books recommended for lower level courses - again, ask the librarian or your tutor if you are unsure.
JOURNALS AND MAGAZINES
Check out the journals and magazines in your subject area, as they will contain more up-to-date information than books and in some cases can be easier to read, with articles fairly short and to the point.
Most journals will be catalogued, so you can find exactly what it is you are looking for. Learn how to use indexes and abstracts. These are separate publications giving brief details of articles in journals and they make finding exactly the right piece of information easier.
Don't be afraid to look through journals that are not on your reading list.
For example, Psychology Review will be able to give you information about theories of learning, behaviourism and many other relevant subjects.
Of course, libraries are not just about books any more. Information on every subject can now be found on the internet, and you need to be able to access this information. If you don't have a computer at home, then finding out how to use the ones in the library is a must. There will be someone there to help you - ask.
HOW TO READ A BOOK
So what do you do once you have your books? No one expects you to sit down and read textbooks from cover to cover, but you need to be able to find your way around them to find relevant information for your assignments or essays.
SKIMMING AND SCANNING
Once you have found your book, always read the information on the back cover, the contents page, the index at the back and look inside the front opposite the title page to find out when it was published.
Once you have decided this is the book you need, you should skim through the relevant chapters. This means reading chapter and section headings, the first and last paragraphs in a section, or the summary at the end of the chapter. After narrowing down the correct chapter, scan or run your eyes over the page and pick out the key words and phrases.
Don't forget to read the glossary if there is one. You will usually find this at the end of each chapter or at the back of the book. This is a list of the words and terms used, and it will help you to understand those you might not have encountered before. You can also use these definitions in your written work.
ACTIVE READING
* Always read with a specific idea in mind. It could be your assignment question or an idea for your next seminar.
* No one expects you to be able to understand everything the first time you read it, so don't worry if you have to go over it several times.
* Always have a pencil or highlighter in your hand, plenty of sticky notes and some writing paper so you can make notes or jot down questions as you go.
* Tag the pages that you think are important with the sticky notes and write the main idea or content on them so you know where to come back to.
* If it is your own book, then don't be afraid to highlight specific sentences or passages or make pencil notes in the margins or fold corners down. But please don't do this with library books.
* Read a few sentences or a paragraph and then stop. Now think about what you have just read. Could you explain it to someone else? Explain it to yourself out loud if you can. You'll be surprised when you look around in the library just how many others are doing this as well. Try writing it down and then refer back to the book to see if you have the gist, or meaning, of what you were reading.
* Use index cards to store the title of the book, the author, the date of publication and a few lines about the content. This will be invaluable later on when you are writing your references and bibliography.
* If you want to quote from the book, make a note on your index card of the page number, to make it easy to find.
LISTENING
It is easier to listen to something you understand than to listen to something you know nothing about and find difficult. If your tutor has given you a course overview or a scheme of work, showing the content of each session, then do some reading about the subject beforehand. You'll be amazed how much easier it is to listen to what's being said and to make notes if you actually know what it's about.
