Effective Reading

Locating Information - Effective Reading

You may have heaps of reading to get through. Usually you don't have to read the whole lot. The only way to work out which bits are relevant is to overview the whole book.
Check the title, the date of publication (is the information up to date?) and the place of publication (do you need Australian content?).
Read the chapter headings and subheadings in the Table of Contents.
Scan the preface and/or introduction. The introduction will usually tell you what the author is trying to achieve in the book. Watch for bias. If there is a conclusion, read this - it can save time.
Look up keywords in the index. Is there a glossary which defines terms?
Flip through to get the feel of the quality of any graphs, pictures or diagrams.
Skim the first and last paragraphs in the most useful chapters. Often chapters in text books have a summary at the end. Subheadings tell you how the chapter is broken down.
After you have done this, ask yourself if this book is worth reading more thoroughly. Don't waste your time reading anything that is not helping you. Find another more useful source of information.