Information Literacy: Reading Strategies: Six Habits for Effective Reading

Critical reading -- active engagement and interaction with texts -- is essential to your academic success at Bucknell, and to your intellectual growth. Research has shown that students who read deliberately retain more information and retain it longer.  Your college reading assignments will probably be more substantial and more sophisticated than those you are used to from high school. The amount of reading will almost certainly be greater. 

While the strategies described within this guide (for the sake of clarity) are listed sequentially, you typically do most of them simultaneously.  They may feel awkward at first, and you may have to deploy them very consciously the first few times, especially if you are not used to doing anything more than moving your eyes across the page. But they will quickly become habits, and you will notice the differences—in what you “see” in a reading, and in the confidence with which you approach your texts.

• Set aside time to read, and find a comfortable spot as free from distractions as possible.
• Consider the type of source and for whom it is written.  If you're new to reading scholarly articles, allow for even more time to read them.
• Think of the text as an argument.  Throughout your reading, try to use your own words to re-articulate the author's point.  If you're unsure, go back over the section.
• Be an active reader. Pause to note questions that arise as you read.  
• Clarify unfamiliar terms and concepts.  Use a dictionary or reference sources for background information.

“Interrogating Texts: 6 Reading Habits to Develop in Your First Year at Harvard” by Susan Gilroy, was adapted by Bertrand Library, Bucknell University and is licensed CC BY NC SA 4.0.