Scanning and skimming

Fast reading techniques help you to browse text and extract the key points. Using them you can get through a substantial amount of reading in quite a short time.

Scanning – is used when you're looking for a particular word or phrase within a text or when you want to get an idea of the layout of the text (how many sections, where certain topics are covered).

Skimming - a useful first step before reading more deeply. Here you are reading the words quickly to get a feel for how something is discussed. If you think that the text will be useful to you, you can slow down and read in a more focused way.

Scanning

Skimming

Run your eye quickly over the text to locate specific words or phrases that are of interest. You can scan headings and subheadings images and artwork the body text for authors' names the contents page itself the index for specific words. This will help you decide whether you should read further, and how useful the document might be for your study.

Read quickly to get an overview prior to in-depth reading. Although you may still need to read the entire text, by scanning first you can decide where you want to concentrate your time. Skim the text quickly to get an indication of the scope and content of the text read the first and last paragraphs to get the main points look at the first sentence of each paragraph to see where the content of the paragraph will lead note the key points in the summaries.

1. Styles of reading

There are three styles of reading which we use in different situations:

Scanning: for a specific focus

The technique you use when you're looking up a name in the phone book: you move your eye quickly over the page to find particular words or phrases that are relevant to the task you're doing.

It's useful to scan parts of texts to see if they're going to be useful to you:

• the introduction or preface of a book

• the first or last paragraphs of chapters

• the concluding chapter of a book.

Skimming: for getting the gist of something

The technique you use when you're going through a newspaper or magazine: you read quickly to get the main points, and skip over the detail. It's useful to skim:

• to preview a passage before you read it in detail

• to refresh your understand of a passage after you've read it in detail.

Use skimming when you're trying to decide if a book in the library or bookshop is right for you.

Detailed reading: for extracting information accurately

Where you read every word, and work to learn from the text. In this careful reading, you may find it helpful to skim first, to get a general idea, but then go back to read in detail. Use a dictionary to make sure you understand all the words used.

Try these techniques to make your reading active:

• Underline or highlight key words and phrases as you read. When you return to it later on, you can easily see which points you identified as important. Be selective - too much highlighting won't help.

• Make annotations in the margin to summarize points, raise questions, and challenge what you've read, jot down examples and so on. You can do this in printed books or e-texts. This takes more thought than highlighting, so you'll probably remember the content better. (Use sticky notes if you don't want to mark the text.)

• Read critically by asking questions of the text. Who wrote it? When? Who is the intended audience? Does it link with other material you've studied? Why do you think it was written? Is it an excerpt from a longer piece of text?

• Test yourself by reading for half an hour, putting the text away and jotting down the key points from memory. Go back to the text to fill in gaps.

• Look for 'signposts' that help you understand the text - phrases like 'most importantly', 'in contrast', 'on the other hand'.

• Explain what you've read to someone else.

• Record yourself reading and listen to the recording.