Use a structure which best supports teaching and learning on your module - essential and recommended reading; thematic; or weekly reading. Consider starting each section with a sentence outlining the theme or purpose. Organising your reading list in this way makes it easier for your students to structure and plan their work.

Here are some example reading lists for inspiration:

Reading List organised into themed sections

Reading List organised into key texts and weekly readings

A lack of guidance can lead students to adopt an ‘all or nothing’ reading strategy.

Use annotations and notes to indicate why the resources are useful and what you want the students to do with them e.g.

• “Chapter 5 provides a good introduction to the topic – start with this first”
• “This author is a key expert and you may find her other works of interest too”
• “The whole book is relevant, but see in particular chapters 5 and 6”
• "This discussion is quite advanced – you might like to look at some of the other material first"

The University of Wolverhampton is committed to providing a curriculum that reflects the incredible diversity of our student population. Our students and staff are from a diverse cultural background and where possible we should aim to provide access to learning and research materials that reflect this experience.

When compiling your reading list consider diverse perspectives, for example, relating to ethnicity, disability, gender, class, sexuality, social justice, including the questioning of dominant western models. Course content should aim to cover contributions by people from multiple cultures, with scope to feature materials from marginalised groups, communities or individual scholars.

The aim is to make an informed decision on the inclusion of academic voices and content that may not be currently present in your teaching programme.  This involves identifying knowledge, academic theory and creative content produced by people who may have been previously marginalised due to the aforementioned characteristics.

The key would be not only to select reading list resources that represent the lived experiences of students, but to encourage students to critically reflect and engage with these resources when building their understanding.  By co-creating lists with students, you could harness the opportunity to embrace any authors and themes they might recommend, ensuring representation of voices and narratives which would otherwise be missing.

You can explore the further help and sources at the end of this guide for more ideas on diversifying your reading list.

You can include much more than just books on your reading list – think journal articles,  reports, images, videos and podcasts from academic databases and the web to enrich learning and support different preferences. When doing this, please select resources that would be considered academically credible, whether these be from reputable publishers or contain information that you have read for yourself and verified.

Digital resources and eBooks can offer increased accessibility. When a resource is available digitally, it is often more accessible as text size can be increased, contrasts can be altered to make content more visible, and screen readers can be used so text can be converted to speech. Electronic books and journal articles are also, in general, available to students without restriction, on or off campus.  Bear in mind however that some resources might not be licenced for partner or international use – if in doubt, check with your Liaison Librarian.

Consider requesting digitisation of book chapters or journal articles to increase access, where an item might currently only be available in print format or not part of the Library collections. You don’t need to scan anything yourself because the University Library will manage the process in accordance with the Copyright Licencing Agency (CLA) HE licence; simply add all the details of the chapter or article you require to your reading list in Leganto and the Library Digitisation Team will make every effort to source a scan and add a link.  Each scan can then be viewed and downloaded by students registered on the relevant module. Please note that placing a PDF of a chapter or article directly into Canvas is not permitted and is likely to be considered a breach of copyright.

Take care when adding websites to your reading list. Link to a website’s homepage if possible and unless specifically permitted by the author, you should not copy or upload material from a web page - this includes text, images, videos, and music.  

Accessible Formats

Individual students who need accessible copies of Library resources should request help through the Disability and Inclusion team. Resources can then be provided e.g. through RNIB Bookshare or SensusAccess file conversion as appropriate. 

Limit the number of essential readings to five or less and keep recommended reading to a maximum of twenty-five items. Research shows that students find long lists overwhelming or very daunting.  Very long reading lists also become difficult for the student to navigate and for you to keep updated.  

Make sure to tag the items on your reading list - Essential, Recommended or Wider. Tagging items allows your students to plan their reading and research more easily and informs library purchasing. All items should be tagged including websites. 

Think scaffolding rather than spoon-feeding. Recommended reading introduces students to finding and using information from trusted sources, but consider extension activities which require students to find resources for themselves. In your Leganto reading list, link to LibrarySearch, or the relevant Library Subject Resources page, or your preferred databases – remember to annotate, to indicate what you expect of your students.  Your expectations should vary between levels of study, so for example, level 3 and 4 students might need to be introduced to academic databases whereas level 6 and 7 students could be instructed to search beyond the list more widely. 

Please review your lists annually and make updates within the reading list update deadlines – this helps to ensure the timely provision of resources for your students. Reading not being available in the Library is a source of frustration for many students. When you review your lists, please also make sure that you add any collaborators (e.g. module teams) to your list so they can edit too.  

The Library will help you keep up to date with the latest editions, but will need you to consider the currency, relevance and relatability of the texts that you recommend.   

The Library can provide analytical data on usage of reading list resources which should help you determine which items to keep on your list.  

Please remember, Leganto should be used for all reading lists. This helps to provide consistency and clarity for students, and ensures module readings are purchased by and accessible within the Library.