Sussex Library Online Reading Lists Guide

What makes a good list?

​You can add anything to your Reading List. Most important is to include the ‘essential’ resources all students are required to read in preparation for lectures and seminars. For more information on how we source essential and recommended reading view our policies page. By providing direct links to these resources you will help students spend more time reading as opposed to searching for them.

• Structure: We recommend week by week - or topic by topic - sections, with clearly marked 'Essential' and 'Recommended' sub-sections.

• Size: we have statistical evidence that concise lists get the most usage. We recommend 150 items max.

• Student experience: availability of learning resources has an impact on the student experience. We recommend that each taught module should have an online reading list, so that the Library can provide the learning resources needed.

• Scaffolding: the reading list can be used to scaffold your teaching, by offering relevant resources, that are clearly signposted, and tied in to your curriculum content. We recommend that the online reading list is used as tool to support the teaching and learning of a specific module,

• Diversity, decolonisation and accessibility: The dominance of white cis male heterosexual scholars from the Global North is pervasive in academia, and this has a direct impact on student curricula via reading lists. Consult our Decolonisation and Anti-Racism Guide for tips on how to make your reading lists more inclusive of the world's knowledge and more inclusive for the diversity of student experience. Also consider student accessibility in the diversity of resource types in the construction of your lists, including multi-media resources for sensory-impaired or neurodiverse students where possible and relevant.  

Structuring lists by sections

Use 'Sections' to organise your materials into any structure that suits your module teaching. When you log in to Talis Aspire, you will see the option to Add a Section when you hover your mouse over the list.

• Sections can be placed one after another, and you can also place sections within sections: so for example you might want to make a Week 1 section and then insert 'Essential' and 'Recommended' sections within it.

• You will be prompted to give the section a title, e.g. 'Week 1'. The description is optional but can be used to give more context to the week.

• Click save

Rearranging sections

You can easily move sections of your reading list around if, for example, you need to change the order of weeks. See the video below for a demo on rearranging sections on your reading list.

N.B.: There is no undo functionality in the system.

Editing or deleting sections

• Click on the dotted menu icon next to items and sections on your reading list.

• Click "edit" to edit the name of the sections. 

• Click "delete" to remove sections.

         N.B.: There is no undo functionality in the system.