Evaluating a Book (3rd Entry)

 

"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island."
Walt Disney



Evaluating a book is not an easy task, and the methods of this evaluation may vary depending on the language, the culture, or the intellectual habits of each reader.  

After going through the article “How to Read a Book” written by “Paul N. Edwards” and first published in 2000 then revised in 2005 by the School of Information in the University of Michigan, I tried to understand each described step of the cited process carefully to not misunderstand any step. As it is mentioned at the end of the article, and as Paul N. Edwards’s experience shows, the techniques stated in the article should be practiced for a considerable amount of time before the reader get used to. However, even though reading in the passive way (reading the whole book from the beginning until the end…) is the most popular way of reading, I think that it’s never too late if we want to change our way of reading and to adapt an effective new way that will make us get the most out of non-fiction reading (textbooks, manuals, journal articles, academic studies…)

ð  To sum up, here is a summary for the reading techniques cited by Paul N. Edwards:

1.     Decide how much time you will spend reading the book (depending on the number of pages and the level of its language.

2.     Have a strategy and an aim (Why reading the book? And How to do so?)

3.     Question about the content of the book, in order to not get bored.

4.     Read the book three times: (Manage the reading time by dividing it into 10 time slots)

4.1.   Overview (1/10 Total Time): Read quickly, mark the phrases that seem important, generate questions.

4.2.    Detail (6/10 Total Time): Read carefully and critically, Focus on the beginning and the end of the chapter, Try to answer the generated questions from the 1^st reading.

4.3.   Notes (3/10): Make notes about the ideas you got from the two previous readings, Write down the conclusions and the evidences using software such
as
Endnote.

5.     Focus on the parts that contain a lot of information (Table of contents, Index, Abstract, Conclusion, Pictures…)

6.     Mark the most important part of your reading with a personal
text
markup
language (PTML).

7.     Gather some information about the author and the publisher to know the intellectual context.

8.     Take break while reading, and try to question your unconscious mind about what you have learned and what you still have to learn.

9.     Finally, talk to your friends and your professors about what you have read to rehearse.

Credits: TheMorbidHobbiest ©