Understanding text structures
This helps you to quickly retrieve relevant information.
Books
Consulting the table of contents may help you to decide whether or not a book will be of use to you. Often, however, it does not give enough information to allow you to make an informed decision. Most academic books have an introductory chapter which showcases the main ideas and arguments discussed later. Similarly, the final chapter often gives you a good overview of the content and points you in further directions. The index lists main ideas and authors quoted in the text, thus allowing you to find relevant information without having to read all of the text.
Journal articles
The content (or main argument) of journal articles is outlined in the introductory section, and often summarised in an abstract that is placed at the very beginning. Journal articles are usually divided into subheadings that enable you to quickly gain an idea of what is within each section.
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Remember that the information you will need from a text may be found in a single chapter, single section, single paragraph or even just a single sentence. |
