Getting to Know Your Textbook
1. Examine
the title page:
·
Who are the authors?
·
What is their standing in their fields? (Perhaps you can ask
your professor.)
·
Do their training and background qualify them to write a
book of this type?
·
Who are the publishers?
·
When was this textbook published?
What does that tell you about the book?
2. Examine
the preface or introduction:
·
Why is a preface written?
·
What does it tell you about the book?
·
Do the authors introduce any unusual features of your book
in the preface and prepare you to be on the lookout for them?
3. Examine
the table of contents:
·
What does the table of contents tell?
·
How is this textbook organized?
What main divisions does it have?
·
Compare the table of contents with that of another book in
the same field. Do the two books cover the same topics? Are these the topics
you expected to find covered in this text?
4. Examine
index, glossary, other material at the back of the book:
·
How does the index differ from the table of contents? How
does it resemble the table of contents?
·
What sort of topics should be looked up in the index instead
of the table of contents?
·
What are cross references?
·
Is there a glossary in your textbook? Can you use
diacritical markings successfully to pronounce a word?
·
Is there an appendix in your book? Why isn't this
information included in the body of the book? How would it have affected the
organization?
·
What is the literal meaning of "index" according
to the dictionary?
5. Examine
study questions, guides, and other helps:
·
Does the text provide study aids to help in understanding
the text?
·
Are the study aids in the form of questions, exercises, or
activities?
·
If questions are used, do they simply require finding the
answers or must you do some critical problem-type thinking to arrive at answers?
·
Are there study aids both preceding and following a chapter?
Which types of aids help you most?
·
Does the text provide suggestions for other readings or
materials designed to help you understand this chapter?
6. Examine
chapter headings, sectional headings, and margin guides:
·
Look at the chapter heading and then the section headings
that follow. Write them down and see if this gives an overview of the chapter.
·
How do headings help in skimming a chapter for specific
information?
·
Do you find different kinds of type in your chapter? Does
this help you understand the organization of your textbook better? How?
·
Does the text provide help in identifying material to be
found within each paragraph? Is the topic sentence indicated?
·
Does the book use summaries? How do these help? What is the
difference between giving the gist of a chapter and summarizing its contents?
7. Examine
maps, pictures, charts, diagrams, and tables:
·
Which of these visual aids is used? Do you understand them?