Skimming and Scanning
What is it? Skimming involves running your eye very quickly over large chunks of text. It is different from previewing because skimming involves the paragraph text. Skimming allows you to pick up some of the main ideas without paying attention to detail. It is a fast process. A single chapter should take only a few minutes.
When to use it: to quickly locate relevant sections from a large quantity of written material. Especially useful when there are few headings or graphic elements to gain an overview of a text. Skimming adds further information to an overview.
How to Skim:
- note any bold print and graphics.
- start at the beginning of the reading and glide your eyes over the text very quickly.
- do not actually read the text in total. You may read a few words of every paragraph, perhaps the first and last sentences.
- always familiarise yourself with the reading material by gaining an overview and/or skimming before reading in detail.
What is Scanning? Scanning is sweeping your eyes (like radar) over part of a text to find specific pieces of information.
When to use it: to quickly locate specific information from a large quantity of written material.
To scan text:
- after gaining an overview and skimming, identify the section(s) of the text that you probably need to read…
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