Review your module reading lists!

It’s that time of year again…it’s our annual reading list review! If you are a module supervisor, you will already have been sent your draft online reading lists for each of your modules for 2025/26. These are ready to be edited and published now.

What does this mean for module supervisors?

Mainly, this means that you can get a head start on getting ready for the new academic year by editing and publishing your reading lists ahead of our deadlines. If you’re not already familiar with these, reading lists need to be published by 31 July for AU/FY modules and 31 October for SP/SU!

You will have received an email from the reading list team letting you know that your 2025/26 module reading list is now ready to edit (if you haven’t had this, get in touch). From here, you can check out our information for staff and start to work through our handy checklist for building your reading list and adding resources. You can also click through our guides for more in-depth information:

• Want to find out the different ways you can structure your reading list? We have a guide for that.
• Looking to add student notes for a bit of context? We have a guide for that.
• Not sure how to embed your list into Moodle? Guess what…we have a guide for that too!

Perhaps most importantly, we also have lots of information about how to find online resources for your reading list. We encourage everyone to browse using the library search in the first instance – this is a gateway to the great content we already have access to within our extensive collection.  You can also use our excellent A-Z databases and subject guides for more module-specific information. 

Open Access content is often integrated within these databases, or you can filter for this specifically by following our guides. Open Access content is accessible to all wherever they are, without requiring a log in and gives instant access. We think this is a fantastic starting point for adding resources to your reading list.

Decolonisation is also very important to us here at the library, and we appreciate every effort made to decolonise your reading list. Doing so means that we can fully reflect the diverse backgrounds of our students through platforming these resources and working with both staff and students to develop our collections together.

Why even use online reading lists in the first place?

We believe that reading lists are an important part of student learning and improves the student experience at Essex.

Having an online reading list means that you and your students will have instant access to online resources, and you can check the availability of both electronic and print resources in real-time. Our online reading list platform provides students with consistency throughout their time with us - plus, isn’t it nice to have everything organised in one place for you to quickly work from?

Also, it means that students at Essex are not required to buy books for their studies, which during a cost of living crisis, is fundamentally important to accessing higher education.

Over to you! Please review and update your reading lists for 2025/26 - and if you need us, the reading list team are here to help!