Skimming is a reading technique that allows you to quickly gather the most important information from a text. It is a strategic, selective reading method in which you focus on the main ideas of a text, deliberately skipping text that provides details, stories, data, or other elaboration. Skimming works best with non-fiction or factual material. Skimming is one of the tools you can use to read more in less time. It is used to quickly locate the information you need while making sure you use your time wisely. Skimming can save you hours of laborious reading. Skimming is not simply flipping through a text quickly or paying half attention to it. When skimming, be deliberate and intentional with what you choose to read, and make sure that you are focused.
To skim effectively, there has to be a structure, but you don’t read everything. What you read is more important than what you leave out. When you skim a text, you run your eyes over the text, noting important information. It’s not essential to understand each word when skimming, since you’re reading to get the gist or main idea of the text, not to understand all of the details. There’s a particular sequence to follow when you skim a text:
- Read the title.
- Read the abstract, introduction, and/or first paragraph.
- Read the first sentence of each paragraph.
- Read the subheadings.
- Look at any pictures, charts, or graphs.
- Read the summary or conclusion.
Skimming can be used to overview your textbook chapters or to review for a test. It can also be used to decide if you need to read something at all, for example, during the preliminary research for a paper. Skimming can tell you enough about the general idea and tone of the material, as well as its gross similarity or difference from other sources, to know if you need to read it at all.
Skimming can present problems if not done intentionally. Skimming is not a lazy way out or a half-hearted attempt at reading. Make sure that you use it carefully and strategically and are able to walk away with the main ideas of the text.
