Course Design Guide

Manage Reading Lists – Leganto for Program Directors/Managers  

Leganto is automatically added to Brightspace for all classes. CityU recommends that all required and recommended readings are listed on the Leganto Reading List. Links to resources in the course shell are not monitored or maintained by the library. By instituting Reading Lists across all courses, we improve the student experience by standardizing the method in which students access materials. Keeping links out of the course shell also results in fewer broken or outdated links. 

Program Manager/Director Responsibilities 

Program managers are responsible for adding, editing, deleting, or changing resources in the Master Reading List (MasterRL) based on course changes and updates.  

Each course at CityU has a MasterRL containing resources (both Required and Recommended) that is copied to all sections of that course. Only program directors/managers and library staff can see the MasterRL. A snapshot of the MasterRL is published each quarter for students to view.  

How do I gain access? 

Program Directors/Managers will see their MasterRLs on their Leganto landing page. If you do not see a MasterRL for a course you manage, please contact the course resource coordinator via textbooks@cityu.edu and they will remedy the issue. 

Under no circumstances should Program Managers, Directors, or their admin create new MasterRLs. 

When can I make edits to their MasterRLs? 

Master Reading Lists are now perpetually unlocked and available for editing. This means that edits can be made to Reading Lists all the way up to the time they are published for students to view, one month before the quarter begins. 

Deadline to edit Master Reading Lists for:

Important note: It is the responsibility of the Program Director/Manager to plan course updates accordingly. Any discrepancies between the course content and the Reading Lists that are not addressed by the above deadlines must be communicated by Program Directors/Managers directly to their instructors prior to the start of the quarter.  

Program managers and directors are responsible for ensuring that courses have accurate and detailed reading lists for core resources. Materials that are required and that are linked in shells should be on the reading lists. Faculty may add supplemental resources to section lists for courses they are teaching but should not change required materials that students need to purchase or may choose to purchase. 

The following tools are available to add items to your reading lists:

Add Item button

1. Select the "Add" button to see your options.

2. Select whether you want to add an item from the library, your favorites, or making a manual entry.

3. If you select "Search in Library," enter a title, author, or keyword in the search bar to see your options.

4. Select and item and choose which list and section the item should be added to.

Cite It

"Cite It" is a tool that is added to your browser that enables you to add items that are not in the library collection. This can be used for items that are in full text on the web but also for items that students will need to purchase. It uses information in the background of a website to populate the fields that are needed in Leganto. It can also add book covers to your Leganto entries.* This tool can save you time when you would alternately need to make manual entries in Leganto.

* Please note that this tool uses information that is not connected to CityU or the library. The information available on websites varies and not all information may be available.

1. Open the settings in Leganto

2. Select "Cite It" and follow the instructions to add the tool to your toolbar in your browser.

3. For known web items, open the webpage. For books/ebooks, open a site like Amazon or VitalSource and find the citation for your book. Select Cite it in your browser toolbar. The information you need should be populated if it is available. Make sure that you select the correct reading list and section before you add your item.

Catalog Search

When searching for items in the CityU catalog, you can add items that you like directly to your reading lists by using this tool.

1. Search the CityU library catalog and select an item. Please note that if the item is "Open Access" and not exclusive to the CityU collection, this option is not available. Use the Add Item within a reading list to add.

2. Use the "Reading List" button to export the information to a reading list.

3. Select the list and section that you want to add the item to.

How should I organize my Reading Lists? 

You can maximize the benefits of the reading lists by following these best practices. These tips will benefit you but they will also maintain consistency for students throughout programs and courses at CityU.

• Add all items required and recommended that students will need to access throughout the quarter. Master reading lists copy over to section lists. Ensuring that all content is accurate helps your faculty and students access resources efficiently. 
• Always send students to the Reading List. In order to avoid confusion and errors, do not duplicate information into emails or alternate lists.
• Keep the items organized by adding sections to your list. ex.: Week 1, Module 1, or by topic.
• *NEW* Tag items within sections as "Required, "Recommended," "Optional," etc.

• Link items directly to the library when available (see instructions above). This searches Summon, our library catalog, and ensures accurate links and metadata. If the item is not found, then use the Cite It tool or the ISBN option to add an item that is not in our collection. 
• Items from websites must be freely available or must have Creative Commons Licenses that enable you to share the item.
• Add items that you want to use in future quarters to your "Favorites." Add tags to indicate which course the resource should be used for. Items added to section lists do not carry over quarter to quarter.

Things to Avoid

• PDFs should be added with caution. They are not automatically visible to students and must be approved by the library due to copyright restrictions. PDFs that are freely available online should be linked to the original website when possible.
• Items from your private collections cannot be added without copyright clearance for distribution. Contact the library if this applies to one of your resources.
• Avoid linking to websites that are not reputable or reliable. ex.: ResearchGate. These websites have been known to host articles that the library cannot obtain in the collection. While this may seem beneficial, these articles are often uploaded without copyright clearance and they are often removed without warning. Using these items may cause confusion for students and faculty and impact the integrity of your course content.
  • For Program Managers: Make sure to create new citations when you update editions of textbooks. Editing the current citation, can create errors within the metadata of the citation causing confusion and errors in student purchases.