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Reading Lists (Leganto)

a guide to managing Reading Lists and best practices in Leganto

Manage Reading Lists

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 Keeping links out of the course shell also results in fewer broken or outdated links.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:

Fall quarter: August 29 

Winter quarter: November 28

Spring quarter: February 27

Summer quarter: May 29

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.  

Reading List Best Practices

How should I organize my Reading Lists? 

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. 

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.

highlighting tags to help students know how to obtain items

  • Link items directly to the library when available. Use the Add button when adding a new citation to a reading list and then select "Search the Library". 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. 

add item button

add button options highlighting "search the library"

  • 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.

save to favorites button on a citation

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.

 

Where Can I Learn More?

Where Can I Learn More? 

PLEASE NOTE: The Leganto user interface has recently changed (03/15/2024). Some instructions in this guide may be inaccurate. We appreciate your patience as the library team works to update this guide to reflect those changes.

The short videos below will walk you through common tasks used in managing Reading Lists, including adding web and library resources, uploading documents, and saving items to your personal collection for later use. For the best user experience, view these videos in full-screen mode. 

Adding Library Resources to a Reading List

Adding Web Resources to a Reading List

Save and Reuse Course Content in a Collection

For additional information and training, see the external sites below: