Reading lists: a guide for academic staff

The reading lists system, Talis, enables you to create a list of core reading (required, or mandatory reading), or additional reading for your module(s).

Through Talis you can specify books, articles and other learning resources for your students for teaching and learning. The Library aims to provide access to books and articles included on reading lists wherever possible. 

Although they are called 'reading lists', module lists may contain a variety of sources including videos, web links, images, as well as links to books, e-books and journal articles. It is also possible to include TV programmes and films using the BoB and Kanopy services provided by the library - see the Audio-Visual resources list for links to these services. 

Reading lists are available online, accessed through WebLearn, or directly on London Metropolitan University - reading lists

They're a key way of encouraging engagement with resources as they let students plan their study with access to required module reading and can link to electronic resources and live library catalogue records.

Take a look at our short videos which give you an overview of the key processes involved in creating and managing your reading lists.

The University's Reading Lists system was rolled over in preparation for the 2024/25 academic year in May 2024. 

This process created a fresh copy of each current module reading list for use during the upcoming academic year. Each 2024/25 reading list will not be visible to students or checked by the Library team until it is published on the system by academic staff. 

The previous 2023/24 versions of the reading lists have now been archived on the system, but can be retrieved on demand if required.

If you have any questions about this process please do not hesitate to contact the Library team via readinglists@londonmet.ac.uk.

Your reading list determines what books/e-books the Library orders and how many copies we buy for your students.

Each term, we'll email you to remind you to update your reading lists. You need to:

1. Check: go to Talis and check the resources on your current module reading list list are up to date and still what is required for teaching. 
2. Edit: add new resources and remove out-of-date ones, including letting us know if you require the new edition of a book title for teaching. Set the importance of each resource: is it Core, or Additional?
3. Publish: make your list live, so that we know what items we need to order.

We’ll check and process every list you publish on a line-by-line basis. The earlier you publish your list, the better the chance we have of delivering your resources for the beginning of term and we'll tell you if there's anything we're unable to buy. 

During our peak ordering period: we’ll review lists in the order they arrive but delivery time may be longer.