A reading list mind map organized by question

Open the Reading List template

The Reading List template is one of the 13 starters Canvasola ships with, filed under personal in the gallery. It arrives as a root called Reading List with four branches: Reading Now, Up Next, Finished and Recommendations. Finished holds one child, Top takeaways, and the other three arrive empty.

It is the only starter that groups by status rather than by subject, and status is the right axis for a shopping list and the wrong one for research. A list of titles tells you what you own and what you have not started, while research needs a map of questions and the sources that answer them.

The Templates button in the mind map toolbar opens the gallery, and Ctrl/Cmd+K reaches the same list from the command palette. The shortcut cheat sheet lists the keys for renaming branches, searching and moving through the map while you work.

• Four branches, all of them about status rather than subject
• Only Finished arrives with a child, Top takeaways
• The root label names the course, the essay or the project
• One map per reading project, not one for everything you read

Note: Choosing a template replaces the open map, so keep anything you already built in another workspace tab before you start.

Group sources by the question they answer

A reading list organized by question is a research plan. Rename the first-level branches into the questions your reading has to answer, such as "How do pricing plans affect churn?". Each source then becomes a child of the question it answers, so the map shows gaps: a question with two sources is thin.

The template's status branches still earn their keep, but as information on the source rather than as structure at the top. The Finished branch shows how: a child called Top takeaways under each finished book is the record of what you got out of it.

The two groupings fight each other if you try to keep both at the top level. Pick one axis for the branches and put the other on the node. The essay planning guide makes the same move, hanging every source under the claim it supports rather than listing sources in a row.

• Name each branch as a question the reading must answer
• One source per child node, under the question it serves
• A question with two sources is a thin question
• Keep one axis on the branches and the other on the node

Note: If you read for several projects at once, give each project a layer instead of a map. The 2D layer tabs scope the map to one layer at a time, and a map holds up to 8 layers.

Mark status on each source

The node icons come from a set of seven emoji, enough to carry the status without a word. A pin for the book you are reading now, a check for the one you finished, a warning for the one you are avoiding, a star for the one that matters most. Icons are quicker to scan than prefixes and keep the label short.

If you prefer words, put the status at the start of the label: "Finished: Thinking in Systems". The rule is that the status has to be scannable at a glance, because the question the map answers is what you still owe yourself, and that is a question about the whole map.

The color of a node is the third channel, and it is the easiest to abuse. The 8-color palette plus a recent colors row gives you plenty of choices, and one rule is enough: green for read, amber for in progress, nothing else. A map where every source is a different color tells you nothing.

• One icon per source, with one meaning
• Status in the label works too, at the start
• One color rule: read, in progress, untouched
• Check the status of every source before you export

Link a source to the branch it supports

Once the branches are questions, a source is not only read, it is used. Use Create cross-link to join a source to the branch it supports, and the map shows the claim that has something behind it and the source nobody used. Links work between any two nodes, so one book can support three branches.

A claim with no source is a gap, and a source with no claim is a book you read for pleasure. Both are worth seeing, so cross-link rather than move, and the tube between them becomes the argument of the map. The cross-link guide explains how the links are drawn.

Links carry no text, so put the reason in the note of the source: "used for the counterargument" or "the only source that gives a figure". That note is what a reader needs later, and it is the part that survives the export.

• One link per source, to the branch it supports
• A claim with no source is a gap in the research
• A source with no claim is a book you read for nothing
• Put the reason for the link in the note

Spot the reading you keep avoiding

Every list has the source at the bottom that never gets read, usually because it demands the most thought. Two things expose it. Mark the sources you keep postponing with the warning icon and the pattern shows itself. Then press Ctrl/Cmd+F, search for a term you already know, and the node that should mention it is the one that does not.

Search runs through node labels and notes, ranks the matches and lets you jump to the node, which makes it a gap finder as well as a lookup. Searching for a phrase from a book you half remember is faster than looking for the book itself.

Then do the honest thing: cut the source or commit to it. A list with four unread sources and a deadline is a list you have not planned, and cutting the two you will never read makes the rest possible. Put the ones you drop into Recommendations with a note saying why.

• Mark the sources you keep postponing with a warning icon
• Search for a term you know the answer to, and see what is missing
• Cut the sources you will never read
• Record why a source was dropped in a note

Export the list to share with your tutor

When the reading has to be handed in, export the map rather than retyping it. OPML 2.0 keeps the structure as a nested outline other tools can open, Markdown turns the same tree into a bullet list, and the plain-text outline gives a version for an email body. Both exports sit in the File menu and the command palette.

The guide to OPML files explains what the format is and why it is worth keeping, and a Markdown export is the easiest thing to paste into a message. Put the questions in the root label, so the reader knows what you were looking for.

One thing to be honest about: Canvasola does not host the map, so the file is what you send, and any comments come back to you by email rather than inside the map. Keep the .canv project file for yourself, and the list is ready for next week.

• OPML 2.0 for the structure, Markdown for pasting into a message
• The plain-text outline is the version for a plain email
• Put the questions in the root label so the reader has them
• Save the project file before you send the export

Note: A shared reading list is not a live document, and Canvasola has no live editing. If two people work on the list, they work on copies and the merge is manual.

A checklist you can reuse

• The root label names the project and the questions behind it
• Each first-level branch is a question the reading must answer
• Every source is a child node of the question it answers
• Each source carries an icon or a status word
• Every claim in the writing has a source linked to it
• The sources you keep avoiding are marked
• The list was exported as OPML 2.0 or Markdown for the tutor

Common mistakes to avoid

• Keeping the status branches. Reading Now, Up Next and Finished are a queue, not a research plan. Name the branches after the questions and keep the status on the source.
• Status in eight different colors. A color per source makes the map look organized and tells you nothing. One rule, three states, and the map reads at a glance.
• Sources listed but never linked. A list of books is not a plan. Link each source to the branch it supports, and the claims with no support show themselves.
• Never pruning the list. The books you will never read are the reason the list feels heavy. Cut them, and say in a note why, so the cut is a decision.
• Sending the export without the project file. The export is what the tutor receives and the project file is what you keep. Save both, or the map you spent a week on becomes a file you cannot reopen.

Frequently asked questions

Should I keep the Reading Now and Up Next branches?

Only if your list is a queue of things to read. If the list supports an essay, a dissertation or a piece of research, the branches should be the questions, and the status belongs on each source as an icon or a word.

How do I mark the books I have not read yet?

Use the node icons, which come from a set of seven emoji: a pin for the one you are reading, a check for the one you finished, a warning for the one you keep avoiding, and a star for the one that matters most.

Can I find a source again after a few weeks?

Press Ctrl/Cmd+F while the map is active. The search covers node labels and notes, ranks the matches and lets you jump to the node, so a term, an author or a phrase from the book will find the source that mentions it.

What can I send my tutor?

A file. Export the map as OPML 2.0 for a structured outline, as Markdown for a bullet list you can paste into a message, or as the plain-text outline for a plain email. Canvasola does not host the map online, so anything you send is a copy you keep yourself.

This guide is part of the template guides collection. For the wider product tour, read the complete Canvasola guide, and keep the keyboard shortcut cheat sheet open while you work.