Finding Foundational Readings

Finding the Right Readings

The quality of your curriculum depends on the quality of your readings. Surface-level content produces surface-level learning. Foundational texts—the ones that shaped how people think about a domain—produce genuine understanding.

The Reading Discovery Prompt

Here's the prompt for discovering foundational readings. It's also available at /prompts/02-reading-discovery.md:

I'm building a self-directed research curriculum on [YOUR DOMAIN].

The central question is: [YOUR CENTRAL QUESTION FROM LESSON 1]

The scope includes: [YOUR SCOPE DEFINITION]

Please suggest foundational readings for this curriculum. For each reading, provide:

1. **Full citation** (author, title, year, publisher if book)
2. **Why it's foundational** (what key ideas it introduces)
3. **What cluster/theme** it might belong to
4. **Prerequisites** (what should be read first, if any)
5. **Difficulty level** (accessible, moderate, challenging)

Prioritize:
- Primary sources over secondary sources
- Texts that introduced key concepts
- Works that are frequently cited in the field
- Readings that reward close engagement

Suggest 15-25 readings organized by theme.

IMPORTANT: Only suggest texts you're confident actually exist. I will verify all citations.

Evaluating the Results

When you get the AI's suggestions:

1. Verify existence: Search for each text on Google Scholar or WorldCat. AI can invent plausible-sounding titles.

2. Check accessibility: Can you actually get the text? Look for:

   • Internet Archive (free borrowing)
   • Library access
   • Open access versions
   • Legal PDFs

3. Assess centrality: How often is this text cited by the other suggested texts? Highly-cited texts are more central.

4. Consider diversity: Does the list represent multiple perspectives? Different time periods? Varied methodological approaches?

5. Trust your judgment: If you know the field, you'll recognize gaps or questionable inclusions. The AI is a starting point.

Organizing by Theme

As you evaluate readings, patterns will emerge. You might notice:

• Several texts address the same fundamental concept
• Some texts naturally precede others
• Distinct "schools of thought" become visible

These patterns suggest your cluster structure. Group related readings, and you'll start to see your curriculum take shape.

Example: Organizing Readings

Readings often naturally group into themes. For example, a curriculum on social theory might organize like this:

Cluster	Theme	Key Texts
Foundations	Core theoretical frameworks	Foundational authors in the field
Methods	How to apply the theory	Methodological texts
Applications	Theory in practice	Case studies and examples
Critiques	Challenges and alternatives	Responses and revisions

This structure should emerge from the readings themselves, not from an abstract plan.

Quality Over Quantity

Resist the temptation to include too many readings. Each lesson should center on one primary reading that rewards careful engagement. A curriculum of 15-25 deep readings produces better learning than 50 skimmed articles.

Ask: "Is this text essential enough that someone couldn't claim expertise without having read it?"

If the answer is "no," consider cutting it or moving it to additional resources.