Skimming and Scanning

Reading is often treated as a technique. People read an article, book, etc, in order to gain
some information or knowledge. Many times, one needs to read at a faster rate due to various
reasons like lack of time, etc.

Skimming and scanning are two such fast reading techniques adopted by a reader.
Skimming often refers to the way in which one reads at a faster rate to gain the general idea
about the text. It does not involve a thorough reading and understanding. However, it often
depends upon the skills of a reader to understand the text quickly.  Generally, a reader quickly
reads all the words or the text that seems to be important and then tries to gain the general idea
about the document. At times, when time is a constraint, skimming is achieved by reading that
text only which is considered to be relevant. For example, one may read only the topics.

On the other hand, scanning generally refers to that technique when one looks into the
document for searching some specific text. One does not need to read the document fully. One
requires the skill of pattern recognition for a speedy scanning. Many people use it in day to day
life – while searching a particular phone number in phone directory, etc.

 
Skimming is about going through the whole article, whereas scanning is just finding out
the specific text or pattern. Therefore, scanning requires a higher understanding of word
recognition than compared to scanning. Unlike skimming, in scanning the reader is already
aware of the text he wants to search in the document. However, in skimming, the reader usually
has no or little idea about the document. Skimming is more about reading and understanding,
whereas scanning is all about searching or finding. Therefore, both are different from each other.