A study was conducted to collect information on college students' perceptions of adjunct guide material used in conjunction with textbook reading assignments in history and philosophy courses. The three types of guide materials developed by history, philosophy, and reading department faculty were (1) selective reading guides--a series of instructor-devised statements to accompany a reading assignment and provide a model for selective reading; (2) graphic post organizers--visual diagrams completed by students after reading so that they depict hierarchical relationships among concepts; and (3) vocabulary concept guides--materials designed to extend students' denotative understanding of technical vocabulary to show relationships among key terms. Nineteen students from a philosophy class and 37 students from a history class elected to take a one-hour ten-week minicourse in critical reading in which the guides were used. The students completed evaluation forms on the materials after they had acquired experience using each type. History students reported that all three guide types were helpful to them, while philosophy students preferred graphic post organizers to the other two types. Despite positive ratings, however, the guides seemed to have little transfer effect. (FL)