Monthly Archives: January 2015

Sociology 1A – Students and Tutors

Univeristy of Ediburgh LogoWhen Sociology 1A came in as the top active list for semester one we asked list owner Susie Donnelly, co-convenor of the course, for some feedback. In addition to her own experience using Resource Lists @ Edinburgh, Susie also asked her fellow co-convenor, the tutorial representatives, and the students (via the course Facebook group).

“The Resource Lists sync with the library better, especially for books – I might go as far as to say it encourages students to use the library more.” Angus Bancroft – Co-convener of Sociology 1A

Tutorial Reps:

  • Great e-resource for the readings.
  • Resource list – organised and easy to use.
  • The resources on Learn are brilliant.
  • Resource List was a great tool, everything was so accessible to students.

Feedback on the Sociology 1A Facebook group
(lots of “likes”!)

It’s great that everything is so accessible. While it is important that students still learn how to use the library, a resource list like this makes things a lot less stressful, particularly as a lot of the books that contain the readings will be in high demand and there may not be a lot of copies. I particularly like being able to download the readings as PDFs so that I can highlight and make notes on them on my laptop … I think that more courses should adopt a resource list like this. – Emma McFarlane, Sociology 1A student.

More information on how to make the most of Resource Lists can be found on the Resource Lists using Talis Aspire webpage and the ResourceLists@Edinburgh Blog.

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Stephanie Farley

Library Learning Services Assistant

Sociology 1A Takes Top Spot

Univeristy of Ediburgh LogoAveraging 67.3 visits per student, Sociology 1A took the top spot for most active Resource List in semester one 2014/15.

We asked course organiser Susie Donnelly how the experience of using Resource Lists @ Edinburgh has benefited the class:

I spent less time this semester dealing with issues to do with access to readings.

Particularly helpful for first year students who are getting to grips with university life.

Students have reported that they are very happy with this tool.

The Resource List has certainly made life a lot easier. Sociology 1A is an extremely large course, with approx. 480 students and the numbers are growing each year. This places a significant demand on us to provide the required material for students in an accessible, reliable and responsive way. The Resource List has helped in this regard and once the list was up and running, I believe I spent less time this semester dealing with issues to do with access to readings.

While the initial set-up took some investment of time and energy, I was supported with training and support from staff in the Library Learning Services.

In the Resource List, students are shown multiple ways to access readings and the interface is very straightforward – this is particularly helpful for first year students who are getting to grips with university life.

As the semester progressed I was able to add new and up-to-date resources and material (rather than being limited by what has been published in the course handbook at the start of the semester). In particular, around the assessment period I was able to respond to requests from students for more academic writing support.

However, I should also mention that the use of these kinds of tools raises questions about independent learning and the extent to which library and research skills are being displaced.

For the moment though, the students have reported that they are very happy with this tool…and if the students are happy then I am happy!

Susie Donnelly – Co-convener of Sociology 1A

More information on how to make the most of Resource Lists can be found on the Resource Lists using Talis Aspire webpage and the ResourceLists@Edinburgh Blog.

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Stephanie Farley

Library Learning Services Assistant

 

Action required: Update your bookmark tool

Univeristy of Ediburgh Logo

 

Talis Aspire have launched an updated bookmark tool that will work with both HTTP and HTTPS websites.

Background

In reaction to a number of security issues that occurred last year, many websites have slowly been changing from a HTTP address to a HTTPS address. Moving websites to a HTTPS address increases security by adding a ‘secure certificate’ to the site.

However, the addition of this secure certificate has been clashing with the Talis Aspire bookmark tool and may have been preventing it from working on some of the sites that you regularly use. (The bookmark tool is the button that appears on your browser bookmarks bar which is used for adding resources to lists).

What do I have to do?

When Talis Aspire detects that it is being used on a HTTPS website a pop-up window will let you know that a newer version of the bookmarklet is available and provide instructions on how to install it. Please install the newer version of the bookmark tool when prompted.

The current bookmarklet will still work on HTTP websites; however, we would recommend you update the bookmarklet tool. Talis Aspire have made it even easier to do this.

Adding or updating the bookmarklet tool is a quick process. Go to http://resourcelists.ed.ac.uk/ and then to the ‘My bookmarks’ tab. On the right of the page is an ‘install bookmark button’, click on this and Talis Aspire will detect which browser you’re using and walk you through adding the bookmark tool.

More information on how to make the most of Resource Lists can be found on the Resource Lists using Talis Aspire webpage and the ResourceLists@Edinburgh Blog.

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Stephanie Farley

Library Learning Services Assistant

What makes a good Resource List?

Univeristy of Ediburgh Logo

The content is important, but what about the style and structure? What about length? Can a list be too long? Or too short? In what ways can a resource list interact and engage with students?

A great feature of Resource Lists @ Edinburgh is the flexibility. We have lists created by academics across the University across a wide variety of schools and subjects, each using resource lists in their own specific way.

CertAVP Equine Dentistry by Sharon Boyd at the Royal Dick Veterinary School

Sharon’s list contains just seven items and provides clear instructions on reading expectations for the class. It also advises where to go find additional abstracts and sources. The Vet Schools’ ‘Instructions for using this Reading List’ is extremely useful and has been adapted by Library Learning Services and is used on many of the lists we create for course organisers.

The sources of knowledge: Understanding and analysing research literature by Dr Peter Allison at the School of Education

Featured as one of our ‘Great Lists’ last year, this continues to be an excellent list. What initially caught our attention was Peter’s note at the top of the list encouraging students to contact the course organiser with any materials that may be particularly useful in particular web pages or YouTube clips. These have been collected towards the bottom of the list in the section ‘Useful Websites’ and, by the number of resources in this section, it looks to have been quite successful in promoting self-study and engagement with students.

Peter also uses the list to encourage skill learning. In ‘Session One’  a resource link is provided to the University Library Catalogue and then in the notes students are directed to search for and locate a specific article. Details are also provided on where to find additional guidance via the information skills module in Learn.  

Social History 2.2 The Making of the Modern Body – History, Classics, and Archaeology

History reading lists tend to be quite large as the format of their lists are to provide a wide range of options from which students are encouraged to self select and prioritise.

To help make this large volume of reading options easier to navigate, Social History 2.2 has been split into three separate lists. One for Lecture and Tutorial readings (226 items), one for the Essay Title readings (141), and one for the Group Project readings (62 items).

 

If you would like to create a resource list but are unsure how to best format a list for your course please get in touch, we’re more than happy to sit down with you and come up with a solution together.

More information on how to make the most of Resource Lists can be found on the Resource Lists using Talis Aspire webpage and the ResourceLists@Edinburgh Blog.

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Stephanie Farley

Library Learning Services Assistant

How to use Resource Lists @ Edinburgh – A guide for students

Univeristy of Ediburgh LogoWe now have around 300 published resource lists for courses across the university and as this number steadily grows so too does the number of students now accessing readings and resources via Resource Lists @ Edinburgh.

To provide more information about the service and the many ways it can benefit students we have included an ‘Information for students’ section on our website and created a short guide with some hints, tips and tricks on how to get the most out of this service.

The new page is now live on the Resource Lists @ Edinburgh using Talis Aspire website and includes a link to the Resource Lists @ Edinburgh using Talis Aspire: A Guide for Students (PDF).

Please feel free to point students towards either the webpage or the pdf document. Both can easily be found by linking directly or by using the search function on the University website.

More information on how to make the most of Resource Lists can be found on the Resource Lists using Talis Aspire webpage and the ResourceLists@Edinburgh Blog.

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Stephanie Farley

Library Learning Services Assistant

Welcome back!

Univeristy of Ediburgh LogoWe hope everyone is feeling rested and refreshed after the winter break and ready to take on the new semester.

In at Library Learning Services we’ve been working hard to ensure all submitted lists were ready for semester two. If we created a list for your class please make sure to read through the information provided in your email and then publish your list.

Don’t forget to promote your list to students!

We recommend using the course URL/web address to promote lists to students. This can be found by typing the name of your course into the search box on the homepage and selecting the ‘course’ rather than the list. The URL will look something like this: http://resourcelists.ed.ac.uk/courses/lls01.html

Using the course URL/web address instead of the URL for the list itself allows students to see all lists linked to a course and is a link that shouldn’t break. The URL for the the list itself will change each year with the rollover and will break over time

Learn and Moodle

Your resource lists can also be promoted to students in these spaces.

Information on adding the resource list tool to a Learn course is available on the IS Learn Tools website.

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In Moodle a block for Resource Lists is added the same way any other block is added, by clicking on the drop down menu in ‘Add a block’ and selecting the ‘Resource Lists’ block.
More information and help on using Moodle blocks can be found in Moodle by clicking on: Home –> Hints & Tips –> Staff Help –> Moodle How To

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More information on how to make the most of Resource Lists can be found on the Resource Lists using Talis Aspire webpage and the ResourceLists@Edinburgh Blog.

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Stephanie Farley

Library Learning Services Assistant