Monthly Archives: February 2015

Tuesday Tips – Sharing Bookmarks

Univeristy of Ediburgh LogoDid you know that you can share bookmarks that you have created with your colleagues?

When you create a bookmark, either to add directly to a resource list or for later use, all bookmarks are saved to your ‘My Bookmarks’ tab in Resource Lists @ Edinburgh. To share these with your colleagues requires just a few quick steps.

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Tuesday Tips – Exporting your Dashboard

Univeristy of Ediburgh LogoRecently we looked at how you can get the most from your Dashboard but did you know you can also export your Dashboard into a PDF to share with colleagues?

There are various ways to export your Dashboard, or any website, into a PDF no matter which browser you are using. Below are instructions on how to do this in Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari.

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Talis Aspire Resource List news: promoting resource lists to students

Univeristy of Ediburgh LogoUse the Resource List tool in Learn and Moodle to promote your Resource List to students.

We have found that academics responsible for each of the top ten most viewed lists use the Resource List Tool in Learn to promote their list(s) to students.

We recommend embedding your list in your Learn or Moodle course. This is very quick and easy to do using the Resource Lists Tool.

Adding the Resource List Tool in Learn and Moodle (PDF)

Top Ten Lists from Semester One 2014/15

  1. Sociology 1A (Susie Donnelly)
  2. American History 2 (Semester 1: Tutorial Reading Lists) (HCA)
  3. British Society, 1650 – c. 1880 (Social History 1.1) – Tutorial Readings (HCA)
  4. Social Anthropology 2 – (John Harries)
  5. British History 1 – Essay Readings 1 (HCA)
  6. British History 1 – Essay Readings 2 (HCA)
  7. British Society, 1650-1900 (Social History 1.1) – Essay (HCA)
  8. Greek World 1A: Essay Readings (HCA)
  9. British Society, 1650 – c. 1880 (Social History 1.1) – Assignment (HCA)
  10. Medieval Scottish History – Essay Readings (HCA)

If you would like any help adding the Resource List Tool or have any questions about the Resource List service, please get in touch: library.learning@ed.ac.uk

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

 

Getting the most out of your Resource List: Dashboard

Univeristy of Ediburgh LogoDid you know that Resource Lists @ Edinburgh (using Talis Aspire) includes a  Dashboard with feedback on how often your resource list is being used and which items on your list are popular with students?

Note: you will need to be signed in in order to view the ‘Dashboard’ button on your list.

To view the Dashboard for your resource list click on the green ‘Dashboard’ button at the top of the list.   A short tutorial on Dashboard statistics will be provided, you can choose to read through the tutorial or exit at any point.

Screenshot of where to find the Dashboard button on your resource list.

 

The dashboard statistics show the number of page views, clicks on the list and the number of annotations made by students (the actual annotations are private to the student). The dashboard also provides a metadata check and suggests where you can make improvements. You can also see if the edition on your list is the most recent and if the library has a copy.

Screenshot of Dashboard features: total page views, total item clicks, total clicks within sections, total clicks on individual items. Where to choose a date range, and rating of high, moderate, or low usage.

 

If the number of views and clicks are lower than expected you may need to promote the list to students or try embedding the list in your Learn or Moodle course using the resource lists tool:

Adding the Resource List Tool in Learn and Moodle (PDF)

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

FAQ – I often seem to trigger a library review of the list without knowing how that happens. How I can avoid that?

Univeristy of Ediburgh LogoQ. I notice that I often seem to trigger a library review of the list without knowing how that happens. How I can avoid that?

No, when a list is published (or republished) the resource list system (Talis Aspire) will automatically trigger a review of that list. The request to review the list is sent to the Library. The review process helps us check that links to resources are working as expected.

Updating a list

If you have made only minor changes to your list, we will do a quick check to make sure that the links on your list are working. We’ll let you know if we’ve had to amend anything. If your list is reviewed and everything is okay, you won’t hear from us.

New Lists

If a list is being published for the first time (and has not been created by Library staff) we will review the list and create a spreadsheet summarising availability and highlighting any queries about editions or number of copies held by the Library. A copy of the spreadsheet is emailed to the creator of the list and the relevant Academic Support Librarian.

Please be aware that we do not made any changes to the content of your list.

We may clean up metadata and fix broken web addresses where possible, otherwise the purpose of the review is only to check that links are all working, items are held by the Library, and to provide suggestions that may assist both you and your students in using the resource list.

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

Eight out of ten top Lists from School of History, Classics, and Archaeology

Univeristy of Ediburgh LogoStudents absolutely love it and are doing more reading because of the ease of access.

Academic staff have requested Resource Lists for their honours courses so that more students can benefit.

In semester one 2014/15, eight out of the ten most active Resource Lists were created and managed by the School of History Classics and Archaeology (HCA).

The move by HCA towards adopting resource lists as a tool began in 2013/14  when the School trialled Resource Lists @ Edinburgh on their British History 1 and Roman World 1B courses.

At the end of the 2013/14 semester the following questionnaire was sent out to the students of British History 1:

‘This year there were online reading lists for the British History 1 essays. How useful did you find these lists?’.

Of the 87 students who responded, the vast majority found the list to be helpful with 45 responding that lists were excellent, 20 that it was very good, and 13 that it was good.

Feedback for Roman World 1B was obtained via a class representative. Sandra Bingham, Senior Teaching Fellow in Classics, advised that the class rep. was full of praise for the system and that “the students absolutely love it and are doing more reading because of the ease of access”.

Following on from the successful trials HCA decided to roll out this library service to as many pre-honours courses as possible in 2014/15. Two interns were hired over summer to assist with creation of their lists. HCA also made use of the interns employed by the wider HSS by submitting additional lists for creation.

Margaret Forrest, Academic Support Librarian for HCA, advises that feedback from staff and students in 2014/15 has again been very positive and several academic staff have requested Resource Lists for their honours courses so that more students can benefit.

Margaret’s response on receiving the news that HCA had eight of the top ten most active lists for semester one?

“I’m delighted!”.

The eight lists from HCA to make the top ten were:

– American History 2 (Semester 1: Tutorial Reading Lists)
– British Society, 1650 – c. 1880 (Social History 1.1) – Tutorial Readings
– British History 1 – Essay Readings 1
– British History 1 – Essay Readings 2
– British Society, 1650-1900 (Social History 1.1) – Essay
– Greek World 1A: Essay Readings
– British Society, 1650 – c. 1880 (Social History 1.1) – Assignment
– Medieval Scottish History – Essay Readings

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