Category Archives: Library

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

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

 

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

Semester Two resource lists

Approximately 200 resource lists were published using Talis Aspire in time for the start of Semester One. Library staff now have a number of resource lists to create for Semester Two.

If you would like us to create a resource list for your course, and then hand it over to you for ongoing maintenance, please send your reading lists to IS.Helpline@ed.ac.uk by 28th November.

Please provide the course code (s), indicate how many students are expected and, if possible, prioritise the items on your list(s).

Please only send us lists you intend to publish for Semester Two classes. We will issue a request for reading lists for Session 2015/16 in the New Year.

As always, Library Learning Services is available for demos, training sessions and 1-2-1s.

If you’d like access to Resource list@ Edinburgh (using Talis Aspire) please email IS.helpline@ed.ac.uk

Resource Lists cut-off date for Semester One

Univeristy of Ediburgh LogoFollowing our recent email asking you to send us your resource lists, we have had a fantastic response from course organisers.

As we have a two week turnaround on creating resource lists using Talis Aspire and our interns are only with us until 5th September, we are imposing a cut of date of 25thAugust.

*If you are considering asking the Library to create your resource lists, please send them to library.learning@ed.ac.uk   by 5pm on Monday 25th August*

Any lists received after 25th August will be added to our queue and best efforts will be made to ensure they are ready for 15th September, however, no guarantees can be given.

Please remember that creating resource lists yourself is quick and easy to do.

Email library.learning@ed.ac.uk  to register as a List Creator on Talis Aspire.

A series of short user guides, including a guide on Getting Started, is provided on the Information Services 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

Send us your reading lists

Univeristy of Ediburgh LogoOur two Resource Lists interns, Katrin and Gemma, are doing a fantastic job and are speeding through the reading lists we have asked to transfer onto resourcelists.ed.ac.uk

This means we need more lists!

Whether you have started creating your own lists and would like help with additional lists, or if you have been interested in Resource Lists but not yet had the time to create one yourself, now is the perfect time to send us your lists.

Having Katrin and Gemma available to enter reading list information into Resource Lists @ Edinburgh is a fantastic resource for staff to utilise and is only available for the next four weeks, so do please do make use of this opportunity.

This service also includes providing a summary of the items on your list, books, journals and articles, with information on how many are held and at what locations. This means you can see in advance where additional materials might need to be ordered or moved into reserved/short loan sections of the library.

If you would like to send us your reading list there are a few important pieces of information that will help us provide you with the best possible service:

Required information for Resource List creation (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

Managing and publishing your Resource List

Univeristy of Ediburgh Logo

Library Learning Services and our interns have been working hard to transfer your reading lists on to Resource Lists @ Edinburgh. But once this process is complete and the lists have been handed over to you, what’s next?

To help you manage and publish your new resource lists we have created a short user guide including information and links to further guidance on:

  • Viewing, navigating and editing your list.
  • E-Reserve Bookmarks
  • Linking to the hierarchy
  • Publishing and promoting your list

How to manage and publish your Resource List (PDF)

Important: We are still accepting lists! If you have a reading list that you would like us to transfer onto resourcelists.ed.ac.uk please let us know.

This service also includes providing a summary of the items on your list, with information on how many are held and at what locations. This means you can see in advance where additional materials might need to be ordered or moved into reserved/short loan sections of the library.

If you would like to send us your reading list there are a few important pieces of information that will help us provide you with the best possible service:

Required information for Resource List creation (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

Resource Lists @ Edinburgh has integrated with Learn and Moodle!

Univeristy of Ediburgh LogoWe are very pleased to announce that Resource Lists @ Edinburgh is now integrated with both Learn and Moodle!

Important:  Your resource lists MUST be linked to the hierarchy. If this has not been done then the VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) will not be able to locate your lists.

The hierarchy is a virtual representation of the organisational structure at Edinburgh and is taken from the Degree Regulations and Programmes of Study (DRPS). For more information on the hierarchy and linking your lists we have created a step-by-step guide: Linking to the hierarchy (PDF).

Learn

There are three options when using the Resource Lists tool within Learn.

a)      You can create a menu item for Resource Lists so that the link is always available to your students from anywhere in the course.

b)      You can add the Resource List tool to your course module page. Any lists linked to the hierarchy for your module will display in Learn.

c)       You can add the Resource List tool at any point in the course content and any lists linked to the hierarchy for your module will display with the Resource Lists icon as shown below.

 

LearnTool2

A) Menu item, B) Module page

LearnTool4

C) Course content

Moodle

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.

The block can then be moved to a suitable location within your Moodle page. Any resource lists that have been linked to the hierarchy for this particular module will be recognised, displayed and linked to from the 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

Moodle1 Moodle2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

Linking to the hierarchy and why it is important

Univeristy of Ediburgh LogoOnce a list has been published on Resource Lists @ Edinburgh it is ESSENTIAL that the list is then linked to the hierarchy.

What is the hierarchy?

The hierarchy is a virtual representation of the organisational structure at Edinburgh. The hierarchy is taken from the Degree Regulations and Programmes of Study (DRPS). So course names and codes should accurately reflect current modules on offer.

We have just uploaded the DRPS for the 2014/15 academic year so your course/module should be active and ready to link to your resource list.

Please contact your Academic Support Librarian or the IS Helpline if your course is not listed and we will add it asap.

It is ESSENTIAL to link your list to the Talis Aspire hierarchy: warning

  1. To allow students to browse to find their resource lists.
  2. In order to allow integration with the VLE (i.e. Learn & Moodle).
  3. To make sure lists are available in subsequent years.
  4. To generate stable URLs for resource lists which you can then use to promote lists to students.

To assist with this process we have created a step-by-step guide on Linking to the hierarchy (PDF). If you have any questions or require assistance please don’t hesitate to contact us at Library.Learning@ed.ac.uk

Additional guides and information can be found on the Resource Lists using Talis Aspire webpage and the ResourceLists@Edinburgh Blog.

We are also running a ‘Hands-on’ introductory session to Resource Lists @ Edinburgh this Wednesday 30th July. Sessions are bookable via MyEd or contact us directly.


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Stephanie Farley

Library Learning Services Assistant