Category Archives: Library

Interns on board to create your Resource List!

Univeristy of Ediburgh Logo

We are very happy to announce the appointment of Katrin and Gemma who will be interning with us over the next six weeks to create resource lists for the College of Humanities and Social Science.

We  would also like to thank Louise and Christabel who have been interning for the School of History, Classics & Archaeology(HCA) for the past eight weeks. They put in a terrific effort and along with their other tasks created a whopping seventeen resource lists for HCA. Well done!

If you have a reading list that you would like to see transformed into an interactive online reading list at resourcelists.ed.ac.uk we can do this for you!

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)

If you are interested in learning more about resource lists, places are still available for our  ‘Hands-on’ introductory session to Resource Lists @ Edinburgh this Wednesday 30th July. Sessions are bookable via MyEd.

Before you attend

When you register for the session, you will be sent an email inviting you to register to use Talis Aspire. Please follow the link in the email to accept the invitation. This will give you access to the Resource List system.

If you can’t make this session

If you are interested in Resource Lists @ Edinburgh but can’t attend this session, please get in touch. We are happy to arrange alternative training sessions for individuals or small groups.

More information is available on the Resource Lists using Talis Aspire webpage and the ResourceLists@Edinburgh Blog.


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Stephanie Farley

Library Learning Services Assistant

Preparing for the new academic year – how we can help

Univeristy of Ediburgh Logo

As you enjoy the summer sunshine we at Library Learning Services would just like to remind you of some of the ways we are available to help lecturers and course organisers prepare resource lists for the new academic year.

 

Did you know that Library Learning Services are able to take your existing Reading List and turn it into a Resource List for you?

If you have a reading list that you would like to see transformed into an interactive online reading list at resourcelists.ed.ac.uk we can do this for you!

Simply send us your list, and the earlier the better.

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)

If you prefer to create your own resource list we have guides and example lists to help!

Creating a resource list is a fairly simple process

  1. Contact the IS Helpline to request access (IS.Helpline@ed.ac.uk).
  2. Accept the email invitation to register as a List Creator.
  3. Install the bookmarklet tool to your browser. This is a quick and simple process and you only need to do it once.

We have created a detailed user guide to help you get started and a series of shorter guides that focus in on specific tasks within Resource Lists. The guides are available on our Resource Lists @ Edinburgh using Talis Aspire webpage and also on our blog User Guides page.

Example lists are provided for you at Resource Lists – Library Guides on the use of sections, notes, fields, and general good practice to demonstrate the variety of resources and formats available. Note: if you haven’t done so already, you will be prompted to log in to EASE.

Prefer assistance that is more hands-on? Try one of our hands-on sessions this July.

The sessions are designed to introduce a new users to Resource Lists, to become familiar with the system and feel confident creating and editing lists. All sessions are bookable via MyEd.

The sessions are open to all Course Organisers, Programme Directors, College/School IT staff or Admin staff and Library staff who may create lists on behalf of others.

Dates/Times/Venue

Tue 22nd July 2014: 10am-12noon, Main Library, George Square, Training Rm 1.12

Wed 30th July 2014: 2-4pm, Main Library, George Square, Training Rm 1.08

Before you attend

When you register for the session, you will be sent an email inviting you to register to use Talis Aspire. Please follow the link in the email to accept the invitation. This will give you access to the Resource List system.

If you can’t make these dates

If you are interested in Resource Lists @ Edinburgh but can’t attend on these dates, please get in touch. We are happy to arrange alternative training sessions for individuals or small groups.

More information is available on the Resource Lists using Talis Aspire webpage and the ResourceLists@Edinburgh Blog.


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Stephanie Farley

Library Learning Services Assistant

Edinburgh’s Zombie Resource List is a winner

The University of Edinburgh has won Talis Aspire’s Reading List challenge!

Congratulations to Stephanie (Charlie) Farley creator of the winning list, which beat 26 other entries from across the UK at this week’s Talis User group meeting at the University of Leicester. #taug2014

Do Not Feed the Zombie

Zombie Apocalypse Guide – How to access resources during a zombie outbreak or other event generated quite a buzz, with many other universities keen to use Charlie’s list as an example in their own institution.

Charlie, now infamous for her marketing genius and zombie knowledge, created this list to provide information on accessing e-resources on and off-campus. She used the theme of a zombie apocalypse to brighten up what can be a fairly dull, and often confusing, subject for students.
Many of the items on the list link to existing Library webpages or services, pointing students in the right direction for any help they might need.

The resources (books, articles and webpages) used on the list are intriguing and fun and encourage you to explore the Library’s e-resources: Zombies and mathematical modelling, the epidemiology of a zombie apocalypse……who’d have thunk it??

Of course, there is a serious point to all this, and Charlie has included a lot of informative notes on the list which format well when exported to a PDF file, providing students with a useful and easy to follow guide to accessing e-resources. There is also guidance within the list to show how users (both academic and student) can make the most of Resource Lists features such as notes and read status.

This Resource List is one of the Library Guides which you’ll find on ResourceLists@ Edinburgh (search for ‘ ‘library guides’) : http://resourcelists.ed.ac.uk .

Angela Laurins, Library Learning Services Manager.

Hands-on sessions and your feedback

Univeristy of Ediburgh LogoIn June we ran two hands-on sessions introducing Resource Lists @ Edinburgh using Talis Aspire. After each session we asked for feedback, and you gave it!

 

Handwriting: "I very much wish I'd had this when I was a student!! As it is I can see a number of ways it would be useful to have as a librarian. Excellent session in all respects, I thoroughly enjoyed it! :) "

“I very much wish I’d had this when I was a student!! As it is I can see a number of ways it would be useful to have as a librarian. Excellent session in all respects, I thoroughly enjoyed it! 🙂 ”

Handwriting: "I would have preferred to work through the tasks on my own - the system is very easy (and the handout was very clear!) - and then come in for more of an advanced trouble shooting Q&A style event."

“I would have preferred to work through the tasks on my own – the system is very easy (and the handout was very clear!) – and then come in for more of an advanced trouble shooting Q&A style event.”

Handwriting: "Really enjoyed the session. Very informative."

“Really enjoyed the session. Very informative.”

It is very important to us as we develop Resource Lists as a tool to hear back from you, so we really do appreciate all of your feedback. We have also taken the suggestion of a more advanced troubleshooting session under consideration, this would indeed be good to do once we have more people using the service.

In the meantime we are also happy to arrange alternative training sessions for individuals or small groups.

Missed out on the June sessions? That’s okay we’re running two more in July!

The sessions focus on introducing Resource Lists @ Edinburgh using Talis Aspire, and all sessions are bookable via MyEd.

Sessions begin with an Introduction to the Resource List system followed by a hands-on workshop where attendees are able to try out the system and start creating their own Resource Lists with the support and guidance of Library Staff.

The sessions are open to all Course Organisers, Programme Directors, College/School IT staff or Admin staff and Library staff who may create lists on behalf of others.

Dates/Times/Venue

Tue 22nd July 2014: 10am-12noon, Main Library, George Square, Training Rm 1.12

Wed 30th July 2014: 2-4pm, Main Library, George Square, Training Rm 1.08

Before you attend

When you register for the session, you will be sent an email inviting you to register to use Talis Aspire. Please follow the link in the email to accept the invitation. This will give you access to the Resource List system.

If you can’t make these dates

If you are interested in Resource Lists @ Edinburgh but can’t attend on these dates, please get in touch. We are happy to arrange alternative training sessions for individuals or small groups.

More information is available on the Resource Lists using Talis Aspire webpage and the ResourceLists@Edinburgh Blog.


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Stephanie Farley

Library Learning Services Assistant

Promoting great lists – EDCMOOC

Univeristy of Ediburgh LogoEDCMOOC
Created by Jeremy Knox
Moray House School of Education

 

Jeremy created this resource list to complement the University of Edinburgh MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), E-Learning and Digital Cultures.  To our knowledge this list was one of the first, if not the first use of Talis Aspire for a MOOC.

We love the way that Jeremy has combined the use of Pages to include extended explanations and discussions around the resources! He has also made great use of Talis Aspire’s ability to embed YouTube clips.  The list is clearly structured by the four weeks of the MOOC, each week containing a Page with four embedded YouTube clips including information and discussion prompts for each of the clips.

My favourite of the included YouTube clips is Film 1:  Bendito Machine III on the Popular Cultures Page for Week 1: Looking to the past.

In addition to this, Jeremy has used Student Notes to provide substantial commentary on each of his resources. The notes make very clear what is the purpose of each resource and are written in a lively conversational tone. He has also used this space to pose questions and promote thought and discussion among participants of his MOOC.

Although we don’t have access to the exact student numbers for this MOOC, according to the Dashboard this list was successfully viewed 1266 times with 161 total clicks. A very successful list!

If you are interested in creating your own Resource List more information is available on the Resource Lists using Talis Aspire webpage and the ResourceLists@Edinburgh Blog.

We are also running ‘Hands-on’ introductory sessions to Resource Lists @ Edinburgh this June & July. Sessions are bookable via MyEd.


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Stephanie Farley

Library Learning Services Assistant

Bookmarking E-Reserve Articles/Chapters

Univeristy of Ediburgh LogoThe process of linking E-reserve articles hosted on a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) such as Learn or Moodle on your resource list  is fairly simple. Remember, if at any stage you feel you require assistance by all means get in touch with us at Library.learning@ed.ac.uk

When creating a bookmark link to an E-reserve article within any VLE, it’s important to provide that clear guidance is provided to students. In order to read an article provided in any of the University’s virtual learning environments, a student needs to be:

a) enrolled into that specific class and
b) logged into the environment.

Below is an example of the information that needs to be provided for student’s accessing an article in LEARN, we recommend adding this text somewhere towards the top of your resource list. :

Learn Chapters/Articles
– Please note that some articles/chapters are provided for you on LEARN. Ensure that  you are logged into LEARN before attempting to read the article. If you are not enrolled for this course on LEARN you will not be able to access the article.
– Click on the blue ‘Online Resource’ button to go directly to the article.
– If the book is available in the Library you can find more information by clicking on the
title of the book in red text.

We also recommend adding the below text in the Student Note for any bookmarked resource that will be provided as an E-reserve item via a VLE.

Please note this article/chapter has been provided for you on LEARN.

When creating a bookmark for an E-reserve article or book chapter please select the item type as ‘document’. This will ensure that Library Learning Staff can quickly and easily identify E-reserve items and also allows students to filter by item type if they want to focus on E-reserve articles.

Creating a bookmark for an E-Reserve item

1. Bookmark from the Library catalogue the book your E-reserve article/chapter will be taken
from and add this to your list.

2. In the ‘Note for student’ section include the page/chapter details of the E-reserve item and
the following text, “Please note this article/chapter has been provided for you on LEARN.” (swap out LEARN for whichever platform being used by your School).

3. In the ‘Note for library’ section include the following text, “E-Reserve – When URL is available please edit the metadata and add ‘Web Address’ ‘ and enter the E-reserve URL for the chapter/article. Ensure that the ‘Online Resource’ button is ticked.”

LEARN

 4. Once E-reserve provide you with the URL for your article/chapter, go back in and edit the metadata of your bookmark.

5. Click on the drop down box ‘Add field’, select ‘Web address’ and ‘Add’.

6. Cut and paste the E-reserve URL into the web address, then save (remembering to tick the ‘online resource’ box).

documents2

The ‘Note for Student’ will be visible on the saved draft of your list and to students once the list has been published. However, the ‘Note for library’ will only be visible in ‘Edit’ mode and to the Library Learning Services team.

LEARN2

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

We are also running four ‘Hands-on’ introductory sessions to Resource Lists @ Edinburgh this June & July. Sessions are bookable via MyEd.


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Stephanie Farley

Library Learning Services Assistant

Promoting great lists

Univeristy of Ediburgh LogoThe sources of knowledge: Understanding and analysing research literature [SV1-FLEX] 
Created by Dr Peter Allison FRGS
Senior Lecturer Values and Experiential Learning / Depute Director of Postgraduate Studies

What initially caught our attention about Peter’s list was his note at the top encouraging students to contact the course organiser with any materials that may be particularly useful for inclusion with the list, 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.

Another way Peter’s list has encouraged skills learning is his use of resources. In the section ‘Session One’ instead of simply linking directly to a journal article, Peter has instead opted to provide a resource link to the University Library Catalogue and then in the Student Note has directed students to search for the article themselves. Peter has also used the Student Note to provide information on where to find help on how to search if they have difficulty with this task.

The list has a very focused purpose, each section has a study note explaining what it contains and who it may be relevant to, and many of the resources have student notes describing the resource and including instructions on how the student is to use it, e.g. “Please read Chapters Six and Seven of this book and bring notes to the workshop this week”.

Peter has also made use of Talis Aspire’s ability to link and embed YouTube clips, adding a number of these to the list, including upbeat and engaging clips such as ‘Conspiracies, Mind Control and Falsifiability‘.

Many of the resources themselves are quite interesting and eye-catching:
– Statistics without tears: a primer for non-mathematicians – Rowntree, Derek 2000
– How to read journal articles in the social sciences: a very practical guide for students – Shon, Phillip C. 2012 Book Essential Read and take notes on: Chapter 1: Serial Killers and Book Reports

Peter’s list was created as part of the research courses for all postgraduate students at the School of Education, covering approximately 650 students. According to the Dashboard this list was successfully viewed 1937 times with 1810 total clicks and 28 notations.

If you are interested in creating your own Resource List more information is available on the Resource Lists using Talis Aspire webpage and the ResourceLists@Edinburgh Blog.

We are also running four ‘Hands-on’ introductory sessions to Resource Lists @ Edinburgh this June & July. Sessions are bookable via MyEd.


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Stephanie Farley

Library Learning Services Assistant

Zombie Apocalypse Guide – How to access resources during a zombie outbreak or other event

Univeristy of Ediburgh LogoWhile we don’t take ourselves too seriously, we at Library Learning Services are quite serious about providing the best information and access to Library resources.

 

To this end we have created a new resource list:

Do Not Feed the Zombie

Zombie Apocalypse Guide – How to access resources during a zombie outbreak or other event

The guide provides valuable information on how to access Edinburgh University Library resources electronically and off-campus during a zombie outbreak (or other event preventing students from accessing materials on-campus).

Note: if you are not already, you will be prompted to log in to EASE to access subscription content.

Other resource list guides created by the Library Learning Services team include Remembering H.R. Giger – the artist behind Ridley Scott’s ‘Alien’ and a selection of example lists providing guidance on the variety of resources and formats available to use with Resource Lists @ Edinburgh.

View the full list of guides created on Resource Lists @ Edinburgh: Library Guides

If you are interested in creating your own Resource List more information is available on the Resource Lists using Talis Aspire webpage and the ResourceLists@Edinburgh Blog.

We are also running four ‘Hands-on’ introductory sessions to Resource Lists @ Edinburgh this June & July. Sessions are bookable via MyEd.


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Stephanie Farley

Library Learning Services Assistant

Hands-on sessions in June & July bookable via MyEd

Univeristy of Ediburgh LogoWe’ve had such a fantastic response to the two hands-on sessions organised in June that we’ve created two more sessions for July!

The sessions focus on introducing Resource Lists @ Edinburgh using Talis Aspire, and all sessions are bookable via MyEd.

The sessions will begin with an Introduction to the Resource List system followed by a hands-on workshop where attendees will be able to try out the system and start creating their own Resource Lists with the support and guidance of Library Staff.

The sessions are open to all Course Organisers, Programme Directors, College/School IT staff or Admin staff and Library staff who may create lists on behalf of others.

Dates/Times/Venue

Wed 18th June 2014: 2-4pm, Main Library, George Square, Training Rm 1.12

Wed 25th June 2014: 2-4pm, Main Library, George Square, Training Rm 1.08

Tue 22nd July 2014: 10am-12noon, Main Library, George Square, Training Rm 1.12

Wed 30th July 2014: 2-4pm, Main Library, George Square, Training Rm 1.08

Before you attend

When you register for the session, you will be sent an email inviting you to register to use Talis Aspire. Please follow the link in the email to accept the invitation. This will give you access to the Resource List system.

If you can’t make these dates

If you are interested in Resource Lists @ Edinburgh but can’t attend on these dates, please get in touch. We are happy to arrange alternative training sessions for individuals or small groups.

More information is available on the Resource Lists using Talis Aspire webpage and the ResourceLists@Edinburgh Blog.


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Stephanie Farley

Library Learning Services Assistant

Dashing Skeletons and a Zebrule

Univeristy of Ediburgh LogoWhat do a dashing skeleton, some beautiful feathers, Shakespeare, and a Zebrule named Romulus all have in common? These are the images selected from the University’s Images Online collection for our new Resource Lists @ Edinburgh postcards!

 

WP_001497

The images have all come from the University’s Images Online collection (images.is.ed.ac.uk)  which displays and highlights images of resources held by the University of Edinburgh Library. The images that have been created by the University’s Digital Imaging Unit are freely accessible to all and well worth a look.

Proving particularly popular is the design featuring an image of Romulus the Zebrule. Romulus was bred by Scottish zoologist, James Cossar Ewart at Penicuick  in the 1890s. If you are as curious about Romulus as we were further information can be found over on the Towards Dolly blog post – Zebra Crossing – James Cossar Ewart, Romulus and the Penicuik Experiments.

Another excellent image of Romulus as a foal can be viewed in high quality over on the Images Online collection: Romulus at 7 days old

We are currently gathering feedback on our postcard designs so if there is a particular image in this selection that you enjoy please let us know. We will be handing out the postcards during our workshops and demonstrations over the summer:

Wed 18th June 2014: 2-4pm, Main Library, George Square, Training Rm 1.12

Wed 25th June 2014: 2-4pm, Main Library, George Square, Training Rm 1.08

The above workshops are bookable via MyEd. If you are interested in Resource Lists @ Edinburgh but can’t attend on these dates, please get in touch. We are happy to arrange alternative training sessions for individuals or small groups.

More information is available on the Resource Lists using Talis Aspire webpage and the ResourceLists@Edinburgh Blog.


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Stephanie Farley

Library Learning Services Assistant