Category Archives: Online library resources

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

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

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