Category Archives: Research & Learning Services

Your feedback is important to us

Univeristy of Ediburgh LogoResource Lists @ Edinburgh are looking for students and/or tutors willing to catch up for an informal discussion on their experiences using this new service. Do you have half an hour free to sit down for a chat in the Business School or DHT Café? We’ll buy the coffee. Feedback is incredibly useful at this time as it helps us improve the service for next year.

If you would be available to sit down for a chat, coffee provided, please email: 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

Add and publish new content to your list throughout the semester – Exam Papers Online

Univeristy of Ediburgh LogoOne of the benefits of having an online Resource List @ Edinburgh is that the list can be updated and re-published throughout the semester to include new content.

Revision and exams are just around the corner, did you know that previous University of Edinburgh exam papers are available for practice and revision purposes on our Exam Papers Online service?

Exam Papers Online is a service provided by University of Edinburgh Library and University Collections for students and staff of The University of Edinburgh. The pages are part of the collected Degree Examination Papers of the University of Edinburgh and are provided for use by  students as a study aid.

Adding Exam Papers Online as an additional resource on your list is as easy as going to the webpage and using the ‘Add to My Bookmark‘ tool. You can link to the home page of the service, to the page relevant to your course, or directly to a specific exam that would be useful for student revision.

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

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

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