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M25 Conference and AGM 2012 |
This year’s Conference, Bricks and Bytes: blending virtual and physical space, will be held on Thursday 19th April at Ravensbourne College (http://www.rave.ac.uk). More details of the packed program at this new and innovative building next to the O2 to follow very shortly.
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The Open University, London |
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New Developments New library website launched
Library Services has recently launched its new library website www.open.ac.uk/library; with a more modern design and a host of new features, the improved library website focuses on providing a better student experience. We’ve been listening to feedback from students and have used polls and surveys to encourage students to tell us what they want from a library website. As a result, there are a number of new features:
• ‘Getting Started’ is a section which explains how to get the best out of the world-class collection of library resources
• The online training sessions are now featured prominently on the homepage to make it easier for students to find
• We’ve introduced a new ‘How do I?’ help feature on the screen listing help that’s related to the page you are looking at and which provides advice and guidance where it’s needed
Evaluation of the new website will form part of our Student Survey 2012 which was launched in January.
Mobilising library services
Library Services is continuing to explore and develop services for use on mobile devices.
We have just released a new version of the mobile website that will enable students and staff to connect with library resources and services using a range of different mobile devices. For more information go to www.open.ac.uk/library/mobile/.
The fourth international M-libraries conference, "From margin to mainstream: mobile technologies transforming lives and libraries" chaired by Nicky Whitsed, Director of OU Library Services is taking place at the Open University between 24th and 26th September 2012. Since the first successful m-libraries conference in 2007, libraries around the world have made huge advances in harnessing the technology to improve and enhance their services. The conference will bring together researchers, technical developers, managers, educators, and library practitioners to review achievements to date and consider the creative challenges and opportunities ahead.
The conference is currently seeking lively contributions on the following broad themes:
• Transformation – of services, learners or providers
• Inspiration – innovative projects which challenge current thinking and practice
• Implementation – the experience of implementing new mobile technologies
Papers will be short – 15 minutes for the presentation plus time for discussion/questions and you will need to submit your abstracts (up to 300 words) by 15th of March 2012 to
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. These will be subject to peer review and authors will be notified by 26th of April 2012.
For further information and for a list of keynote and invited speakers, visit the website at http://www.m-libraries.org/node/26.
Lexis Library now available for tutors of OU students in partner institutions
After some extensive negotiating on the part of Library Services’ Content and Licensing Team we are pleased to be able to announce the addition of Lexis Library to the Locally Employed Tutors’ service (LETS). LETS is a library service created to provide access to licensed library content for tutors of OU students who are not themselves employed by the OU, such as tutors in some partner institutions. These tutors would not otherwise have access to resources that their students have available through OU Library Services.
Projects
Library Services has launched two new JISC-funded projects.
MACON (Mobilising Academic Content Online) will address the challenges faced when delivering quality academic content to students and staff when using mobile devices. This will include investigating issues around authentication, how to provide users with seamless access to the right content and how to include access to OU multimedia materials.
During the project Library Services will be working with EBSCO in order to prototype a mobile and user friendly search interface which will enable students and staff to discover quality academic content from a range of library resource collections.
You can find more information about MACON on the project blog at http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/macon/
STELLAR, (Semantic Technologies Enhancing the Lifecycle of Learning Resources), will explore the perceived value of the OU’s archived learning materials, and examine whether linked data can enhance that value by improving its discoverability, visibility and re-usability.
As one of the earliest digital learning providers the OU has a rich heritage of archived learning materials. Whilst interest in the reuse of these learning materials is growing, there has been no systematic research into understanding their value. The STELLAR project will research the extent to which academic staff and stakeholders at the OU value these materials. It will also explore whether that value is based on pedagogic or other reasons and determine what staff see as the barriers to realising that value.
In phase two the project will investigate whether collecting this material into a digital library that makes use of linked data will enhance the value of these materials. The project will focus on whether these technologies can improve the materials’ discoverability, visibility and re-use potential. |
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Brunel University Library has recently launched the Brunel Research Commons, a dedicated space within the Library for Postgraduate Researchers and Research Staff, providing individual workspace, meeting rooms, and a relaxed seating area looking out over the campus. At over 600 square metres, the Commons is a significant physical representation of the support provided to researchers at Brunel, alongside the success of BURA, the University's digital repository which now contains 5388 full text articles.
The Research Commons was created as part of the 2011 Library refurbishment programme, which saw over £750k being spent on providing new heating, lighting and carpeting for the original 1970's building in a project that involved stripping out the entire structure across the summer, rotating all the shelving by 90 degrees, and staying open with resources accessible throughout - a particularly significant feat considering all stock remained on site during the project.
Alongside the development of this new facility, the Research Commons also provides a home to the Library's expanding Special Collections, including over 6000 items within the rehoused Transport History Collection, and the recently acquired Brackenridge Archive, containing the papers of Professor Celia Brackenridge, who was awarded an OBE in the Queen's New Year's Honours List for services to Equality and Child Protection in Sport.
The Research Commons will have an official launch later this year, but if you would like to arrange a visit please contact Rob Wannerton, Customer Relations Manager |
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University of East London |
In October construction of a brand new library for our Stratford Campus began. The library is due for completion in spring 2013 and will provide state of the art facilities for learners and researchers including a range of spaces for both collaborative and individual study, advanced IT facilities with wi fi throughout and space for over 130,000 books. The library will feature an internal landscaped garden and café area and will complete an extensive redevelopment programme on the campus. You can see what’s happening at www.uel.ac.uk/stratfordlibrary/#tab_webcam
On Friday 13th January we hosted a very successful conference entitled ‘Going it alone: Innovations in Information Literacy’. The conference was organised as a result of winning the 2011 Innovation Award from CILIP’s UC&R group for our ‘Info skills’ open access resource. Info skills is designed to provide level one students with interactive, ‘any time’ support with their research and is structured around 4 main sections on identifying, finding, evaluating and referencing information. We welcomed 70 delegates from as far afield as Glasgow and Guernsey, and it was very gratifying to meet so many colleagues from both HE and FE sectors. Info skills can be freely accessed at www.uel.ac.uk/infoskills
This semester we welcome two Commonwealth Fellows to UEL, Neeraj Singh from Punjab University Chandigarh in North India and Scholar Ukwoma from University of Nigeria Nsukka. Neeraj and Scholar will both be with us for a three month internship.
Much of our energies are going into preparing for the Olympic and Paralympic Games this year. UEL is close to two major Olympic and Paralympic venues at ExCeL and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park at Stratford, which will affect transport to and from our campuses throughout the summer. We are planning to run as normal a library service as possible with the exception of the 2 weeks of the Olympic Games, during which we will provide a range of remote services, including our online chat and email service Ask a Librarian. We are currently working closely with academic colleagues to reassure students about the services we will still be able to provide when our physical buildings are closed. uel.ac.uk/libraryandolympics
Cathy Walsh
Acting Director, Library and Learning Services |
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Bookings for cpd25 events & visits are coming in rapidly now, so do book your place on any that you want to go on as soon as you can in order to avoid disappointment.
Please see below for a brief ‘snapshot’ of how things are looking so far.
The Moving Beyond Management programme: This programme has now commenced, slightly earlier than last year, with all places taken up very quickly.
Space Planning: This event has now taken place and has proved so popular that the organisers are hoping to run it again at some point.
Visit to the Ministry of Justice Library: Places on this visit went very quickly and the feedback from attendees was excellent. Hopefully another visit will be arranged for later in the year.
Emotional Intelligence: This course is fully booked now.
Shared Services: This event still has some spare places available: http://www.cpd25.ac.uk/index.php?option=com_jcalpro&Itemid=99999999&extmode=view&extid=527
Events lined up for February (so far) include:
Customer Care – Learning from Others: Places are going very quickly for this event: http://www.cpd25.ac.uk/index.php?option=com_jcalpro&Itemid=99999999&extmode=view&extid=537
Open Day at Parliament: By the time you read this, it is envisaged that all 20 places for this visit will have been taken. Career Development Day For Library And Information Assistants: Bookings are coming in quickly for this event: http://www.cpd25.ac.uk/index.php?option=com_jcalpro&Itemid=99999999&extmode=view&extid=535 SDO Discussion Forum I: To be held on 23rd February. Details of this are just being finalised and we should be able to confirm everything in the next few days. Events lined up for March (so far) include: Moving into Management: To be held on 9th & 23rd March. Details of this programme are just being finalised and we should be able to confirm everything very soon. Managing Student Behaviour: To be held on 13th March - details to be released very soon. Coaching Skills: To be held on 14th March - details to be released very soon. Business Continuity Planning: http://www.cpd25.ac.uk/index.php?option=com_jcalpro&Itemid=99999999&extmode=view&extid=530 Time Management: http://www.cpd25.ac.uk/index.php?option=com_jcalpro&Itemid=99999999&extmode=view&extid=525 Changing Role of Library Assistants: http://www.cpd25.ac.uk/index.php?option=com_jcalpro&Itemid=99999999&extmode=view&extid=539 Marketing Conference: To be held on 29th March. Details of this are just being finalised and we should be able to confirm everything very soon. Events lined up for April (so far) include: An event for SLA’s: To be held on 25th April. Details of this are just being finalised and we should be able to confirm everything in the next few weeks.
Do take a look at the forthcoming events section of the cpd25 website for more details on these and other events as they take shape: http://www.cpd25.ac.uk/index.php?option=com_jcalpro&Itemid=99999999&extmode=cat&cat_id=9
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