Open Research Online

This online repository is now one of the largest UK repositories and has reached over 11,000 deposits.  It is an Open Access resource featuring research publications and other research outputs from the Open University that can be searched and browsed freely by anyone and is available at http://oro.open.ac.uk/ . We are now working on including theses and increasing the number of fulltext articles.  Advocacy and communication are an important aspect of this development and the impact of ORO, as demonstrated by deposits, 5 fulltext, visits to, faculty engagement etc are regularly reported and will contribute to the REF.

TELSTAR (Technology Enhanced Learning supporting STudents to achieve Academic Rigour) project www.open.ac.uk/telstar

This is one of 21 projects funded under the UK Higher Education JISC's Institutional Innovation Programme (Phase 2).  The Open University Library is leading the project and working in collaboration with RefWorks.  The project commenced in November 2008 and will complete at the end of February 2010.

The aims are to create an exemplar project that seeks to:

A. model more effective bibliographic resource management for the institution and the broader e-learning communities which can ensure efficient, timely and more flexible distribution of these resources;
B. investigate the impact on changing practice for managing bibliographic referencing within e-learning;
C. support the development and application of high quality bibliographic management skills for learning and employability.
D. replace the legacy system, MyOpenLibrary (MOL) with a more robust integrated technical solution for managing library content within the VLE workflow;

Follow the project blog at http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/telstar/  

Access to video assets (AVA) project

The AVA project aims to address the increasing demand for reusing the University's rich media legacy assets. The project will deliver a resource to discover rights-managed video assets for the primary purpose of reuse within course production. A second strand will deliver a sustainable digital preservation model.  For more information see http://www.open.ac.uk/library/ava/

iKnow materials

In response to the employer engagement agenda we have developed some free materials especially for employers and employees about information management skills in the workplace. The materials are short  (2 – 20 minute) activities presented in different formats – audio, video, interactive etc and some are available on mobile phones.  Go to www.open.ac.uk/iknow and try them out. We are currently piloting the materials with a range of employers and further development will include an assessment activity.

m-libraries Conference March 2011

Following on from the previous successful m-libraries conferences in 2007 and 2009, we are now planning the 3rd conference.  This one will be in Brisbane, Australia and is sponsored by The Open University Library in partnership with Athasbasca University (Canada), Thompson Rivers University (Canada) and the University of South Queensland.   More information will be available next year.

Nicky Whitsed
Director of Library Services
Open University