Library and Learning Services
ANNUAL REPORT 2009 – 2010
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WELCOME The 2009 – 2010 academic year was intended to be a year in which the Department focussed on continued
online for students and staff as the year progresses so that users can see how well the Department is doing.
improvement of its services to enhance student satisfaction
Several members of staff are also involved in the
and one without any significant major projects, following major
University’s initiatives with e publishers and etexts, which are
changes in the preceding year. The report demonstrates that
proving to be interesting projects.
things don’t always go quite to plan!
2009 – 2010 saw the second year of a three year
The report demonstrates many successes with greatly
commitment to increase investment in Library resources for both
improved scores in the NSS, and much praise for other services
learning and teaching, and for research, in response to student
such as Digitisation, Search and Collect and Academic Liaison
and staff requests during the Library Review and in various
Services. However, it also shows quite a lot of new activities as
surveys. This has helped to establish a Key Text Reference
well, including the addition of the former Academic Learning
Collection and to substantially improve the e-resources for both
Support Advisers to the newly created Academic Liaison Services
books and journals.
section, the decision to move to Moodle in one year instead of two and continued changes and improvements to the building.
The increases in student satisfaction, combined with the new initiatives, could not be achieved in a consistent way
Senate’s decision to create a Library Committee for
without staff who are very focussed on enhancing the student
the first time, coincided with a new academic structure for the
experience, and who are responsive to change and have an ability
University and this enabled us to engage at an early stage with
to rise to unexpected challenges and opportunities. Thanks go to
the new Departments on a range of both service oriented and
all of the Library and Learning Services staff, but in particular to
financial issues. Decisions were taken by the Committee to
the Heads of Service who have both individually and collectively
move to e journals wherever possible instead of print journals, to
ensured that developments happen in an effective and
initiate a new allocation model for the Learning Materials Funds,
creative way.
to digitise the VHS video collection, to increase the number of inter library loans, to buy e books wherever possible, and to agree new
Sue Clegg
Service Standards, which will for the first time also be available
University Librarian and Director of Learning Services
Library Facilities and Business Services 2009 – 2010 was a year of change for this team, the Administration and Finance teams started to get to grips with new University systems such as new Agresso and online ordering as they were introduced and changes/reductions in staffing levels and types of work brought about by the Flexible Futures scheme. LLS finance staff were part of the Agresso/Web Requisitioning pilot and are on the project group which has proved invaluable as systems have progressed. Perhaps the biggest change for the team and the Library was that permanent security was removed from the Library as a result of a Security Review and Flexible futures thus the Library Welcoming Team in particular had to adapt to new ways of working and different shift patterns in order to maintain extended opening hours without security presence. Whilst there were initial teething problems things soon settled and the team are now working well with Security giving back up when needed.
Michela Wilkins Head of Library & IT Facilities & Business Services
Library User Services Team Having started the previous academic year with significant changes in the way we work and provide services, the Library User Services team started 2009-2010 with a more established and focused approach. The team has been reasonably stable in terms of establishment of staff this year with 1 FTE leaving and 0.5 FTE moving to another post. All vacancies were recruited to with part time posts. As part of their core tasks, front line Learning Advisers and Senior Shelvers are providing support for membership and ID cards, first line subject support, stock management tasks, advice on Library services and processes, Digitisation and roving on floors of the Library to offer support and advice to students where they need it. In addition, Library tours and induction, administration tasks and support of self service are routinely undertaken in aiming to provide the best service possible. We continue to offer temporary employment to students for Shelving, Search and Collect service, Student Roving, Digitisation and summer project work. The Search and Collect service received a commendation from the Health Professions Council (HPC) who accredit the Arts and Play Therapy programmes, as an example of innovative good practice. The Library User Services managers have been working specifically on management skills and developing themselves and the team in working to more challenging targets focused on getting the best out of all of the team for improved service delivery. Faye Jackson Head of Library User Services
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Academic Liaison Services (ALS) The past year has been one of new beginnings for ALS. The team began its first academic year as a combined liaison service of subject librarians and eLearning advisers with several new staff replacing team members who had moved on. They were joined by the ALSAs in January who took up their new roles as Academic Learning Advisers (ALAs) and had their numbers strengthened with a further 2 FTE posts as a result of the University’s continued commitment towards supporting student learning. We began the move from the Blackboard vista/WebCT platform to Moodle in September 2009 and completed the transition a year ahead of the previously planned timescale. Whilst the focus for training and support was on Moodle during the year we continued to see growth in the use of StudyZone, Turnitin and a range of other learning technologies. In the spring the subject librarians began to gather reading lists for all modules to develop a central collection in preparation for the introduction of Talis Aspire. This led to a significant project to standardise the format of all lists during the later part of the year and through the summer involving teams from across Library and Learning Services. The end of the academic year also saw the ALAs beginning to work across the new Departments, providing a range of well-attended study skills sessions, planning for the introduction of student mentoring and supporting marketing and student services to identify students for their buddying scheme. Phil Cheeseman Head of Academic Liaison Services
Collection Development Services (CDS) Another busy year for CDS saw the departure of Pat Simons to pastures new and Chris Foreman appointed as Collections Development Manager. The past year also saw us continue to acquire more Electronic Resources – over 20,000 were added to our collection - and to negotiate with publishers and agents to move these resources over to seamless (Shibboleth) authentication wherever possible for the benefit of our users. Continued, and improved, use of Shelf-ready suppliers meanwhile helped us to get physical items onto the shelves faster than ever before with 88% of our physical stock now arriving “fit for the shelves”! In the world of Archives, we acquired both the Queens Archive and The Centre for Marian Studies which are now housed within our Archives and Special Collections area on the 4th floor of the University Library. Chris Foreman Collections Development Manager
To anticipate and enable people’s needs
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I think my overwhelming experience in the Library is positive, especially as it relates to the library staff. I would like to see more quiet study areas
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National Student Survey 2009-2010 Saw a 9% increase in satisfaction with Learning Resources.
NUMBERS AND FIGURES
Library Student Survey 2010 DO YOU USE STUDYZONE? 89% of people that responded use studyzone daily or weekly 2% never use studyzone
HOW OFTEN DO YOU USE THE LIBRARY? RY? 73% of returns noted that they visit the Library ibrary daily or weekly. 1% never visit the Library The ďŹ gures see an increase of 3% on Library rary visits from 2009 results
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DIGITISATION REQUESTS 2006 – 2010 Digitisation Service demand has continue to increase since the pilot project started; considering the academic years 2008-09 to 2009-10 the demand has grown by more than 22% and if we compare 2007-08 to 2009-10 the increase is by more than 89%.
MOST POPULAR LOANABLE E–BOOKS
MOST POPULAR LOANABLE ITEMS
WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE US TO FOCUS OUR STAFFING RESOURCES?
ALTERNATIVES
PERCENT %
VALUE
Helping to ямБnd resources
76.2%
940
Supporting my studies
39.9%
492
Help to use resources
33.8%
417
Returning stock
30.7%
379
Help using StudyZone
5.3%
65
Help using computers
4.4%
54
NUMBER OF RESPONSES
1233
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RESOURCES & SERVICES
VHS digitisation
Moodle After a decision to use Moodle as our Virtual Learning
Having audited the existing Audio Visual collection the
Environment instead of the Blackboard vista/WebCT platform,
Library Committee supported the proposal to convert the existing
the project to move to StudyZone:moodle was completed in one
c. 5000 item off-air recordings currently held in VHS format to
year, instead of two years as we had initially planned. During
DVD format and establish a digital collection of off air recordings
the project we also integrated the VLE with the student records
on BOB Flash using in house resources in as short a timescale
system and users now log in with their University network account
as feasible. The benefits of the project include the updating of
details. Training opportunities for all staff took place in supporting
outdated technology, preventing inevitable deterioration of the
the movement of content from one version of the VLE to Moodle,
collection and a significant improvement in the users experience.
resulting in enrolments on more than 800 Moodle sites to start
The project continues in 2010 – 2011 in an attempt to complete it
the new academic year.
as soon as is practical.
Improved CORE repository During 2009 – 2010 we developed the Learning and Teaching repository (CORE), integrating it with StudyZone:moodle. The new functionality allows students to browse resources, with access to materials to support learning.
The developments
include improved search and RSS feeds. Staff are now able to add content to the CORE repository and link to it from within Moodle, which will enable sharing of resources and access to larger resources, which overcomes the limit of information that can be stored on Moodle. Learning Materials Fund remodelling and resource list management During
discussion
at
Library
Committee
in
2009 – 2010 a new model for distribution of funds in the Learning Materials budget was developed to take into account and prepare for the new academic structure. Essentially a proportion is top sliced for subscriptions that we have a commitment to, such as
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eJournals and databases, there is a single reading list fund to support purchase of module reading list materials according to the Collection Management Policy, and Departmental allocations for development of collections. In addition to the new funding model a significant amount of work was undertaken by Library staff to gather all module reading lists in preparation for the introduction of a central resource list management tool in 2010 – 11. Approximately 1150 lists were collected, collated and converted to a standard format, an administrative task that demonstrated a cross-team initiative throughout Library and Learning Services. Digitisation Service During 2009 – 2010 the Digitisation service in relation to scanning of material under the Licence signed with the Copyright Licensing Agency has seen an increase of 22% on 2008 – 2009 and an increase of more than 89% from 2007 – 2008. We can see from statistical evidence that some academic Departments make more use of the service than others and the Digitisation and Document Delivery Co-ordinator made better use of promotional opportunities during 2009 – 2010 by visiting Programme boards and Lecturers to advise on the services offered. Feedback on the service from those that use it show consistently high levels of satisfaction.
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EXPERIENCE
& THE ENVIRONMENT
Student rovers
Study Rooms The Library now has 14 study rooms varying in size.
Increasing needs for students to get the help when
Some can be booked in advance via an online booking system that
and where they need it in the Library led to the employment of
was implemented this year and others are for drop in use. Two of
student roving support in the first 6 weeks of the academic
the rooms have priority booking for students who are registered
year 2009 – 2010. When Library staff are frequently involved in
with the Disability Service and the Library as having special needs.
enrolment and inductions at the start of term, the student rovers
During this year most of these rooms had their facilities upgraded,
provide support to users often visiting a large library for the first
most have computers and some have a mix of projectors and
time. Helping guide and advise on locating material, orientation
interactive whiteboards to allow groups or individuals to practice
and basic library skills, student rovers provide a more consistent
giving presentations. These changes were initiated as a direct
approach to roving on the floors of the Library, which usually
response to the Library Survey in the previous year.
forms a regular part of core business for the Library User Services team. Assisting users who are new to the Library at the very start
Key text collection
of their University experience increases student satisfaction and
The University’s commitment to providing additional
provides additional employment opportunities for our current
finances to support the expansion of our Key Text Reference
students.
Collection over a three year period saw the collection grow further during 2009 – 2010 with the second year investment of £51,000. In September 2009 our newly extended Key Text Reference area was launched, which included the Quick Reference collection, allowing more shelf space for Key Texts and additional study spaces for students to work with reference materials. The area was better secured and accessibility to the collection and study space improved. Induction September 2009 saw our induction change from a standard PowerPoint and listening session into various different strands which we hoped would engage students more. Also we developed an online version which would remain on our web pages all year round so that people who missed induction or started later still had a point of reference. http://studentzone.roehampton.ac.uk/library/introduction/ index.html Formal induction took the form of a short film about the Library which had input from Library staff, Students Union and students and was followed by a tour of the building. This proved
To provide a building and environment where you can find inspiration for learning and growing
very popular and has been further developed for the academic year 2010 – 11. Virtual Librarian - Online Enquiry Service In September 2009, we launched our new Online Enquiry Service - branded as Virtual Librarian. Using the same technology as the IT Helpdesk and the Property & Facilities Management service desks, we have customised the software to work in a Library and Learning environment. The online service allows students and staff to access a wide range of Frequently Asked Questions, at any time of day, to try and solve their queries. If they can’t find the answer they need they can submit a request, which a member of Library staff will respond to directly. We have service level standards relating to time taken to respond to queries and monitor that on a monthly basis. From an information management perspective we are able to collect statistics on usage, in particular by specific areas and categories of questions, view peaks and troughs in service and in the long term use the data to make informed decisions on future planning.
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DEVELOPING
THE TEAM & STAFF SUCCESSES
Talking at external events
In addition to this the Academic Liaison Services Team
Several staff from across the Department were
have been heavily involved in helping support the Creative Futures
involved in training sessions internally within the University and
programme and have provided training on podcasting, social
at events externally, including:
networking, online collaboration and mashups. Cpd25
•
Brian Kilpatrick, Technical Development Manager, and
Anne Pietsch, Academic Development Manager
is
a
Staff
Development
and
Training
Organisation working in association with the M25 Consortium of Academic Libraries.
Cpd25 Event: Information Skills For Library Staff : Using VLEs
The M25 Consortium of Academic Libraries is a
And Other Electronic Methods, Novel Approaches, Theory And
collaborative organisation that works to improve library and
Examples From Practitioners
information services within the M25 region and more widely
•
across the East and Southeast.
Gary Corcoran, Enquiry Services Librarian
Cpd25 Event: Knowledge, Skills, Tools And Behaviour To Ensure A Successful Roving Assistance Service •
Claire Griffin, Academic Learning Adviser
SEDA: Creating Communities of Learning through Peer Mentoring Schemes •
Janice Kiugu, eLearning Adviser
M25 Learning technologists about new and emerging classroom technologies •
Andy Hoang, Janice Kiugu, eLearning Advisers, and Val
Mitchell and Jenny Stowar, Academic Learning Advisers Spoke at the Learning and Teaching conference within the University
To create a customer friendly experience
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STAFF IN FOCUS
Summer Success Sessions
Debt Doctors Most of us get into trouble occasionally with money
Over the summer, the Academic Learning Advisers
- Library Debt Doctors has really helped students manage their
(ALA) held a series of academic development sessions entitled
Library finances. We teach them how to keep their Library account ‘Summer Success Sessions’. They comprised of study skills in order in the future and together we work out a payment plan
sessions covering the essentials, including essay writing, critical
which enables debts to be cleared whilst the student can carry on thinking and referencing. Students were then invited to attend using Library resources and borrowing books at the same time.
the drop-in clinics to speak to an ALA on a 1:1 basis to obtain further advice on their assignments. The sessions were a success
Julie Eastman
with nearly 90 students attending the study skills sessions and
Learning Adviser
over 20 1:1 sessions taking place during the drop in clinics. The attendance of students ranged across all programmes from both Undergraduate and Postgraduate level. Due to the success of the sessions the ALA team will continue to run academic development sessions to enhance students’ academic capabilities throughout the academic year. Nicola O’Keefe Academic Learning Adviser
JULIE EASTMAN
NICOLA O’KEEFE
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I feel that the services offered by the Library are very helpful and organised. I highly appreciate the efforts of all the members who are involved in its working and would like to congratulate them for their hard work
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