Electronic Resources:Effective Integration and Marketing

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Electronic ResourcesEffective Integration and
Marketing

• Harlow College
• warts n all!

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Who am I?

• Dave Monk
• LRC Manager ILT Development Co-ordinator
• Hourly paid lecturer AS Archaeology
• NILTA Regional Representative North Thames
  Eastern
• Staff Governor

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Libraries under threat

• There was a ritual when I was growing up every
  Friday evening, my father would take me to the
  local library. It was an airy building filled
  with the light perfume of print there would be
  military history, biography and travel for him
  and historical novels for my mother. When I got
  my first bike and wanted to roam, my parents
  couldn't refuse me if I said I was going to the
  library - a hallowed destination. I wanted to
  keep the tradition going with my own children,
  but the local libraries haven't had the same
  appeal. They seem dingier you can't find the
  books you want and the collection seems stale
  they are peopled by slightly sad, furtive adults
  who obviously have some unhealthy obsession or
  they wouldn't be there. You don't want to stay
  long some of the joylessness might rub off on
  you. Will Hutton Observer 2 May 2004

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So what about colleges?

• Harlow College
• New LRC from September 2003
• Official opening 8th July 2004 Charles Clarke
• 1,008 unique learners signed in from 22 March
  2 April
• 42,195 learners counted by security system last
  term 3,516 average per week
• Online access 20 drop-in PCs
• LearnDirect

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Changing Roles

• Are our roles changing?
• What are those roles?
• Think about this as we go

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e-resources _at_ Harlow College

• InfoTrac
• World Book
• Britannica
• Issues
• VLE
• EdWeb

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VLE

• Virtual Campus since 1999
• Communications
• Web links
• Learning materials tracking
• NLN
• e-resources InfoTrac, World Book
• VOSCOL

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EdWeb

• Browser based intranet
• Shared S drive closure
• Teaching resources and college information
• e-resources access

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The Big Question 1

• All great but how do we get the users to use it?
• Lecturers
• Inspection October 2003 What should be
  improved?
• The quality of teaching so that there are no dull
  and uninspiring lessons
• Access to, and use of, information learning
  technology (ILT)

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The Big Question 2

• Students
• 24 respondents from Feb 04 User Survey said they
  used InfoTrac or World Book
• 7 of 357 respondents

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Is it really that bad?

• Its brilliant, just brilliant. Magazine
  Journalism student on learning to use InfoTrac
  11th May 2004
• 82 of those surveyed found the resources useful
• Usage statistics InfoTrac
• September 01 August 02 227 Total usage
• September 02 August 03 803 Total usage
• October 03 April 04 1,783 Total usage

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Using the VLE

• I really like the virtual campus, so useful and
  easy to use.
• What I like most are the easy links to
  professional websitesI also like the fact that
  we can enter into discussion with our fellow
  students and tutors from our home.
• AS Archaeology 2002 03
• 64 response to survey
• 89 used Virtual Campus
• 100 of these said that VLE had been of benefit
• I liked it as it enabled me to catch up on
  lessons I had missed and I found the links really
  useful and interesting.
• Allows access to material from much wider range
  than would normally be available.

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COLLi Net
Britannica Online
Staff monthly ILT Newsletter _at_ Harlow College
Students and staff at Harlow College can now
access the Encyclopaedia Britannica online. This
important resource joins other online services
available to the college - InfoTrac, World Book
and Issues. Like InfoTrac it is subsidised
through agreements with publishers negotiated by
the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC).
The JISC is a government funded organisation
which now has a responsibility to support
further, as well as higher education. Locally the
JISC is represented by the Regional Support
Centre Eastern, with which an increasing number
of Harlow College staff are familiar through
training events like Making IT Happen in the
Classroom. Britannica can be accessed on college
networks via http//search.eb.com It offers
access to the full encyclopaedia, relevant
websites to match your search, the
Merriam-Webster dictionary, an atlas and much
more. Lecturers should point their students to
Britannica online, which can also be found linked
on the EdWeb.
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What else?

• Inductions User Education
• User Guides
• Posters
• BUT
• The key is getting the lecturers on board using
  e-learning
• And it will come perhaps sooner than we expect

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Tomorrows learners tomorrows lecturers
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A student of tomorrow?

• Universal access
• units across different institutions real and
  virtual taken at own pace
• unique identifier
• wireless and mobile tools
• Personalised portals and agents
• access to course information, resources, tools
• alerting student to deadlines
• acting as a broker best courses, best prices
• adjusting information based on skills levels and
  interests
• JISC Bridging the Divide transition between
  schools, FE, HE and research (Bob Powell)

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Changing roles of librarians

• How do we perceive ourselves?
• Custodians?
• Resource providers?
• Knowledge experts?
• Service providers?
• Communicators and intermediaries

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Changing roles of librarians

• How do we meet the needs of tomorrows learners
  using electronic resources?
• Facilitating access to e-resources?
• Support understanding of e-resources?
• Develop and utilise knowledge expertise?
• What happens if we dont change?