Promoting your e-Books: Lessons from the UK JISC National e-Book Observatory

Purpose – This paper describes the findings from the qualitative strand of the JISC National e-Book Observatory (2007-2009), relating to the promotion of e-textbooks in UK universities by the library, academics and publishers. A complementary article on the ways in which students and academics locate e-books provided by their library will appear in a future issue. Design/methodology/approach – Following the provision by the JISC of collections of e-textbooks, the project used deep log analysis, benchmark surveys and focus groups to develop a rich picture of library e-collection management and use by students and academics. Focus groups were undertaken with library staff, academics and students; the dialogues were transcribed and analysed using NVivo7 software. Findings – The qualitative studies found that libraries were using a range of promotional tools although these were not always finding their targets. Often libraries had no formal promotion strategy for e-resources. Although little in evidence, the value of academic commitment and promotion was emphasised. Promotion by publishers and aggregators is both to libraries and directly to academic staff. Students felt that they were largely unaware of promotion beyond the presence of e-books in the catalogue, and in some cases stated explicitly that they thought more should be done to promote library e-resources to them. Practical implications – The paper offers pragmatic guidance on promotional methodologies. Originality/value – The project describes the first major, national usage study of e-books in higher education. This paper contributes significantly to the literature in discussing the importance of promoting e-books to students and staff

Report on the Second Workshop on Sustainable Software for Science: Practice and Experiences (WSSSPE2)

This technical report records and discusses the Second Workshop on Sustainable Software for Science: Practice and Experiences (WSSSPE2). The report includes a description of the alternative, experimental submission and review process, two workshop keynote presentations, a series of lightning talks, a discussion on sustainability, and five discussions from the topic areas of exploring sustainability; software development experiences; credit & incentives; reproducibility & reuse & sharing; and code testing & code review. For each topic, the report includes a list of tangible actions that were proposed and that would lead to potential change. The workshop recognized that reliance on scientific software is pervasive in all areas of world-leading research today. The workshop participants then proceeded to explore different perspectives on the concept of sustainability. Key enablers and barriers of sustainable scientific software were identified from their experiences. In addition, recommendations with new requirements such as software credit files and software prize frameworks were outlined for improving practices in sustainable software engineering. There was also broad consensus that formal training in software development or engineering was rare among the practitioners. Significant strides need to be made in building a sense of community via training in software and technical practices, on increasing their size and scope, and on better integrating them directly into graduate education programs. Finally, journals can define and publish policies to improve reproducibility, whereas reviewers can insist that authors provide sufficient information and access to data and software to allow them reproduce the results in the paper. Hence a list of criteria is compiled for journals to provide to reviewers so as to make it easier to review software submitted for publication as a “Software Paper.

Trinity College Bulletin, 1998 (Summer Term)

https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/bulletin/1405/thumbnail.jp

Academics' knowledge and use of electronic information resources (EIR) at the University of Bahrain

Electronic Information Resources (EIR) can be seen as invaluable teaching and research tools, which complement print-based resources and enhance the learning and research processes in any academic institution. The aims of this research were to investigate, analyse and discuss the use of and needs for EIR and existing training in promoting and enhancing the quality of teaching and research activities amongst academic staff at the University of Bahrain. Extensive quantitative, qualitative and theoretical methods were used to identify and analyse academic staff EIR skills, knowledge and awareness. The population of the study is made up of all the full-time faculty members working at the University of Bahrain. A total of 593 questionnaires were distributed and 466 completed ones were returned, giving an overall response rate of 78.5%, and these were used for the purpose of the study. The result of the study revealed that printed resources are the sources of information most used for teaching and research. The colleges of Law, Art and Education had the lowest percentages of usage of EIR compared with other colleges. Work overload, lack of awareness, low skill levels, slow servers, ineffective communication systems, language barriers and a preference for print resources were among the primary constraints that affected academic staff uptake and use of electronic resources in teaching and research. One-to-one training was the preferred training method for those academics wishing to enhance their EIR skills. It was recommended that there is a need for greater promotion from the upper level decision-makers at the university if they wish to see greater use of electronic resources in teaching and research. Strategic conceptual models designed to provide solutions to the current problems and to help in setting policies and decisions for the effective use of EIR in teaching and research are given

A Generic Integrated and Interactive Framework (GIIF) for Developing Information Literacy Skills in Higher Education

Information literacy (IL) is defined as “the set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued, and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning” (ACRL 2015, p.3). The term IL was originally confined to library and IT skills (Behrens, 1994; Johnston & Webber, 2003) but has since received increasing international interest. It is considered as an important 21st century skill in combination with critical thinking (Kong, 2014), and is perceived as basic human right within the digital world (UNESCO, 2008). The importance of IL within the contemporary information society has been acknowledged due to its relevance to lifelong learning (Bruce, 1999; Johnston & Webber, 2003; Podgornik, Dolničar, Šorgo, & Bartol, 2016). The IL competency of higher education students is significantly increased by the integration of IL elements in the classroom (e.g. Cochrane, 2006; Kennedy & Monty, 2008; Price, Becker, Clark & Collins, 2011; Kong 2014; Sandercock 2016). However, IL skills of students are often limited to beginner levels (Henkel, Grafmüller, & Gros 2018). Faculty and librarians need to develop a shared understanding of the IL skills and competencies graduates should possess (Sandercock, 2016). In Ireland, the Working Group on Information Literacy (WGIL) was set up to focus on collaborative ways in which IL education can be further developed (O’Brien & Russell, 2012). Thus in this context (and driven by the calls for the development of integrated curricula for IL) we attempt to develop a Generic, Integrated and Interactive Framework (GIIF) for developing IL skills in higher education, with learning and teaching methods informed by the principles of gamification. The proposed GIIF will strengthen the IL skills of DIT graduates, develop their disciplinary expertise and judgment and facilitate them in advancing existing knowledge through innovation

Second Annual Conference on Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems. Abstracts

Abstracts from the conference are presented. The topics covered include the following: next generation software systems and languages; databases, catalogs, and archives; user interfaces/visualization; real-time data acquisition/scheduling; and IRAF/STSDAS/PROS status reports

Pedagogical strategies for enhancing machine design teaching in a mechanical technology programme

The aim of this paper is to present a reformed approach to the teaching practice of the Machine Design course offered in the Mechanical Technology Programme at the Technological University of Pereira. The course combines the concepts of rational selection of materials and strength of materials with the procedures to be followed to shape and dimension the classical elements presented in machinery and mechanical systems. Active learning, hands-on activities, laboratory sessions, practical examples, projects, teamwork and technological and virtual resources are used as a means to achieve effectively the learning outcomes. An important goal is to integrate strength and stiffness calculations with the engineering design process, including conceptual design, creativity, optimization, detail design and documentation. The use of technological tools, minor and main course projects, along with practical activities in the laboratory, are supposed to enhance the teaching process and help students acquire the desired competencies.El objetivo de este trabajo es presentar un método reformado de la práctica docente del curso de Diseño de Máquinas ofrecido en el Programa de Tecnología Mecánica de la Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira. El curso combina los conceptos de selección racional de materiales y la teoría de resistencia de materiales con los procedimientos seguidos para definir las geometrías y dimensiones de los elementos clásicos presentados en maquinaria y sistemas mecánicos. Se utilizan el aprendizaje activo, actividades prácticas, sesiones de laboratorio, ejemplos prácticos, proyectos y recursos tecnológicos y virtuales como medios para lograr de manera efectiva los resultados del aprendizaje. Un objetivo importante es integrar los cálculos de resistencia y rigidez con el proceso de diseño de ingeniería, que incluye el diseño conceptual, creatividad, trabajo en equipo, optimización, diseño detallado y documentación. El uso de herramientas tecnológicas, proyectos menores y principales, junto con actividades prácticas en el laboratorio, se supone que mejora el proceso de enseñanza y ayuda a los estudiantes a adquirir las competencias deseadas