Electronic Access to Essential Reading Materia

Murphy, Elizabeth

English

MURAL - Maynooth University Research Archive Library

While the evaluation of this project to date has been very encouraging, how it develops as an integrated library service will be determined by more qualitative feedback from students and academic staff. The findings of a number of recent research projects1,2,3 provide useful indicators:ConClusion – Answering the question – “is this project worthwhile?”, the response is very definitely “yes”. It is succeeding in achieving its aim and objectives and ultimately addressing the needs of the students and fulfilling expected outcomes. Furthermore, it has the potential to develop into a key and valuable service for the foreseeable future.introduCtionThe Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) is “directed towards support for innovation in higher education institutions”1. One of the four key funding areas in Cycle 1 was to enhance teaching and learning.The John Paul II Library, National University of Ireland Maynooth, put in a successful bid in May 2006 under this theme to establish an “appropriate and innovative service” that would “address and manage student expectations”2 around the provision of essential reading material.The resulting Core Text Project aims to address the expectation that the Library will provide access to essential reading material for each student when required, including distance and part-time learners. This poster will outline this project, evaluate progress and explore its future development.sCope – This involved outlining the issues, identifying stakeholders, their needs and expectations, defining the aim, objectives and expected outcomes. This first step was crucial in giving structure and direction to the planning and implementation stages. plan – A Project Manager was appointed for one year in August 2007 and began by preparing a detailed project plan. implementation – This involved identifying core text material, sourcing it electronically and if not available electronically, seeking copyright permission to digitise it. Students can access material via the library catalogue or if access is restricted to the students of a specific module, via the University’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), Moodle.evaluation  – Overall, feedback has been very positive. Usage reports are showing a high level of use at all times of the day and night, including Christmas Day! In addition to improving access to core text material, students also have greater flexibility in how they choose to use the material. For example, students can use the Library’s facilities to download material to MP3 players. More qualitative feedback needs to be gathered before the project concludes.430% ARTICLES37% CHAPTERS33% BOOKS227 Core text items available 24 hours a day“It ties in well with the culture and expectations of our talented and tech savvy iPod generation students.” (Mr Tom Mulvey, Department of Business and Law) “Easy and open access to essential readings…will provide students with a greater range of readings and of ways to get access to them.” (Professor Sean Ó Riain, Department of Sociology)outComes 3Future development  projeCt outline 2NUI MAYNOOTHO l l s c o i l  n a  h É i r e a n n  M á  N u a d11. Strategic Innovation Fund, Higher Education Authority, Dublin, 2008. http://www.hea.ie/en/sif  - accessed 10 August 2008. 2. Neligan, Agnes, Outline proposal – reading strategy for students, 16 May 2006 (internal document)responding to student needs in the libraryeleCtroniC aCCess to essential reading material•	 The	additional	features	of	electronic	textbooks	will	play	a	vital	role	in	enhancing	and adding value to the service but students may need time to adjust•	 Part-time	students	are	more	likely	to	use	electronic	core	texts	than	full-time	students thus indicating the value of the service to the ever increasing numbers of off-campus students  •	 The	trend	in	libraries	to	only	maintain	electronic	versions	of	textbooks	is	likely	to place extra demands on the campus IT infrastructure•	 Students	will	have	more	opportunity	to	personalize	their	core	texts	as	e-book	collections are now being marketed as e-content collections that include book chapters, journal articles, encyclopedia articles, sheet music, maps, and audio-books •	 As	current	expectations	are	addressed,	new	expectations	will	emerge.	For	example, students may expect the Library to provide e-book readers.1. JISC national e-books observatory project: first user survey, [June 2008]. http://www.jiscebooksproject.org/deep-log-analysis - accessed 4 August 20082. Nicholas, David, Paul Huntington and Ian Rowlands, ‘E-books: how are users responding?’, Library and Information Update, November 2007, 6(11), pp 29-313. Shepperd, James A., Jodi L. Grace and Erika J. Koch, Evaluating the electronic textbook: is it time to dispense with the paper text?’, Teaching of Psychology, 2008, 35(1), pp 2-5sCopeinitialFeasibilityCheCKplanseCondaryFeasibilityCheCKimplementevaluateElizabeth	Murphy,	The	Library,	National	University	of	Ireland	Maynooth

Responding to student needs in the Library

http://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/2631/1/EM_Poster.pdf

Responding to student needs in the Library

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