I quite enjoy ‘day in the life of a librarian’-type articles, comparing what I do and how my own time is spent with that of other librarians! Similarly, some people may wonder what an E-learning Adviser (Learning Resources) actually does. There are many elements to the job Sam and I share. At its core we work with our supported community to identify needs and problems where technology can help, in order to benefit learning, teaching and research. For Sam and I our supported community is primarily LRC managers and librarians, but it is not limited to them, since learning resources are also relevant to teachers, ILT champions, other sectors such as Work-Based Learning and Adult and Community Learning; and learning resources usually involves working with technical staff.

At the macro scale we help develop strategies, work with networks and encourage peer support, promote relevant resources and technologies and best practice, direct people to relevant services that can help (such as the various JISC services). We monitor new technologies and assess their usefulness for enhancing teaching and learning.

As well as the big stuff like that we also respond to queries (receievd by phone or email, or arising from visits to LRCs). I feel that this is an important part of the service – we are one of the places you can turn to with technology questions. We may not always give the direct answer ourselves, since in many cases the solution might be to put the person in question in touch with the person/college/service that has the answer. But our knowledge of the sector and our contacts locally and nationally (e.g. in RSCs across the UK) means we have a wealth of experience to call upon.

During some weeks about half my time is spent responding to queries that come my way via various means. I thought it might be interesting to look at some of the ones I have dealt with in the last month just to show the range of topics and technologies that are relevant to learning resources; also in some cases to share any useful things that were discussed. This is just a selection of those I dealt with, I have missed out some queries about particular resources and franchised courses. It also doesn’t include queries dealt with by Sam (if I included those too then this would be an epic post!) If this is useful then we might do a combined one in the future. So, in no particular order, here are some direct queries from a month in the life of an E-Learning Adviser (Learning Resources). What has been on the minds of librarians in Wales in the last 30 days? Read on to find out.

E-books for FE Project / E-book readers / Exemplary LRCs / Access management / Film-related queries / Hairdressing Training / Grants and funding for staff development / Voting systems / Second Life / RSS / And to finish…

E-books for FE Project

One college asked for more information on the 18 new e-books available as part of this project.

The new titles are:

Anatomy and Physiology for Therapists
Child Care And Early Education
Core Themes in Health and Social Care
Nail Artistry
Beauty Therapy Work Based Learning Level 1 Candidate Book
Beauty Therapy Work Based Learning Level 2 Candidate Book
Beauty Therapy Work Based Learning Level 3 Candidate Book
Equality in Early Childhood
The Official Guide to the City and Guilds Certificate in Salon Services
An Holistic Guide To Massage
‘An Introduction to Children with Special Needs 2nd Edition
The Art Of Dressing Long Hair
BTEC National Business Student Book 1
BTEC National Business Book 2 2nd Edn.
Carpentry & Joinery L1 Candidate Book
Play and Care for Children 4-16
BTEC First Construction Student Book
Microsoft Office Excel 2007: Introductory Concepts and Techniques

Details should have already gone out about accessing the new titles and adding OPAC records, so make sure you are subscribed to the E-BOOKS-FOR-FE@JISCMAIL.AC.UK mailing list to be kept updated. Anna Vernon is the project manager and can add you if you are not on the list already.

With the E-books for FE project there is also the E-select Framework, which enables the college to pay to add extra titles to the Ebrary platform if you wish to build the collection further.

Some colleges are in the process of setting up access to the E-books for FE project. For the colleges without OpenAthens or Shibboleth it is a bit more difficult and RSC Wales is helping out when it can.

E-book readers

This is a topic that turns up regularly, and we have only covered them in detail once in the blog (with an addition here). One librarian asked about whether e-book readers are being used and promoted much in colleges yet, or in universities. Perhaps it could be a way of saving paper in terms of all the PDFs students normally print out!

A lot of libraries in the UK are buying these devices, then often wondering what to do next. As such I wrote an article for the next issue of Sconul Focus which has a summary of my thoughts and further links – it should be freely available online in July and I will link to it then. In the meantime I’m happy to forward a pre-print if you contact me. The article isn’t wholly in praise of the devices. The RSC always adopts the viewpoint that we should use technology where it is appropriate, and to understand the appropriateness you first have to be aware of the potential uses and limitations. We never promote technology just for the sake of it.

It is true that e-book readers can display pdf journal articles too, they are not just limited to books, but I think that unless a student owns their own device (so they have guaranteed access) they are still likely to print articles even if the library makes devices available. This is perhaps inevitable with a lot of technology loan stock, since people will always go for the quickest option if they feel time-pressured.

There are a few links in our Delicious account which could be useful. Do let Sam and I know if you try any services with these devices, we love to hear what colleges think! It helps to inform our opinions and subsequent advice to others.

Exemplary LRCs

One college was very interested in visiting exemplary LRCs and libraries from any sector outside of Wales (since they have seen many of the new buildings and are aware of most of the good practice here). They were interested in good use of technology and exciting learning space design.

This is a good example of where being in contact with my lovely colleagues in the Regional Support Centres elsewhere pays off! Contacts in a few UK areas sent me suggestions of possible places to visit in their regions. Obviously this is limited to a small selection of the many fantastic colleges in each area. Some recommendations were:

• The Fylde College in Blackpool.
• Liverpool Community College’s new building which won’t be ready until 2011.
• There will be a new LRC in Crewe at South Cheshire College next academic year.
• Warwickshire College has a variety of centres across the six sites.
• Birmingham Metropolitan College’s Sutton Coldfield Centre has a newly refurbished LRC which is very colourful, flexible and innovative.
• Aston University library is having a major refurbishment at the moment.
• Warwick University’s Learning Grid (student-run) is an interesting learner-centred space.
• There are several recently completed new builds in the Midlands area: Joseph Chamberlain College, Walsall College, Newcastle Under Lyme College.
• South Bristol Skills Academy – opening for learners in September this year but there may be tours in the Summer – will be very open plan and potentially fun.
• Gloucestershire College – Technology Exemplar College.
• South Devon College – Technology Exemplar College. South Devon College was also one of the colleges featured in the JISC InfoKit Technology Enhanced Learning Environments.

Access management

I had been asked about third party support for setting up Shibboleth. There is a JISC Guide to Third Party Providers for FAM which is the best starting point. Soon almost half of the FE colleges in Wales will be using Shibboleth if all the ongoing projects come to fruition.

I also had a query about institutions merging where the libraries were using a particular access management system and how they might manage it.

Film-related queries

One college had been approached by the Motion Picture Licensing Company which apparently claimed that as a library they should take out a subscription. I have spoken to a few librarians who have been contacted by various copyright licensing and performing rights organisations, sometimes with quite intimidating hard-sell letters that imply that without taking out a licence they are breaking the law. In many cases this is extremely misleading and taking out a licence is unnecessary. If you are unsure of where you stand then it is worth contacting JISC Legal for free advice. Never pay for licences automatically as a result of these letters. There is only a limited pot of money, and it is far better going towards learning resources to support the students and staff than paying for licences that you may not need.

Film is a medium that raises many legal questions for libraries. One college asked about recording from the TV. They hade an ERA (Educational Recording Agency) licence but wanted to check that they were making full use of it, and whether they could record and store TV programmes to stream later on. The ERA have a useful FAQ which covers what can and can’t be recorded, what can be done with the recordings, labelling etc. Obviously to get the most out of the licence your staff need to know about programmes ahead of broadcast so that they can be recorded. There are many online services with television listings – one that is used in educational institutions is TRILT (Television and Radio Index for Learning and Teaching). There is a basic search for free which only goes back a few weeks, but does let you search for programmes on selected topics in the future, just by typing in keywords. If it is heavily used then it is possible to get access to the full version by joining the BUFVC, though that costs c. £474 p.a. The main advantages are access to lots of materials which support media courses; custom auto-alert emails for forthcoming programmes up to 10 days in advance; and the ability to get DVD copies of programmes which have already been broadcast but which weren’t recorded by the college. Details here.

As to recording and playing back TV, an ERA licence allows a college to do this:

“How can I store recordings? Recordings can be made directly onto video or audio tapes, DVDs and CDs. Digital recordings may also be stored on a licensed establishment’s server. Appropriate security systems must be in place to ensure that only authorised students and teachers can access the recordings. Access is limited to within educational establishments unless an ERA Plus Licence is secured to cover agreed off site access (see section on ERA Plus).”

So there is also the ability to take out an ERA Plus licence for further streaming options if you want to provide off-campus access.

While talking about online TV and education, this is a bit of a tangent, but Teachers TV is a really good resource for teaching staff – useful  for anyone that is interested in education.

Hairdressing Training

Following a revamp of Hairdressing Training one college pointed out that free access to Hairdressing Training is due to expire in July 2010 and asked what will happen after that date. Unfortunately it is impossible to say for sure at present – JISC Collections are still in negotiations about it, and are awaiting confirmation of funding.

Basically there are two elements to Hairdressing Training. There is one part that has been bought in perpetuity and so will always be free. Those are the bits that can be accessed on the site without logging in. Even after July they will still be available.

Then there are the parts that are only available after registration and logging in. JISC Collections is still in negotiations about that area, and hope to get a definite response soon – if the funding is available they will extend the access again. Either way they hope to make an announcement in the near future.

Grants and funding for staff development

We received a query from a librarian who wanted to go to our Learning in a Digital Wales event, but there was no budget left in the college’s staff development fund to cover the costs, so we were asked if there were any grants or bursaries that might help with the cost.

CyMAL could potentially help here – they fund bursaries for staff conferences. The information required is available here: scroll down to click on the ‘workforce development support’ document which outlines what they will pay for (usually conference fees only). Then you would need to put in an application to CyMAL. Alyson Tyler said the turnaround is 1-3 weeks. The Information for Applicants document is on the same page, along with the application form.

CILIP Wales and CoFHE may fund conference costs too.

Voting systems

One college had been in touch about the Turning Point voting system and its use in LRCs. This may be something to look into again, or to discuss in an LR Managers’ meeting. What are people’s experiences? Do the benefits outweigh the set-up and training time?

Second Life

I had some questions from a college about Second Life and other virtual worlds, and how students might collaborate online in a virtual world.

RSC Wales have a collaborative area in Second Life which we use for meetings, and it is a good place to start – let us know if you ever want us to show you around!

Our Delicious account has various links which might be of interest for general information. The virtual world snapshots of activity in HE and FE are also worth reading. The latest one says:

“As with all the previous snapshots, Second Life remains the virtual world ‘of choice’ for UK academics who responded to the survey. However, also as with previous snapshots, other virtual worlds are in use, such as OLIVE at Coventry University for emergency planning, and OpenSim at Leeds for handling large numbers of art and design students.”

RSS

I also started looking into a query today about RSS and using it to promote library news, linked to the OPAC.

And to finish…

I can’t resist adding a new technology I came across last week, raised as part of a discussion about noise in libraries. The SoundEar is a ‘visual noise indicator’ with a built in microphone that displays a green light to indicate that it is monitoring. As the pre-defined noise limit is approached more of the ear lights up, and when the noise limit is exceeded the device signals this by lighting up the red ear and the word ‘Warning!’. It is designed to be placed on the wall of an area which you want to keep at a reasonable level of noise (e.g. a workstation room). Apparently it can be useful as a way of getting students to self-regulate their noise levels by giving visual feedback. So now technology can even help to keep libraries and computer rooms as places suitable for learning!

Too much noise in the LRC? [Image by jorivando]

Social software is something of a mixed blessing for librarians. On the one hand it offers a potential way to reach out to and communicate with our users; but on the other hand many librarians bemoan the fact that some students seem to be sat at our library PCs just using sites like FaceBook instead of doing their assignments. This means that students needing to use the PCs for work may be losing out; sometimes this social use leads to disruption and noise; and there may be further concerns about related topics such as academic standards, e-safety, network security etc. It is no wonder that it is a topic that occurs often, usually as a survey:

• A recent survey on the CoFHE list about managing behaviour in the LRC [March 2010], and another about FaceBook usage in FE [April 2010]
• Alyson Tyler mentioned a potential new Web 2.0 survey of libraries in Wales on the FE-LRC-WALES list. The survey would include finding out if libraries/institutions block access to social software sites. They’re hoping to run the survey in March or April. [February 2010]
• A survey on LIS-LINK asking whether libraries ban FaceBook, some responses can be read here and here. The conclusion was that “the overwhelming majority do not, and have no plans to, ban facebook use” The anonymised results can be downloaded here. [November 2010]
• One of my colleagues in the JISC Regional Support Centre West Midlands asked LIS-LINKers whether they banned YouTube access; out of 41 replies only three institutions blocked YouTube outright [October 2009]

Three main aspects

The whole issue of managing access to (and use of) social software in education is something that is continually being debated, not just by librarians. There are three aspects.

1. E-safety / student safeguarding: managing access to social software in order to protect students (concerns like cyberbullying). There can be an element of giving students the skills to navigate the web safely, and obviously information literacy is an important driver here. If this area is of interest then tools like this online safety planner can be useful. RSC London has a Moodle area on e-safety (’Login as a Guest’) as does RSC East Midlands.
2. IT security: managing access in order to protect data, networks and equipment, rather than people (concerns such as computer virus transmission, bandwidth usage). Obviously this is the domain of the IT department and the rest of the college may not have any involvement at all here.
3. Management of student behaviour in a learning environment: in terms of making sure people are not disruptive to other learners, and are not using scarce resources (e.g. high-demand PCs) for social purposes at the expense of students who need them for educational purposes. This is the aspect I will look at in more detail below.

[Image by kilikilo]

Options for managing user behaviour

Last week I gave a talk to some library undergraduates at Aberystwyth University’s Department of Information Studies. The talk was about the FE and HE library sectors, as well as some current themes such as e-books, information literacy, library 2.0, access management, and resource discovery tools. As part of it I wanted to give them a brief example of a realistic scenario an LRC manager in FE might come across, in order to give context to the other things I had been saying (and to make sure that the students were still awake!) The scenario I set was as follows:

• Each person in your group is an LRC Manager for a different campus of Coleg Dysguda, but facing the same issue.
• In each LRC is a block of computers. However there are frequent complaints from students that can’t get on a PC to do work – because other students are using them for FaceBook or other social purposes.
• Firstly, decide if you want to do anything about this issue or not.
• If you do, what interventions could you propose to deal with this?
• Finally, the group can discuss as many ideas as you want, but you can only take ONE proposal to the senior management in the college. So you have to agree on what you will do, if anything.

I was impressed that the students came up with realistic options and managed to think of most of the ways an LRC might deal with this issue. I have included the options they thought up below, along with some others I think should be included. Many institutions could combine a number of these.

Block access to the web sites

Obviously some insitutions just ban access to these technologies outright, either for students and staff, or just students. Or ban access to individual sites like FaceBook. In the past this was more likely to be done in FE libraries than HE. But are we then missing out? It is worth considering these points:

• In some cases there may be legitimate uses for social software, sometimes tied to courses. For example the ‘Study on the Effective Use of Social Software by UK FE & HE to Support Student Learning & Engagement‘ found that “social software tools support a variety of ways of learning”.
• Increasingly institutions have entries on sites like FaceBook, so the institution has to be careful about seeming inconsistent if it then implements an outright ban on such websites. As an exemplar of what can usefully be done with social software, it is worth looking at Gloucester College. Their usage of FaceBook was highlighted in the BBC site last Autumn. Also the FaceBook in Education site has some examples of the positive use of FaceBook in education.
• Caroline Rhys of Deeside College pointed me to the new Ofsted report ‘The safe use of new technologies‘ (February 2010) giving recommendations for managing social software rather than locking it down.
• Blocking sites is certainly an easy option, but we need to be aware of what we may be losing in terms of the above, as well as an opportunity to educate students. In ‘Harnessing Technology, Safeguarding Further Education and Skills learners in a digital world‘, published by Becta, it says:

“Organisations are finding that a blocking and banning approach, which merely limits exposure to risk, is not sustainable. Organisations need to focus on a model of empowerment; equipping learners with the skills and knowledge they need to use technology safely and responsibly and managing the risks, whenever and wherever they go online; and to promote safe and responsible behaviours in using technology at college, in the workplace, in the home and beyond.”

• RSC London have summarised the issue in one of their blog posts.
• Can Social Networking help with retaining students? There is an Excellence Gateway case study “Warwickshire College: Social networking improves student retention“. Also see this BBC News article.

So, what other options are there?

Separate area or PCs for social use

There could be separate PCs that allow certain social uses (possibly placed in an area that can be monitored, but safely away from quiet study areas). Once these short stay PCs are established other areas could become ‘FaceBook-free’ zones for quiet study.

Get more PCs

The downsides of this option are that it depends on budgets, and it doesn’t prevent disruption and noise (unless combined with other solutions). Space is often an issue in LRCs and there may not be room for more desktop PCs, but this is where laptops available for loan to students can take the pressure off. This solution deals with the scarcity of PCs, and increases facilities for all students.

Booking system

Having a system whereby students can only use the PCs (or a selection of them) for limited times e.g. 1 hour slots. This answers the issue of scarcity to a degree, shares access more equally and prevents individuals from hogging PCs for social use. It doesn’t solve the issue of disruption though. These systems don’t need technology to work, but I will discuss automated booking systems as an option later.

Separate times or quotas for social use

Here the LRC would only allow social use at certain times (such as lunch times), but with restrictions in place during the rest of the day. As examples from Wales:

• In Coleg Morgannwg students are only allowed access to Facebook in the morning until 9am; then from 12pm to 1pm; and then again after 3pm [March 2010].
• In Swansea College social networking is allowed on a range of sites but on a one hour quota (whether the  one hour is spent on one site or a mix) [May 2010].
• Yale College allows limited use of Facebook (and other social networking sites) for four 5 minute slots per day, for both staff and students. Staff can request additional access for themselves or groups of students via their manager. [May 2010]

Acceptable Use Policies (AUP)

Simply having a clear Acceptable Use Policy can make a difference – letting the users know what they can and can’t do. At the most basic level it could just be a policy of priority so that students working on a PC get priority over those ’socialising/playing’. Whatever the content, there is a clear element of user education required in establishing any AUP.

As well as being an option in itself, an AUP would work best in conjunction with one or more of the other solutions mentioned here.

Developing an AUP is a good process to go through anyway, and as part of it the LRC could adopt a risk management approach, touching on issues of e-safety as well as behaviour management. As part of the development you would obviously need to consider how it will be enforced and monitored. Library patrollers? The duty of staff based near PC areas? Or the use of technology solutions? I will discuss some of those below.

For those considering an AUP there is some schools’ guidance here, which has some points relevant to FE. It is also a topic to discuss with other library managers, possibly sharing policies that have been developed. See also this discussion about library policies from LIS-WEB2 (here and here).

Ask the users

If there are no acceptable use policies in place at present it may be worth considering them, possibly preceded by a debate within the college involving students and staff. It would be useful for giving everyone a voice, and to make sure that nothing too draconian is applied. Survey them, have focus groups over coffee, find out what they think, decide what you could and would allow as a compromise. The advantage here is that they become stakeholders.

PC booking and monitoring systems

Software and technology solutions can be useful. There are systems that allow monitoring of what is being done on each PC, enabling remote enforcement of policies (many allow you to pop a message up on a user’s screen, and lock their access if required). There are also booking systems to share out usage, so that everyone gets a chance to use a PC. Most commercial systems combine these two functions. Some systems have other uses for directed teaching.

Note that having a system doesn’t necessarily mean monitoring students’ screens all the time – once students get used to a policy and realise that it is enforced they tend to be more aware of the LRC policies and realise that there is no point trying to circumvent them. So the systems can be a deterrent to abuse.

RSC Wales has some information on PC booking systems on our Information Area, and links to actual systems that can be used in our Delicious account.

Conclusion

There are many other management options, this list is not comprehensive. Some may work in one circumstance but not another. That is where raising it as an issue for discussion with other managers is the best option – only when you speak to people that have tried a particular approach can you find out what worked and what didn’t! There are no easy answers to this subject, but by sharing experiences we can get a better idea of what works best.

I’ve been out of the office a lot recently, crossing the length and breadth of Wales, hence the lack of new posts here. To justify my silence I’ll give an update on where I’ve been. I should also say that when there are no new learning resources posts here, it is worth looking at the Chrissie’s Muses blog – Chrissie Turkington is a Learning Resources E-learning Adviser for RSC North West, so writes great posts on a lot of relevant topics, e.g. her recent post on using the Nintendo DSi to read e-books.

Another reason for my lack of time for blogs is that I only work for RSC Wales on Mondays and Tuesdays (for the rest of the week I work as a librarian for Aberystwyth University), normally job-sharing with Sam who covers the RSC role Wednesdays to Fridays. Sam is on maternity leave (and is doing really well!), so I’ve been on my own for a while, but now there is now extra learning resources support because Owen Phillips is providing maternity cover until Sam returns. LRC staff will no doubt be hearing from him soon!

Newport, Tuesday 13th – Wednesday 14th October

Ironically (considering I hadn’t had time to blog here for a while), I was in Newport on these days, teaching librarians how to blog! I ran a number of workshops which gave the background on Web 2.0, Library 2.0, and blogging, before looking at examples of library blogs from Wales. The librarians who came to the sessions were all great, and we had some thought-provoking discussions about how and why blogs can be used, as well as a hands-on where many trial blogs were created.

Cardiff, Thursday 15th October

I was in Cardiff to visit Coleg Glan-Hafren with other RSC Wales staff. We discussed a range of e-learning topics, including technologies like voting systems, and ways of assessing the use of technology to enhance teaching and learning. Then I got to do my favourite thing – have a tour of the LRC! Carolyn Howe, the LRC Manager, showed me round. I enjoyed their Online Book Club displays, and took samples of the colourful leaflets and bookmarks that go with them. Students are encouraged to read the books, post reviews, read other students’ reviews and discuss them online via Moodle. This is a good way of encouraging reader development even when a group is unable to meet at regular times. Students can even write short reviews on the bookmark, and the data will be uploaded by LRC staff – a good example of making things easier for students! Another example of LRC staff going out of their way to be helpful is that some of the most relevant journal articles are indexed and records are added to the OPAC. This increases the use of the valuable print journals and aids resource discovery for students.

Coleg Glan-Hafren uses a PC booking system to ensure fair use of the PCs (which had the pleasant side-effect of  improving LRC staff and student relationships!). The LRC takes the innovative (and successful) line of not having fines for overdue books – instead they use the PC booking system to block the offending student’s access to the workstations until the items are returned, which ensures that the books do get returned – quickly! The system is also used for room bookings. There is a kiosk for students to book things themselves which frees up staff time for more valuable work, as well as encouraging student independence in the allocation of their own time.

Coleg Glan-Hafren is promoting the E-books for FE project, and even has a search box on every PC desktop that takes users straight through to relevant books. Currently Coleg Glan-Hafren uses OpenAthens and IP to provide students with access, but the college is considering moving to Federated Access Management in the future.

Aberystwyth, Friday 16th October

I made one of my rare appearances at CyMAL on that date, for a Libraries for Life meeting. I made suggestions concerning improving information dissemination about regional courses in Wales, and the importance of documenting library refurbishments funded by CyMAL in order to benefit other libraries. The truth is that the notion of new build as a cure-all is flawed, partly due to: the expense; the all or nothing nature and dangers when things go wrong (see here, here, here and here); and the environment/resource issues. However renovation and innovation are much more interesting, and there are a huge number of libraries in the position of being based in a building that they consider to be unsuitable, and looking for ideas. So what is needed is more imaginative focus on what can be done with existing estate. Refurbishments can have a stepped approach e.g. lower level funding for furniture, wi-fi, flexible learning and teaching spaces; but with more ambitious plans for if funding is available (restucturing, replace walls, moving entrances and staircases etc.) which avoids the ‘all or nothing’ danger inherent in new build projects. Fully documenting and promoting this kind of work is important for making people aware of the options.

Deeside, Tuesday 20th October

A visit to Deeside College with other RSC Wales staff (Owen Phillips, Helen Hodges, and Christine Davies). Deeside College has now merged with the Welsh College of Horticulture, so it was interesting to discuss the ways in which the best practices of both institutions can be combined. We also discussed a topic dear to many librarians’ hearts – the blocking of Web 2.0 resources. YouTube and other video sites have now been unblocked at Deeside College, since they are relevant to teaching (e.g. the catering courses use lots of clips from professional chefs). However some social networking sites such as FaceBook remain blocked. The debate about the educational utility of Web 2.0 continues! Where do you stand? Frivolous use of resources and time, or invaluable tools for education? I imagine most people fall between the two extremes, which is why the debate is so important so that policies can achieve the best balance.

The Learning Zone (LRC) is a two-floor open space which acts as a one-stop shop for many services. Patrick Cox (the LRC and E-learning Manager) told us that the Learning Zone is wi-fi enabled and students can bring their own laptops, or borrow a laptop from LRC bank of laptops. LRCs lead the way in providing flexible options like this, catering for different student learning styles and needs.

Wrexham, Wednesday 21st October

While in the North we visited Yale College, as the final leg of our tour! Owen and I spent time with Joanne Stewart and Maria Lewis, finding out more about the LRC.  The multi-floor LRC is heavily used, spacious and welcoming, with great use of exhibition space and displays of student art. There was also an interactive whiteboard in an open teaching area of the library, used during induction and information skills sessions – a great way of taking information out of closed rooms and into the relevant spaces and showing the teaching that LRC staff do.

There is also wi-fi in the Yale College LRC – users register their MAC addresses and can then use laptops, iPod Touches etc. There are more access points being added around the college, and also a trolley of rechargeable laptops for flexible access.

The LRC promotes reader development in many ways, from displays expanding on topics near the relevant book stock, to an ‘LRC Book of the Week’ on the staff intranet. The LRC is also hoping to embed resources within the relevant course areas on the VLE, which can be a great way to increase the visibility of quality resources and weaken the grip of Google! The LRC is keen on using Web 2.0 tools to communicate with users – there ia a blog and accounts for Twitter, Flickr and Netvibes (I’ll add links here once I have them).

Visiting all three college LRCs (Glan-Hafren Deeside, Yale) was great, you can see how popular and central to the college they all are by the buzz of use. If I was an FE student again I’d love to use any of them for my research.

Swansea, Friday 23rd – Monday 26th October

Across Wales again – but not for work this time! A long weekend in Swansea to enjoy one of my favourite eating places, my new hobby of kayaking, and a chance to do a bit of creative writing.