University Of Lincoln - Library & Learning Resources - Annual Review 2008/09

University of Lincoln

LIBRARY & LEARNING RESOURCES Annual Review 2008/09

“The library caters for all my needs perfectly and hopefully will continue to in my 2nd and 3rd year!”

In 2008/09, we reviewed our strategy, to take account of the midpoint review of the University Strategic Plan. Following consultation with representatives from academic staff and students, we identified a number of action plans, to take the strategy forward. This review describes the progress achieved so far, as well as highlights from last year.

Facts and figures at a glance August 2008-July 2009 Total bookstock (all formats)

330240

Total number of e-books

42285

Additions to book stock (print)

25207

Additions to book stock (electronic)

41722

Number of issues (print)

212365

Number of e-book hits

37382

Number of e-journal downloads

97812

Number of interlibrary loan requests satisfied

4840

Support for students Service enhancements To improve off-campus and out of hours support, we developed a new range of help services, including telephone enquiries (to be piloted at the University Library); instant messaging (to be piloted with distance, work-based and placement students; and a number of “how to” help videos, accessible from the portal. Some staff capacity to assist with these new services has been created by the increased use of self services at the University Library (self-service issues are currently running at approximately 80% of total issues, and self-returns are at over 40% of total returns). Access to e-resources Following our subscription to Ebrary in January 2009, we now have access to over 42000 electronic books. The use of e-books has increased consistently over the past year; currently, there is one e-book session for every four print loans. We will continue to buy items in electronic format wherever this is possible (subject to cost and availability), and have reduced the number of multiple print copies in many areas. We have also worked with academics to review the availability of print and electronic journals, to achieve savings in space and subscriptions.

Student PALs In 2008, we received an award from the University’s Teaching Quality Enhancement Fund, to pilot peer assisted learning (PAL) in our centres in Lincoln, Hull and Riseholme. The project involved students promoting library services and resources to their peers, and offering roving first-line support while undertaking shelving duties. The PALs were well received by students and academics, and Helen Williams (Academic Subject Librarian) and Rachel Farrow (PAL) shared our experiences by presenting a paper at an external conference. Members of the project team have also written an article, which has been accepted for publication in SCONUL Focus, the professional journal for academic librarians. Core Collection The Core Collection at the University Library is undergoing a significant redevelopment. The increased availability of e-books and numbers of digitised extracts of key texts on Blackboard, have allowed us to reduce the size of this collection. We will continue this process, by removing items which have not been heavily used within a set period.

Listening to student feedback The National Student Survey We are pleased to note that for the 4th consecutive year, we have maintained our improved satisfaction rating, based on responses to question 16 of the survey “Library resources and services are good enough for my needs”: 2006: 3.5 out of 5 2007: 3.9 out of 5 2008: 4.0 out of 5 2009: 4.0 out of 5 The Library and Learning Resources (L&LR) Student Survey 2009 also showed an improvement in student satisfaction: 95% of respondents stated that the library provided a good service (91.4% in 2008).

Supporting the learning environment

Congratulations to:

Michelle Clark: NVQ ILS Level 2 Faye Cleminson: MSc in Information and Library Studies On the 23 June 2009 a joint event Cheryl Cliffe: Postgraduate Diploma in English Studies by L&LR and CERD was held in Andy Carter:The Institution of Customer Services Communication Award; the University of Lincoln EMMTEC Pam Young: Chartered Librarian status building. The event was entitled “Supporting the learning experience” Kev Cooper: PGCE (Post Compulsory Education and Teaching) Frederick Dickinson: PhD in Art History (to be awarded in early 2010) and included a programme of Daren Mansfield: Chartered Librarian status 10 minute presentations by staff Anita Martin: NCFE Bookbinding and Conservation 1 from the L&LR, CERD and Open Niki Rogers: MSc in Information and Library Studies University Press. Jacqui Spalding: German Level 3 Paul Stainthorp: MSc in Information and Library Studies There were also displays and demonstrations in the foyer area by Elif Varol: MSc Internet Computing Di Walker: Postgraduate Diploma in Information and Library Studies external publishers and suppliers Oxford University Press, EBSCO, Professional activities Proquest, Emerald, LexisNexis, Dawsons and Ebrary. and committee memberships rd

Support for academics and researchers

Researchers’ survey 2009 Those who completed the survey showed a good level of satisfaction with the library, but some services and resources were not being used to the full. E-books have made an impact with researchers, as well as undergraduates. The improvements most frequently requested related to access to journals and training in the use of databases.

Institutional repository Our staff continued to support the Institutional Repository (http:// eprints.lincoln.ac.uk). Cataloguers dedicated over 30 full days to improving the metadata records of RAE-submitted and newlydeposited works; also to ensuring that all full-text deposits meet publishers’ permissions. Their work has increased the size of the visible repository from fewer than 100 items (at the start of 2009) to 570 and counting; the repository received 8,955 visits in 2008/09. In addition, L&LR worked with other departments to improve the EPrints deposit interface; provided training to academic staff identified as early adopters; supported faculties’ use of the repository for internal reporting; and attended repository steering group events.

Virtual Research Environment

The JISC definition of a Virtual Research Environment (VRE) is that it comprises a set of online tools and other network resources and technologies, interoperating to support or enhance the processes of a wide range of research practitioners, within and across disciplinary and institutional boundaries. The University has already developed some of the features of a VRE. The L&LR Research Support Group worked with colleagues from the Centre for Educational Research and Development (CERD) and ICT to explore ways of developing it further. The methodology chosen was to set up a wiki hosted by CERD which lists what we do now and invites researchers to tell us what is missing. This work will continue in 2009/10.

Communicating with our users

Use of the three main L&LR blogs (introduced in August 2008), grew over the year, with 600 posts written by 25 different L&LR staff attracting 6,650 visitors (and 160 legitimate comments)—a significant, though still relatively small—avenue of communication. In April 2009, recognising the social-networking potential of a single University-wide shared platform, L&LR merged its installation of WordPress blogging software with CERD’s.

In July, one of our blogs was featured in the Internet Resources Newsletter (http://www.hw.ac.uk/ libwww/irn/irn174/irn174.html).

Remaining legal

In March 2009, L&LR hosted a visit from the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) Chief Compliance Officer who audited our systems and procedures with regard to posting digital copies on Blackboard. The Auditor commended the department on the methods and systems introduced. The audit report concluded with the comment that ‘The library provides staff and students with clear and well thoughtout guidelines on scanning copyright material under the licence and on copyright legislation. The university treats copyright matters seriously which is demonstrated by the significant amount of information made available to staff and students in the form of notices, library website pages and regulations’.

The event was attended by over 50 members of staff and was very well received. “It was well organised, had a point, was delivered well and was supportive. Well done!” (Feedback from an academic)

Lesley Church: Philippa Dyson: Chris Leach:

Staff news and achievements

Marie Nicholson

Staff leavers – our very best wishes for the future to: Lesley Firth, Library Assistant, Daniella Nundy, Library Assistant, Holbeach Michelle Anderson, Head of Library and Learning Resources, who left at the end of July, to take up the position of Director of Library Services at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen.

Marishona Ortega Libraries Group. Lys Ann Reiners: Helen Williams

Pam Young

East Midlands Local History Forum Heads of Customer Service Group SCONUL Working Group on Space SCONUL Deputies (2nd group) Secretary - University College & Research Group of CILIP,Yorkshire & Humberside Region Committee Yorkshire Universities Information Skills Group committee member. CILIP University, College and Research Libraries, East Midlands Section Committee Member of the CPD Panel for CILIP’s Health Editorial Team, SCONUL Focus SCONUL Deputies (5th group) Membership Services Committee of the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians (BIALL). Conference paper: Peer Assisted Learning at the University of Lincoln Library, presented at “Peer mentoring: opportunities and challenges”, DMU, 2009 NVQ Assessor, currently supporting several staff working towards NVQ 2 and 3

Publications Daren Mansfield (2009). Reducing Book Theft at University Libraries. Library and Information Research.Vol. 33. Iss.103: 10-15. Daren Mansfield (2008). Developing a Library Off-Air Recording Service. SCONUL Focus 44 Pam Young (2009): From Saturday Assistant to Chartered Librarian” Sconul Focus 45 Main photographs by Alice Flear