In addition to the Moodle and module code changes, UCL library also has some upgrades this summer.

As mentioned in an earlier post, a new Explore interface was soft-launched in autumn 2017.  On Monday 10th September 2018 this will become the only Explore search and the ‘Classic Explore’ will be retired.  The underlying library catalogue is also being migrated to newer software.

What does this mean for ReadingLists@UCL?

When bookmarking paper books and journals from the UCL catalogue, please continue to use the Classic Explore catalogue, which looks like this (click to enlarge):

ReadingLists@UCL can only interact with one catalogue interface, so until the 10th September the reading lists will continue to work optimally with Classic Explore. On the 10th September Classic Explore will be retired and ReadingLits@UCL will have its settings changed to work with the new Explore.

This does not affect e-resources: you can bookmark as usual from e-journals, e-books, TV and film resources, and more.

How will I know when to use the new Explore?

The new look Explore will become the only version of Explore on 10th September.  It looks like this:

Are there any other changes?

The SFX@UCL button found on some electronic resources will be re-named, as the underlying software has changed.  The new ‘FindIt@UCL’ button will work in the same way, leading you to the online resource.

As part of the migration there will be a circulation freeze from 5th-10th September.  This means the ‘Availability’ information on Explore might not be correct; this only affects physical books and journals that can be borrowed from the library.  Availability information is also shown in online reading lists so students and staff should be wary of this; you can ask your site library staff about book availability.

Reading lists can usually be found in the Explore catalogue, however as they are listed under their former module codes, and are in the process of having their module codes updated, the information is out of date.  We have decided to remove this information until all lists have a new module code, when we will add them back into the catalogue.

For more details on this Explore upgrade, including updates about outages, please see the UCL Library news webpage.

New module codes

In June we gave an outline of how TLS planned to manage this change to the new module codes.  Since then, the reading lists have rolled forward and TLS have started updating the module codes, using information from the Academic Model Project team. You don’t need to let us know which modules you would like updating: we are doing all online reading lists.  If any lists don’t have a new code, we will get in touch with departments to ask if they would like them left or archived

New Moodle

Moodle has been upgraded this summer and the ‘New Moodle‘ is already available, with the updated 2018-19 module codes.  For integrating with reading lists, New Moodle works in the same way as Legacy Moodle: you just need to switch on the ‘Library Resources’ block to make a link to the reading list. There is a more detailed integration which we will update this autumn, to ensure better interaction between Moodle and reading lists: ISD staff need to complete their prioirty Moodle migration work before doing this.  ‘Legacy Moodle’ is also still available for reference and also Late Summer Assessments.

Two possible problems:

1. Students undertaking re-sit exams may wish to re-visit their former reading lists, if they haven’t saved a version.  Legacy Moodle won’t link to the 2017-18 reading list as these are now archived.  Students can search all current ReadingLits@UCL lists by module name; or if the list has been updated already, we can retrieve the previous version from the archive.
2. The Library Resources block also contains a link to past exam papers.  All exam papers are found under their old codes so this link will not work!  Students can search Exam Papers online by module title.  If you wish to hide the broken link for this year, use the settings of the ‘Library Resources’ block to configure the block.

What you can do now:

• If you have saved URL links of 2017-18 reading lists, either for your own reference or in student handbooks, please update them before term starts
• Review the contents of your reading list: edit it to update notes, dates and readings, then publish to make it available to students.
• Check your Moodle module has a ‘Library Resources’ block, and the link to the reading lists works
• If you would like editing access to a reading list, get in touch so we can enable that for you.

For help with editing and updating Moodle, head to New Moodle and select the ‘Staff Help’ tab for guidance, or use the ‘Contact Moodle Support’ option there.

For help with editing an online reading list, please get in touch with ReadingLists@UCL.

For sourcing new books, journals, films and more, contact your friendly subject liaison librarian!