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I can’t find a film or documentary on BoB!

By Hazel M Ingrey, on 31 August 2023

Teaching staff who use film, documentaries, broadcast TV or radio as a reading on a module may already be familiar with UCL subscribed resources such as BoB (Box of Broadcasts), Kanopy and BFI Player. Many more suggestions for resources can be found on the Film and Media Studies guide.

But what if you can’t find a particular film or documentary via these subscriptions?

Firstly, add the resource to your online reading list anyway (linking to IMDB, any library record or relevant webpage) and include a ‘Note for library’ to say you wish to use it in your module.  Tagging the reading as ‘Essential’ or ‘Optional’ will help the library to prioritise purchasing the resources most important to you; and don’t forget to ‘Publish’ the list so we can see your request!  The library runs a weekly report to identify all new readings added that week to purchase the new readings needed,  sourcing material from various vendors on your behalf.

If the film or programme has been broadcast at any point, you can check the TRILT database.  The library will do this for you if you prefer, but it can be such a useful database to know about for research and teaching. TRILT is a database of UK TV and radio programmes, with data starting in 1923.  TRILT contains listings and metadata, however some programmes are also available to request for viewing.

  1. From the TRILT homepage, sign in using your UCL credentials (top right).TRILT results
  2. Use the ‘Search’ bar and options to find your programme.
  3. Icons show if the programme is already available; available to request; or only a record (metadata).
  4. Click on the programme title to see the full record and, where available, use the ‘Request this programme’ link.
  5. At the ‘Off air programme request’ page, add your details. The most useful Delivery Method is ‘BoB’.  It will be delivered online through the regular BoB service; UCL and other Universities will also be able to access it indefinitely. Please add any useful information in the bottom two text boxes: across UCL we are able to request 24 programmes in any year so programmes for taught courses may need to take priority.

TRILT Programme Request

You will receive a confirmation email, including a note that ‘If the programme you have requested was broadcast prior to May 2009 it may take up to 6 weeks for completion’.

 

 

 

If not available from TRILT then do contact the library as there are other avenues we can pursue.

For information, UCL holds an ERA licence that enables us to have access to BoB and TRILT, and to be able to request DVD copies from other UK HE libraries.  UCL is also a member of Learning On Screen.

Note for librarians: if you cannot get delivery from TRILT, then we may still be able to acquire a copy under our ERA licence.  TLS holds a list of JISCmail lists to apply to: if another HE institution holds a copy of the programme we may request a copy, and hold this at UCL under ERA conditions.

 

Which browser should I use?

By Hazel M Ingrey, on 1 November 2019

The current and last versions of Internet Explorer (IE), Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Microsoft Edge are officially supported for using with with ReadingLists@UCL; previous versions are supported to best efforts.  The reading lists team recommend using Firefox  as we find it to be most compatible for editing lists. You can find which version of your browser you are using by using the ‘Help’ or ‘About’ in your browser Menu Bar; you can find which are the most recent versions on websites like Browse Happy or through the browser’s official website.

To add readings into your reading list you will need to add a ‘Bookmarking button’ into your browser. You only need to do this once, it is quick to do and we offer to help with a quick orientation.  Here are some screencasts for adding the bookmarking button in Firefox and adding the bookmarking button in Safari (34 seconds long, with no text description: please contact us for assistance with an alternative format). Each browser is set up differently, so occasionally you will need to first reveal the ‘Bookmarks toolbar’ on your browser.

Microsoft Edge has limitations on its support for JavaScript bookmarklets, so if you use this browser you may have had problems using the usual bookmarking button.  To resolve this a new browser extension is available: this article on bookmarking extensions from the software developer, Talis, gives information on how to download and use the extension (N.B. the ‘known issue’ they mention has already been resolved).  The extension is also available for Chrome and Firefox.

There is also planned functionality to be added into the new list editing view, currently being developed.  The new list editing view is in beta testing and will be rolled out to UCL in summer 2020, there will be a follow up blog post about this!

 

 

Rollover complete!

By Hazel M Ingrey, on 19 July 2019

The rollover is complete! All your 2018-19 lists have been archived and a copy created for 2019-20, which you can edit straight away.

  • If modules are not running this year, please let us know so we can archive the list. This hides it from view to avoid confusion and also saves it for future re-use.
  • To set up new lists please get in touch or see our Getting Started advice.Image: review, edit, publish

Over the summer you can prepare your reading lists for the new academic year: you just need to review, edit and publish!

 

Do my digitised readings also roll forward?

When your new list is created, the digitised readings (digitised under the CLA licence and added to your list by TLS) also copy forward.  There is a separate, behind-the-scenes process in June where the readings are re-checked automatically for the coming year.  The only exceptions are a few readings which are not digitised under the CLA licence, but instead had direct copyright permission granted: the links to these readings will temporarily break until the permission is re-requested for the coming year.  This is a task that TLS does annually and they will be in touch if your readings are affected.

 

And finally don’t forget a new user interface is being introduced on 30th July.  See the Summer Update blog post for more, or view the walkthrough video to see how it will look.

 

 

New Module Codes for 2018-19

By Hazel M Ingrey, on 13 June 2018

You may have heard of the Academic Model Project, a project to update all UCL module codes. Whilst you may be dealing with the extra work around this for your teaching, please spare a thought for how it will affect your online reading lists!

  • The current 2017-18 module codes remain on the existing online reading lists for any remaining exams, re-sits and continuing students.
  • Around the week of 2nd July the new instance of Moodle will be made available, with new module codes.
  • Around 17th July, ReadingLists@UCL will have its annual ‘rollover’ where lists are archived and a duplicate copy made for 2018-19.  The archived list will have the ‘old’ module code on it when archived.
  • From around 19th July onwards we will upload new module codes to the reading lists hierarchy and link the new lists to their new module code.  Once this is done, new Moodle courses will link to the correct reading list via the ‘Library Resources’ block.
  • Reading lists can be edited at any time and still found by their module title from the home page search: there is no break in being able to update them.

 

Despite best efforts there is likely to be some messy cross-over between old and new module codes, but we hope this catches the best time to make the switch and still be ready for August when departments might be updating Moodle.

Let us know if there is anything not covered here that might affect you!  Liaison and site librarians have also been informed and are your contact for other library issues, so do get in also touch with them.

 

Case study: why not put readings in Moodle?

By Hazel M Ingrey, on 26 October 2017

The question we are asked most often by teaching staff is why not just use Moodle for providing links and pdfs to readings?  Today’s case study shows one student’s experience of this.

 

Easy access for students?

Easy access for students?

A student contacted the library e-resources team as she had difficulty accessing an article online.  Her Moodle course is well organised and gives key readings with some great context and reading notes.  Several of the readings, however, led to an error page instead of the online article.

This is happening for two reasons.  The URL for the reading was copied and pasted directly from the web address bar.  For some resources, such as OVID, the web address contains session information or search terms: it is not a stable link.  When re-visited later, the link no longer works.

A second problem is that even if a stable link is used, it does not include the information which prompts students to log in with their UCL details.

In the majority of cases, both these issues can be resolved by bookmarking from ReadingLists@UCL in the recommended way – using a bookmarking button, much like Pinterest or del.icio.us.  When you first set up a list we will offer a quick orientation to show you how to do this.

For a handful of specialist databases, bookmarking requires an extra step. You can ‘Request review’ when your list is complete, and TLS will check and amend links for you; or ask TLS to create the bookmarks for you.  For those who prefer to be self-sufficient we have some guides: in the tag cloud to the right, click on ‘Non-standard bookmarking‘.

 

How can this situation be avoided on your course?

  • Set up an online reading list and have a brief orientation with TLS
  • Switch on the ‘Library Resources’ block to make a stable link from Moodle to the online list
  • Let your students know about the online reading list!
  • Remove any articles from Moodle to avoid duplication of work, and confusion for students

 

Linking to readings via Ovid

By Hazel M Ingrey, on 11 September 2017

Ovid is a large database which provides access to many journals, books and some audio-visual resources.  If you need to bookmark a journal article from here you will find the link is not stable: when you return to the reading the link may not work – and therefore is not helpful to your students.

The easy solution

Make a basic bookmark and the library will turn this into a stable link for you:

  • Bookmark the page as usual: in Ovid, this works beautifully so all the bibliographic data will pull through nicely.
  • Use the ‘Library note’ to flag that the link needs upgrading.
  • When you have completed your reading list, click ‘Request review’.  TLS will be notified to check your list and we will update the link to a stable link.

Request review

 

 

How is this done?

A surprising number of academics, learning technologists and librarians ask how they can do this themselves, so the following is for them:

  • Navigate to the article
  • First click on ‘Email jumpstart’ and from the popup box, copy the jumpstart URL (click on the image below for the screenshot)
  • Then bookmark as usual from the article, but replace the ‘Weblink’ with the ‘jumpstart’ URL.

Ovid jumpstart

 

 

 

 

 

For help with bookmarking from other specialist resources, look to the tag cloud on the right of this page and select ‘non-standard bookmarking‘. Or, of course, do get in touch any time.

 

Linking to articles in PEP-Web

By Hazel M Ingrey, on 11 September 2017

PEP-Web is a database for Psychoanalytic resources (books, journals, video etc.).   It used to be a little more tricky to bookmark from however when this was flagged to Talis, the software owners behind ReadingLists@UCL, they were able to create a fix so the two systems now interact well.

When you search through the library catalogue for a journal, and click ‘View online’ you

Different journal providers

Different journal providers

may be offered more than one journal provider:

 

PEP-Web has a good archive back to the 1920s and is very specialist, so it may be the only source for some readings. From this screen click on ‘Go’ and then navigate to the relevant reading.

 

Journal articles in PEP-Web do not have a DOI however the online reading list system will create a good bookmark despite this.

 

 

  • Click on your ‘Add to my bookmarks’ button as usual and the correct bibliographic data will be pulled through into the bookmark.
  • The weblink is also stable, so you need do nothing more than save the bookmark into a particular reading list!

 

If you are aware of any databases or resources that don’t bookmark well, please let us know so we can work with Talis to solve this.

For help with bookmarking from other specialist resources, look to the tag cloud on the right of this page and select ‘non-standard bookmarking‘. Or, of course, do get in touch any time.

 

Linking to Harvard Business Review

By Hazel M Ingrey, on 11 September 2017

Harvard Business Review articles are often key resources for students across UCL, particularly in the UCL School of Management.

UCL Library subscribes to this resource online, making it readily available to students.  It is available through the EBSCOhost platform. However academics wishing to direct students to readings will find that technical measures inhibit them from creating a durable link to an article.  This is to reinforce the licence terms which do not allow academic institutions to use HBR material in ‘electronic course packs, persistent linking from syllabi or by any other means of incorporating the content into course resources.’.

How to help students to key readings, whilst still respecting the licence restrictions?  You can signal to students which readings are interesting to read, and the library will turn this into a permitted link at the most granular level allowed.

  • Bookmark the page as usual, so enough of the bibliographic detail is saved to be clear which reading you are recommending. Even more helpful, add the ‘Accession number’ from the article into the student or library note.
  • Use the ‘Library note’ to flag that this is an HBR link which needs upgrading.
  • When you have completed your reading list, click ‘Request review’.  TLS will be notified to check your list and we will update the link to a stable link, from where students can reasonably click to search for the relevant article.

Request review

 

 

 

 

For help with bookmarking from other specialist resources, look to the tag cloud on the right of this page and select ‘non-standard bookmarking‘. Or, of course, do get in touch any time.

Summertime FAQs

By Hazel M Ingrey, on 1 September 2017

Everyone thinks summer is a quiet time in the library, however the TLS is at its most busy!  Along with most academic departments, we are preparing reading materials ready for term start and setting up new reading lists.

We have also had many excellent questions about reading lists.  Some are so useful or universal we thought it would be helpful to share them, along with the answers.

 

Q: I am a Departmental Administrator updating our course information. The titles of some of modules have changed and I wondered who to send the updated information to, so they can be amended on the online Reading Lists?

A: Email any module code / title changes to: readinglists@ucl.ac.uk  This account is checked by more than one person each day: we will update your lists as soon as possible and let you know when they are complete.  If a module code has changed, do also check that the link from Moodle to the reading list still works.

Q: I had some changes on my 2016/17 reading list that I didn’t publish. When the lists rolled forward into 2017/18 those changes were lost. I can’t recall what the changes were and don’t have the references anymore, is there any chance that there is an archived version of the list to look at?

A: I am pleased you asked because it is very easy for us to retrieve archived lists!  We have made the 2016-17 version available again: once you have looked over both versions let us know which one you prefer to keep live and we will archive the other version.

Q: Last year I used the Moodle tool ‘Reading List items’ to embed readings from my reading list more directly into Moodle.  After the Moodle and reading lists roll overs, not all these links are working well.  Do I have to re-embed them all?

A: Some teaching staff find this Moodle tool very helpful, to pinpoint sections or readings for specific weeks. The Moodle and ReadingLists@UCL teams have liaised to create some instructions: ‘Displaying your Reading List in Moodle’. They explain the most basic and stable way of linking from Moodle to reading list, using the ‘Library Resources’ block; they also show the more sophisticated integration, using the ‘Reading Lists Items’ tool.  Finally, there is specific note of Caution ‘What you need to do before each academic year’ which explains how to update any broken links.

 

We hope this helps. If you need help with any of the above or have your own questions, you are welcome to call us any time (020 3549 5729 or internal x65729), email, or drop in to our office in Senate House! The ReadingLists@UCL webpages also have further support and information.

 

Do my digitised readings also roll forward?

By Hazel M Ingrey, on 17 July 2017

A timely question today from a UCL medical department.  Having seen that the online reading lists will roll over on Tuesday 17th July, they ask ‘when my reading list becomes a 2017-18 list, will the digitised readings on it also roll forward and remain available?’.

Readings BenTerrett 3234063524

‘Readings’ by Ben Terrett CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

All online reading lists roll forward and have a new version for 2017-18 created. If a department lets us know a module isn’t running we will archive the list so it isn’t visible for the coming year.

When lists roll forward, any readings that the library has digitised will also roll forward and remain available. The majority of these readings are digitised using the CLA licence. These have a little auto-check as occasionally rights holders withdraw from the licence, however we find that almost all readings are fine to re-use the next year.

Just a few readings will not be available by virtue of having individual copyright permission requested. The TLS team will need to re-request the copyright permission if the readings are to be used again in the coming year.  We email the academic or list owner for confirmation that they would like to re-use the same readings for next year:

  • If they are required then we re-request the copyright permission and the department covers any fees incurred, as usual.
  • If the readings are not needed, or if there is no reply from the department or tutor, then unfortunately we will have to remove the reading from the reading list as it won’t be covered by any permission for that year.

Our course readings webpage has more information on digitising readings under the CLA licence and how we request copyright permission.  Please do get in touch if you have any questions!