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Library summer changes

By Hazel M Ingrey, on 28 August 2018

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listed under their former module codes, and are in the process of having their module codes updated, the information is out of date.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 Moodle and New Module codes: update

By Hazel M Ingrey, on 3 August 2018

 

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!

 

 

Reading Lists Rollover: update

By Hazel M Ingrey, on 19 July 2018

The rollover was requested to start on Tuesday 17th July, however you will have noticed the 2017-18 lists remain on display.

The Talis team identified an issue relating to student numbers so paused the rollover: they updated us on Wednesday 18th with the news that they are testing the fix they have created and will re-start the rollover when they are confident there are no issues.  So sorry for this delay!  You can contine to edit your 2017-18 lists as usual, but please publish your changes as you work, to make sure they are saved.

New 2018-19 reading lists do not roll over and can be used as usual.

 

Reading Lists Rollover

By Hazel M Ingrey, on 26 June 2018

Some rights reserved CC BY 2.0 https://www.flickr.com/photos/110342926@N07/12779910463/ ; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

‘Perfect Gwith Barrels’ by Philip Male

 

In TLS we are preparing for the annual ‘rollover’ of ReadingLists@UCL. This is our final task of the academic year: the CLA report of UCL’s digitised readings was sent in June, the majority of teaching has finished, and the exam period too is largely over.

 

Each summer the reading lists have a new copy made for the September term, much like the Moodle snapshot.  This year the rollover is scheduled for the evening of Tuesday 17th July 2018.  From about 5pm that day:

  • Reading lists for 2017-18 will have an exact copy made for 2018-19, which will publish immediately
  • The old version (2017-18) will archive, which means it will disappear from public view but can be found and re-used in future years if needed
  • Students will have continuous access to their reading lists: there is no down time for viewing lists
  • Editing rights remain constant, so list editors are able to edit the new lists as soon as they appear
  • Lists already set up as 2018-19 will be unaffected by the rollover

 

Please note:

  • Unpublished changes will not copy forward into the new list: please publish your lists before 17th July if you wish your updates to be carried forward.
  • We suggest you stop editing reading lists before 5pm on 17th July, and continue editing when you can see it has the 2018-19 date stamp – certainly from the morning of 18th July, if not sooner.
  • TLS are aware of the new module codes being introduced and will begin updating the reading list module codes from around 19th July.  More details in our blog post on this.
  • To have old courses archived, new lists set up, or current module names amended, please email us your requests!

 

Do you need a refresher on how to edit and manage your lists?  Drop in to our office in Senate House on Wednesday afternoons, 2.30 – 4.30pm for a quick session.  You could walk away with a new list set up and ready to go, get guidance on how to link to non-standard resources, or find out how to embed reading lists in Moodle.

The ReadingLists@UCL webpages also have guides, FAQs and contact details.

 

New Explore interface

By Hazel M Ingrey, on 4 October 2017

You may have noticed that a new Explore user interface (UI) has been soft-launched and is in a development phase for user testing.

When adding new readings into an online reading list however, please continue to use the classic Explore interface.  ReadingLists@UCL can only interact with one catalogue interface, so until the new UI has been formally launched, the reading lists will continue to interact best with the classic Explore interface.

Classic Explore catalogue

Click to enlarge

 

We will post an update on this blog, and on the ReadingLists@UCL homepage message, when the switch has been made to the new UI.

Do contact the TLS team if you have concerns or questions.

 

Three top tips for students

By Hazel M Ingrey, on 2 February 2017

You found your online reading list on Moodle by spotting the link in the ‘Library Resources’ block, or when searching for your course on the ReadingLists@UCL home page.  Perhaps you read some key texts for tutorials in the first flush of enthusiasm in the autumn, however now it is revision time and you need to look over some of those readings in a hurry!

If you are short on time and need to find things quickly, here are our top three for using ReadingLists@UCL:

  1. Long reading list?  Re-order the readings by importance (essential, recommended etc.) or type (journal, book…), using the ‘Grouped by section’ button.  Then scroll down, or use the ‘Table of contents’ to jump down, to the section on ‘Essential’ readings for example.
  2. Convert the list to pdf to print out (Export -> Export to PDF) to highlight and scribble on; or keep your notes virtual by using the ‘Add note’ button on each reading.  These notes are private to you.
  3. Log in!  Once logged in, click on your name at the top of the screen and ‘View Profile’ to see your private notes and reading intentions.
Group by type2

(Click to enlarge)

 

From speaking with students we know you find reading lists intuitive to use, however we also have a little more guidance on our webpages, just in case.  We are always very keen to hear of anything that can be improved, so please contact us with suggestions or questions!

 

 

 

 

Link rot

By Hazel M Ingrey, on 7 October 2016

I was reading recently about link rot, that modern nuisance when links to a resource or webpage no longer work.

It is food for thought when refreshing your online reading list for this term. Keep link rot in mind when creating links to new readings: if you have linked to webpages of an organisation that subsequently changes name, or readings on a shady website, students may find the pages no longer available the following year.

Occasionally it even happens in paid journal subscriptions: this year an Archaeology journal was taken over by a different publisher and every stable article link changed.

What can you do if you don’t have time to check through all your lists for broken links?  Navigate to the reading list and sign in; click ‘Review’ then ‘Request Review’.

Request Review

This sends a notification to the TLS.  We check for broken links and create more stable links where possible; we also check all books link to the library catalogue, where relevant.  If you have added a ‘Note to the library’ requesting books be purchased, or newer / more editions for the library, we pass this on to the relevant subject librarian.

 

 

How do I add a pdf to an online reading list?

By Pamela Clarke, on 4 May 2016

Puzzled about how to add digitised readings to your online reading lists for students? Concerned about mysterious pdfs in Moodle?  Or worried about the copyright issues in course readings?

Then worry no more as the Teaching and Learning Services (TLS) are here to help! We offer advice and help to ensure course readings are copyright compliant, using UCL’s CLA licence, and other licencing schemes such as the NLA, and ERA where appropriate. Our course readings service will check readings are legally compliant under one of these licences and add the digitised readings to your online reading list.

To find out more feel free to “drop-in” to TLS (Senate House, room 317, 3rd floor, South Block) between 2.30-4.30 pm on Wednesdays. Contact us at: library-tlss@ucl.ac.uk. We also have webpages with information at your fingertips about the course readings service that you might find helpful.

 

A librarian asks: which books are not in the library?

By Sandra Bamborough, on 25 January 2016

We were recently asked by a librarian if there was any way to see which books on a reading list did not link out to the book in the library catalogue, Explore?  Librarians check through newly updated reading lists to ensure books and other resources have been purchased, where possible.  Once purchased, librarians can also update the reading list to link to the available book or journal.

 

csvTo answer the librarian: there is a way to check this!  You can ‘export’ a reading list into a spreadsheet (CSV) format.

Sort by ‘Type’ to view all ‘Books’ and if the ‘Local Control Number’ field is blank there is no link to Explore. Either UCL doesn’t hold the resource, or the academic didn’t make a link to it.

This can also be useful for those librarians who are updating lists, or who have inherited one and want to check whether you need to link any items to the catalogue to make them more readily accessible for students.

Of course, you can also ask our team to do the checking for you, by publishing the reading list and clicking on the ‘Request review’ button. TLSS will check through and link to books or journals where possible, or update unstable links to e-books or e-journal articles.

How do I add a Lynda.com course to my Reading List?

By Sandra Bamborough, on 11 January 2016

Lynda offers a huge range of video tutorials supporting learning in software, creative and business skills – all free to UCL staff and currently enrolled students.

 

Lynda 5

 

Log on to Lynda, using your UCL username and password when prompted.

 

 

Lynda 4

 

 

Find the video or section of the Lynda course that you would like to add to your reading list and bookmark as normal, by clicking on the ‘Add to my Bookmarks’ button. (For further information on how to set up a list and add the bookmarking button please see our webpages).

 

 

 

Change the ‘Type’ to ‘audio-visual document’, then add any other metadata you think necessary, e.g. change the title to display the title of a section. Finally, check the ‘Online resource’ box is ticked, save the bookmark and publish your list: when your students now click on your reading list they will be taken directly to the video or section.

It is also possible to search for and bookmark Lynda resources from the library catalogue, Explore.