Each summer the reading lists have a new copy made for the new academic year, much like the Moodle snapshot.  This year the rollover is scheduled for the evening of Monday 13th July 2020.  From about 5pm that day:

• Reading lists for 2019-20 will have an exact copy made for 2020-21, which will publish immediately
• The old version (2019-20) 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 2020-2021 will be unaffected by the rollover

Please note:

• Unpublished changes will not copy forward into the new list: please publish your lists before 5pm 13th July if you wish your updates to be carried forward.
• We suggest you stop editing reading lists before 5pm on 13^th July, and continue editing when you can see it has the 2020-21 date stamp – certainly from the next morning Tuesday 14th July, if not sooner.
• The Moodle ‘Library resources’ block needs no maintenance and will continue to link to the most recent year’s list.  The optional integration ‘Reading list items’ requires checking and possibly some re-linking of resources, particularly after the reading list has been updated for the new year.
• To have old courses archived, new lists set up, or current module names amended, email us your requests!
• A note on Late Summer Assessments for academic year 2019-20.

Do you need a refresher on how to edit and manage your lists?  The ReadingLists@UCL webpages have online quick guides including short videos, and FAQs. Though working remotely, the TLS team still offer 1:1 set up and refresher training through Teams.  Get in touch and you could walk away with a new list set up and ready to go, have guidance on how to link to non-standard resources, or find out how to embed reading lists in Moodle.

Over the summer there will be some changes to ReadingLists@UCL. We would like to make you aware of them, so you can plan to navigate them.

Navigation marker, Margate

Rollover

The annual ReadingLists@UCL rollover will occur on the evening of Tuesday 16th July.  As in previous years, there will be no interruption to use of reading lists for students or academics.  We will post fuller information nearer the time, and subject liaison librarians will notify their departments.

New Look

A new user interface (UI) is being introduced this summer.  It has been developed in response to user feedback but, more importantly, it meets web Accessibility standards ensuring it is inclusive for all UCL users.  Making this change will ensure that ReadingLists@UCL are fully compliant with the 2018 UK Accessibility regulations.

For teaching staff the new list view is available in Beta now: email the ReadingLists@UCL team if you would like to use it ahead of its roll out. We will give you access so you can toggle between the Classic and Beta views.

There is a walkthrough video of the new look for student users – and anyone else who is curious to take a look!

New optional Moodle integration

The ‘Library Resources’ block is still an excellent, stable way to link from Moodle to an online reading list, and something we recommend so that students have a consistent experience across modules. (How do I add the Library Resources block into Moodle?).

Some teaching staff prefer the additional option of embedding readings from their list directly into the the body of Moodle and use the ‘Reading list items’ option.  A new LTI has been developed by the ReadingLists@UCL software owner (Talis) which embeds readings in Moodle in this way, whilst having better accuracy at maintaining the links after the annual rollover.  This integration will be implemented in collaboration with the Moodle team.  More on this later in the summer!

Welcome!

Over summer we have been working towards this moment, helping to prepare reading lists and digitised readings for Term 1 teaching. The many new things to remember in your first few weeks can be overwhelming, so we hope that online reading lists are one of the few things that are easy to use!

Click to enlarge

If your module has an online reading list you can find it:

• On Moodle (usually in the ‘Library Resources’ block – see picture)
• Searching the ReadingLists@UCL home page by module code or title.

When we speak with students they say that reading lists are intuitive to use, and they don’t need much guidance; here is a little information to help you get started:

• our webpages ReadingLists@UCL for Students
• in this blog, the tag ‘student’ pulls out items that may be relevant to you
• get in touch any time!  You can contact us by email, or there is a ‘Feedback’ button at the top of the reading lists page.

Not all modules have a reading list set up for them, this is at the discretion of your tutor or module lead.  If you would like a reading list for a particular course, please get in touch with your department to discuss this.

We wish you a good first term!

Each morning we arrive to many requests for editing access to online reading lists; and teaching and support staff have been calling into our Wednesday drop-in for training in how to best use them.  Term 1 is only a few days away and there much preparation going on!

In the run up to induction week, site and subject liaison librarians have also been requesting support material to hand out in induction packs, or to refresh a notice board.

The images here are two posters that are available as pdf to print for your department, and also bundles of Owl postcards.  Please get in touch with TLS to request any of these.

To particularly help those Departmental Administrators, Librarians and other support staff, our webpages ReadingLists@UCL for Support Staff is being updated as we speak.  Please let us know if there is anything else that we can usefully add there to help you!

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.

The online reading lists have rolled over succesfully, creating copies of all lists ready for the 2017-18 session.  The reading lists for 2016-17 have been archived.

Summer reading

In TLS we are preparing for the annual ‘rollover’ of ReadingLists@UCL.

This is the final task of the academic year for us: the CLA report of UCL’s digitised readings was sent in June, the majority of teaching has finished, and the exam period too has ended.

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 Tuesday 18th July 2017.  In brief:

• Reading lists for 2016-17 will have an exact copy made for 2017-18, which will publish immediately
• Students and staff will have continuous access to their reading lists
  
• Editing rights remain constant, so academics and teaching support staff are able to edit the new lists straight away
• The old version of the reading list (2016-17) will archive, which means it will disappear from public view but can be found and re-used in future years if needed
• Existing 2017-18 lists will be totally unaffected.

Please note:

• Unpublished changes will not be copied onto the new list: please publish your lists before 18th July if you wish the changes to be carried forward.
• If you would like reading lists removed – for example if a course is no longer being taught – please email us any time
• Similarly, if any courses have updated titles or course codes, email us to request the details are updated.

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

The online reading lists have now rolled forward, creating copies of all lists ready for the 2016-17 session.  The reading lists for 2015-16 have been archived.

You are able to continue editing as usual.  In fact, this is the perfect time to update your list: students look at their readings over the summer and it is very easy to add a section of ‘Summer reading / research’.  Even if you haven’t finalised changes to some readings, you can still set up the structure and edit dates and notes.  Though students are very positive about their reading lists, one complaint has been over currency; the last year’s dates were still on display making the student doubt the currency of the readings too.

Do you feel too busy to get re-acquainted with how to update your list?  Come along to our office and we can sit with you to help you log back in and make a few basic changes; or ask us for a quick refresher to get started again.  We set aside Wednesday afternoons 2.30 pm – 4.30 pm for anyone to drop-in, or we are happy to visit you at your desk.

Please drop us an email if you would like to:

• re-use a previous version of your reading list (for example, for those modules that run every other year)
• Archive a reading list if it is not being run in 2016-17
• Change a module title / name on an existing reading list
• Set up a new reading list

One final thing. Your ‘My Lists’ page will still display the 2015-16 lists. From the ‘My Lists’ page:

• To remove older lists, check the boxes left of the list title; at the top of the page click ‘Action’ -> ‘Remove’
• To add in new lists, navigate to the 2016-17 list and click the button ‘Add to my lists’ (top right hand side).
• All reading lists are at the same module URL each year (e.g. http://readinglists.ucl.ac.uk/modules/publg084.html ), this does not change.  The link from Moodle to the reading list (via the ‘Library Resources’ block) is also stable and will link to the same place.

We are warming up for the annual ‘rollover’ of ReadingLists@UCL.  Are you prepared?

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 Thursday 7th July 2016.  In brief:

• Reading lists for 2015-16 will have an exact copy made for 2016-17, which will publish immediately
• Students and staff will not experience any break in access to their reading lists
• Editing rights remain consistent, so academics and teaching support staff will be able to edit the new lists straight away
• The old version of the reading list (2015-16) will archive, which means it will vanish from public view but can be found and re-used in future years if needed.

Please note:

• Anything not published on a reading list will not be copied onto the new list: publish any changes before 6th July, if you wish them to be copied forward.
• If you would like reading lists removed – for example if a course is no longer being taught – please email us any time
• Similarly, if any courses have updated titles or course codes, email us to request the details are updated.

Do you need a refresher on how to edit and manage your lists, ready for September?  Drop in to our office on a Wednesday afternoon for summer training, or the ReadingLists@UCL webpages also have guides, FAQs and contact details.

* TLSS: the Teaching & Learning Support Section, part of UCL Library Services.