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How ReadingLists@UCL can help you at exam time

By Sandra Bamborough, on 26 February 2015

Many UCL courses have an online reading list to guide you in your study. Reading lists are a tailored list of resources which may include links to full text readings, library books or TV clips, which you can access online anywhere, any time.

Your reading list is an essential tool to help you revise for your exams.  It might contain readings which you have read in preparation for class, and they are a quick and easy way for you to look back over them when doing your revision.  Many readings might be key texts which link out to full-text e-journal articles, or e-books.  Where books are in the library, you will see links to the library catalogue (Explore) so you can instantly check whether the book is on the shelf and place a reservation if it is on loan.

Where your tutors have written notes to guide you, or tags to show which resources are essential reading, these will also prove helpful as you go back over the resources you have used this year.   You can sort the list by importance and refer back to any of your own notes that you may have added (remember to sign in first!).  Perhaps most importantly, you can export the readings into a different citation format, invaluable when referencing your sources.

Access the reading lists for your courses directly through Moodle via a link in the ‘Library resources’ block (where you can also see any relevant Online Exam Papers).  Search the ReadingLists@UCL homepage by module code or title, or by your lecturer’s name if they have made this available. You can also browse by department or search Explore, the library catalogue.

You can find more information on the student information webpage for reading lists and if you need any help do please contact your Subject or Site Librarian!

Good luck!

And the winners are…

By Sandra Bamborough, on 3 February 2015

Congratulations to the winners of our competition to win BoB treats!

BoB RL prize 20.1.15

You may recall a UCL Library tweet (@UCLLibraries) in which we said the first online reading lists with links to BoB (Box of Broadcasts) would win some BoB treats.   René Weis, Jonathan Kendall and Suzanne Jago were the creative academics to first use BoB in their teaching, and added links to their online reading lists.  As René even has two BoB entries in one list, he is arguably the number one user of BoB in reading lists at UCL!

BoB is a broadcast service that UCL subscribes to.  It allows educational use of TV and radio programmes:

  • Share a link to a programme with your students, add a link to an online reading list or even tweet it
  • Save clips from programmes and create playlists
  • Programmes can be viewed by any BoB users, which includes all registered students and staff at UCL (only inside the UK).
  • Using BoB in your teaching helps stay copyright compliant

 

To add a link to a BoB programme in your online reading list:

  • Log in to BoB using your UCL sign in and password
  • Navigate to the programme you wish to add to your reading list and click on its title
  • Press the reading lists button ‘Add to My Bookmarks’
  • Change Resource Type from ‘Webpage’ to ‘Audio-visual document’ and add new fields to enrich the data e.g. date, publisher, author
  • Click ‘Create & Add to List’ to add reading to a particular list and also your bookmarks OR click ‘Create’ to just save the resource in your bookmarks to add to your list at a future date
  • ‘Save draft’ or ‘Publish’ changes to your reading list. Saving a draft will mean that no one but you can see the changes.  To enable students to see the updates, use ‘Publish’.  This makes the changes available immediately.

 

By the way, in case you’re itching to know – the winning entries are:

http://readinglists.ucl.ac.uk/items/C88A7D92-AE64-2AB9-B773-F8F695C643A5
for Shakespeare Wallah – ENGL3002: Shakespeare
http://readinglists.ucl.ac.uk/items/7BA9F2D1-2D74-B6D5-6E4F-3FC9417FD995
for Macbeth – ENGL3002: Shakespeare
http://readinglists.ucl.ac.uk/items/06471272-C340-6F08-ECA8-56512046EFF5
for Mona Lisa – ENVS1019: Making Cities
http://readinglists.ucl.ac.uk/items/7E0443B2-9922-0EEA-AD1D-B6CAACB410C5
for Educating the East End – HCSCGS11: Professional and Clinical Studies I

 

Do get in touch if we can help further!

All change! New library webpages arrived 4th September

By Sandra Bamborough, on 2 September 2014

UCL Library’s webpages have migrated and launched on Thursday 4th September.

Commuter

As a result the address for many of our web pages has changed, so please remember to check and update your bookmarks.

For searching for, and accessing, your reading lists, the address remains the same: http://readinglists.ucl.ac.uk

Similarly the web address for Explore does not change. Explore is the library catalogue and resources page from which you can bookmark journals, books and ebooks to add to your reading list.

Here are some key addresses which have changed – the new ones are on the right in blue:

DESCRIPTION CURRENT (until September 4th 2014) NEW – from September 4th 2014 onwards
Teaching & Learning Support Section home page http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/teachsup.shtml http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/teaching-support
ReadingLists@UCL home page http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/readinglists.shtml http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/teaching-support/reading-lists
ReadingLists@UCL for teaching staff (guides and FAQ’s) http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/readinglists-teaching.shtml http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/teaching-support/reading-lists
Form to request a new reading list http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/reading-form.php http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/teaching-support/reading-lists/request-form
Quick guide to adding resources to your reading list http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/readinglists-quick-guide.pdf http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/docs/tlss/quick-guide.pdf
FAQs for support staff http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/readinglists-support.shtml http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/teaching-support/reading-lists/support
ReadingLists@UCL for students http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/readinglists-students.shtml http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/teaching-support/reading-lists/student
ReadingLists@UCL news page http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/readinglists-news.shtml http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/teaching-support/reading-lists/news

How do students access their online reading lists?

By Sandra Bamborough, on 29 August 2014

Most often, students find a reading list via their Moodle course, where they simply click on the reading list they need from the Library Resources block.  This block contains a link called ‘Reading list for…’ which links to the reading list with the same course code.

How do you set this up for them?  First request a reading list to be set up using the online form.  In Moodle, turn on the Library Resources block and it will automatically link to the reading list with the same course code.

Students can also access their reading list by searching:

  • ReadingLists@UCL using course code or title, or even the academic’s name if this has been added
  • the library catalogue Explore

Once students have found their online reading lists they can view them in different ways.

  • Use the ‘View bibliography’ button to produce a list of all the readings in alphabetical order, which can be printed (click ‘Export’ then ‘Export to PDF’)…
  • … use one of the drop-down boxes to select different citation styles. If a key citation style is missing, use the green ‘Feedback’ button to request another.
  • The reading list can be printed out in its existing layout (sign in, select ‘Export’ and then ‘Export to PDF’)
  • either of the above options can also be emailed to oneself, to save a copy.
  • The ‘Export’ button enables exporting references in different formats: we will cover this in another post, and on our webpage guides.

If you have questions about any of this, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!

Using ReadingLists@UCL for pre-session readings

By Sandra Bamborough, on 29 August 2014

Once a student has registered and started at UCL they will be able to access the reading lists for their courses on Moodle, through the Library Resources block.

The good news is they don’t need to wait until then: if you have created an online reading list for your course, even if more resources will be added in readiness for the new term, your students will be able to access this online now. Students can search by module code or title, or drill down through the hierarchy till they find their course, then click on their list.

They can see which readings are essential, or suggested for student purchase, so they can read or buy these before they arrive at UCL. Some links may take them to subscribed resources hidden behind a log-in page (e.g. an electronic version of a book or journal article, or TV programme) which they won’t be able to access until they have registered at UCL.

One department is already making use of this for their students by including details in their welcome letter. This is a great taster for their courses and the keen and enterprising student can get ahead with their reading.

For those thinking of coming to UCL in the future, our reading lists offer a fantastic shop window of what we have to offer those students who choose to learn with us.

Students can find more information on the reading list student page.

Help with your reading lists

By Sandra Bamborough, on 2 July 2014

Did you see our recent blog and all the good things students had to say about our ReadingLists@UCL?

If that’s not enough to encourage you to start on yours now and get ahead of the flow ready for the new term, here’s a hard-to-beat offer: there is a little more TLSS project time available for inputting new reading lists should you find yourself becoming short of time.

The TLSS team are also more than happy to review your lists for you, should you prefer to create your own list then have someone check the links are stable and the resources are in the library. To request a review, ‘Publish’ your list and you will be given the option to also click ‘Request review’.

To make the most of these services please email any new reading lists to readinglists@ucl.ac.uk or click the ‘Request review’ button.

 

New reading lists web pages

By Sandra Bamborough, on 26 June 2014

We have been busy updating the TLSS reading lists web pages.  Have a look at our ReadingLists@UCL home page to see the new content we have uploaded.

Do you know how to set up a reading list?  If you need a reminder on how to use your lists, here is a ‘Quick Guide’.  If you can’t remember, here is how to add your bookmarking button.  We have also added a few new FAQs to help you and your students get the most out of your reading lists.

Are you a member of a support staff team who works on reading lists, or would like to know more about them?  We now have a new page of FAQs to help support staff answer those niggly questions we have been asked most often.

If you have any other queries or would like some help or refresher training, please email us: readinglists@ucl.ac.uk