Ever asked yourself the question, “How can I make my course readings accessible”?

Well, this is exactly the question the TLS team set out to answer at the lunchtime marketplace session at the recent 2022 UCL Education Conference.

We were thrilled to be able to attend the event, as this was a fantastic opportunity for us to get out there and talk to people about our services, whether it’s ReadingLists@UCL, course readings digitisation, or our copyright support services. As a user-focused team it’s essential that we engage with the academic community to understand how we can best support their teaching and learning activities. So this was also a brilliant opportunity to hear from lots of different staff and students, and learn more about how we can support them in getting the most out of their teaching.

A particularly pleasant surprise was the sheer range of people who came to speak to us – and the range of topics they were interested in! We had queries from UCL academics and PhD students about setting up reading lists, many of whom wanted to know more about how to replace document-based reading lists with online lists. As well as talking them through it, we ran a couple of demos of the ReadingLists@UCL service on our laptop. This is something we’re always happy to do, so get in touch if you want to arrange a virtual session!

We also had lots of queries about copyright issues. These mostly came either from academics teaching PhD research skills, or from PhD students interested in the copyright rules affecting their theses (e.g. the copyright status of photographs they wanted to include). We explained the tailored support and advice we could offer in this area, and our Copyright for PHD Students leaflets went like hotcakes!

Someone asked us whether films held on DVD can be converted to streams for inclusion on online reading lists (answer: they usually can!). And lots of people just wanted to know more about what TLS did in general – so we were happy to tell them. We also had a really interesting discussion with a couple of students about accessibility, and the many ways TLS services support this important area.

So in all this was a brilliant opportunity to get out and about and speak to people, promote awareness of TLS and our services, and learn more about what’s on people’s minds when it comes to things like course readings and copyright. The pandemic has made it harder to engage with the academic community – while at the same time increasing the need for support for remote learning. So being able go to an in-person event again was brilliant. Looking forward to the next one!

Each year, the online reading lists for all modules rollover so that a new version for the next academic year can be made available. Students may need to consult an older version of their reading list for revision, if they are involved in Late Summer Assessements

The reading list rollover on 5th July means that the 2020-21 reading lists will archive.  From 6th July the lists available to view will be the new lists for academic year 2021-20;  these are available to update immediately for the new session.

If you are aware of students who may need access to the 2020-21 version of the lists:

• students can take a copy of the list by using the ‘View & Export’ button – before 5pm on 4th July
• or save the URL of the list, which will continue to work even after the list is archived
• or if a list has already archived, let us know that it needs to be revived, and we can do this.

The Exam papers archive remains available all year round, and the papers can also be searched for via Explore, the library catalogue.  Students will need to log in with their UCL ID when accessing these from off campus

• Need a quick reminder on how to update your online reading list for next year?
• Would a ‘getting started’ session help you get ahead?
• Or do you just want a few tips on setting up a list?

Drop in to the TLS office on a Wednesday afternoon 2.30-4.30pm from June 1st until October 2016.  We will be on hand to trouble-shoot problems, walk you through linking a reading list to Moodle, or just set aside some time to set up an online list with someone on hand to help if you get stuck!

Our office is in UCL Senate House, room 318.  If you aren’t familiar with this UCL Library Hub, ask at the UCL Senate House reception desk, or call the TLS office on 020 3549 5729 (internal x65729).

When you request a new online reading list we always offer a 1:1 orientation (just 20 minutes or so) at your own computer, to get you started.  Hazel and Pam also regularly visit Teaching Committee or Departmental meetings for a 10-minute introduction or demonstration.  Do get in touch to request training, demonstrations, or just for more information!

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

Earlier this year I met with the MAPS Faculty Library Committee to give them a quick introduction to ReadingLists@UCL.  The composition of this meeting was really good because as well as academics the attendees included the Subject Librarian, the StAR (Student Academic Representative), academic/student liaison and an administrator, so I could showcase the benefits of the online reading lists to all of these audiences.

Some departments in MAPS find that they have little need for books in their teaching so this was the perfect opportunity to illustrate that a reading list does not have to be stuffed full of references to books and journals, but instead can be as little as a few links to relevant professional organisations that students need to be aware of. The Q&A session was followed by a brief demo of what reading lists could contain, where I emphasised various online resources, not just books.

Following on from the meeting we were tasked with putting together a short ‘crib sheet’ for the department. We already have the online ‘Quick Guide’, but we tailored another guide for the MAPS faculty and included an example of how to link to a website, how to link reading lists to Moodle blocks and how to install the Bookmarking Button. The resulting MAPS Getting Started with online lists guide is now online.

We further customised the guide with a list of suggested resources which could be useful, particularly on courses where reading lists aren’t commonly used.  Being familiar with the subject areas, Robert Tomaszewski, the Subject Librarian, was very happy to contribute these suggested resources.

This list of suggested resources is also presented as an online list to illustrate how it works in practice.  MAPS lecturers can include the resources in their own reading lists, or link to the guide.  For example, there is a guide to avoiding plagiarism, or you might prefer to include the link to UCL’s current plagiarism guidelines for students, as some other academics have also done on their reading lists.

MAPS have chosen to recommend that their lecturers create their own lists. We set the lists up, send editing access to the tutor and offer a quick orientation, so they can start managing their list. Take a look at an interesting list.

This strategy has worked fantastically well for the Faculty, with resulting successes so far of 99 out of 103 courses for Mathematics (96%) having an online reading list, whilst Statistical Science have reached the magic 100%. A similar approach could be taken by other Departments with low or relatively low take-up of reading lists, with suggested resources tailored to each department.

There are of course many alternative approaches to increase the number of reading lists and improve the student experience.  Please email us for further information, or to request a ReadingLists@UCL poster, aimed at either students or staff, which you can customise for your department.

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!

This Saturday 21st February Hazel and I took the ReadingLists@UCL advocacy campaign

into the student heartland of the UCLU Education Conference, held this year at the Institute of Child Health.

Our stall gave us the opportunity showcase the highlights and benefits of the online reading lists in a very visual manner that appealed to the attendees.

We showed students that online reading lists allowed them to view readings in different citation styles, or export the citations to Endnote, Reference Manager, Zotero etc. for use in their work; they could sort the resources on their list by ‘type’ or ‘importance’, for example to group all essential readings together.  In essence, they could make the list their own by adding private notes and a reading status for each item.

Many of the students were unaware of the online reading lists and when shown the benefits were very impressed and determined to ask their lecturers why their courses did not have one!   Some students actually discovered they did have a reading list – only they hadn’t been shown how to access it, and were delighted to find they could do so seamlessly from Moodle, as long as the course tutor or administrator had remembered to switch on the Library Resources block.

The Student Academic Representatives, or StARS as they are better known, were particularly impressed. They will be taking back the message that online reading lists are an essential part of the student learning experience at UCL and need to be more widely adopted by departments across UCL.

We reminded the students that ReadingLists@UCL are best for:

• Revising from home
• Clear guidance on essential / recommended readings
• Distance learning courses
• Many full text readings so no need to visit the library…
• …but also, live links to the library catalogue to see if books are on the shelf right now! If not, just click through to reserve books
• Making your own notes on each reading
• Consistency across programmes

For information and FAQs for students, visit www.ucl.ac.uk/library/teaching-support/reading-lists/student

• No list set up? Your course tutor or departmental administrator can request an online reading list, if appropriate for your course
• Ask your Subject or Site Librarian for help
• Email: readinglists@ucl.ac.uk

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

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:

Do get in touch if we can help further!

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

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:

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!