eReaders are evolving into something that looks really exciting.  Take a look at this article from the New York Times that my colleague Lisa Valentine sent me:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/business/06novel.html?_r=2&th=&adxnnl=1&emc=th&adxnnlx=1260101016-RPQ1rGnExgyeeGn7HWJ8lg

The enTourage eDGe looks stunning and should really move eReader technology on in leaps and bounds.  There’s a demo on the enTourage website: http://www.entourageedge.com/

It’s not even out yet in the USA and is still pretty expensive, but it shows great promise – particularly for text books.  Imagine reading about a subject such as blood circulation on the eReader screen and seeing the animation on the LCD screen alongside it!

So, JISC has released a call for enhancing Library Management Systems. Interesting. From looking through the call it has plenty of scope but, due to the funding, only HEIs or FE Colleges with over 400 FTE HE learners can lead a bid.  We have a number of these in our region so those colleges that are eligible, why don’t you put together a bid?  Remember that the bid must be focussed on your HE learners and your HE provision.  For this particular bid, consortia established solely for the bid are not encouraged to apply due to the short timescale (existing consortia can apply)

The call is split into 4 themes all focussing on different aspects of the JISC’s Enhancing Library Systems initiative. 

Theme A

Have you recently implemented a new Resource Discovery Service such as Primo or AquaBrowser?  If you have, this theme is for you.  There is up to 10k available for each project with approximately 5 to 8 projects sought.

Funding is provided towards the costs of implementing, using and evaluating the system and not the cost of purchasing the system

Themes B1 and B2

Although it is possible to bit solely for B1 (for which a maximum of £25k is available) JISC are encouraging bidders to work on both themes.

B1: Enhancing existing Online Public Access Catalogues

This theme is focussed on enhancing existing library catalogues and producing “How To” guides for other institutions to adopt.  This may involve creating an “Amazon.co.uk” style Opac in liaison with your LMS supplier (however the supplier must not take more than 20% of the cost of the project), or incorporating collaborative tools such as Social Bookmarking.  The aim for the project is for the information and code created to be sharable with other uses of the LMS.

Proposals should result in a significant overall enhancement to an existing OPAC

B2: Making library resources and services available outside library Web environments

For this part of the call you will need a software developer (for which some of the money available can be used to fund).  A maximum of £40k is available to develop widgets and portals to embed the LMS into other institutional systems such as VLEs, Facebook, social networking sites etc…

Proposals are invited for projects which develop widgets and/or portlets to embed access to library resources and services within institutional, social and/or personal Web environments. 

Theme C

Theme C is focussed on exploring problem areas with LMS and highlighting their current limitations which restrict libraries from providing services as they would wish.  There is a maximum of £5k available per case study which involves identifying the problem, illustrating how improved systems integration could enhance the learning experience and documenting any work-arounds that have been established.

It is intended that these case studies will be used as the basis of a number of workshops in which case study institutions will share their experiences. 

The call can be found on the JISC website at:
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/fundingopportunities/funding_calls/2009/12/1209lms.aspx 

If there’s anything the I can do to help bidders, please do get in touch.

• Feedbooks: Food for the mind
  On Feedbooks you'll discover thousands of public domain books and original books from new authors that you can read on any mobile device.
  (tags: eBooks)

• Watch the ‘Introduction to the QCF’ animated guide
  This interactive animation provides an overview of the key concepts of the Qualifications and Credit Framework. At the end of the animation you will be able to view some case studies about the benefits of the QCF.
  (tags: qualifications)

At the UKSG E-Resources for FE Seminar I gave a presentation looking at whether libraries and learning resource centres are providing learner centred environments.

My aim for the presentation was to get you all thinking.  Over the last few months I’ve been talking to Librarians putting forward observations and reflections, on how libraries could respond to the evolving needs of learners and their learning styles, to prompt discussion and elicit feedback.

It’s been an interesting few months of changing ideas and perceptions resulting in the presentation below.  Are we providing Learner Centred Environments?  How can a library be “physical” as well as “virtual”?  How can we exploit online platforms? How do Learning Styles influence library services?

The presentation showcases innovative ideas, new technology and useful websites, and provides some suggestions to challenge your thinking and influence your future planning.

Diving in at the Deep End – Platforms for effective e-resource management (Powerpoint)

Handout on Learning Styles (MS Word 2007)

Did you know that you can customise how the ebrary eBook library looks?

Top Bar

It is possible to customise the top bar of your ebrary site to show whatever you wish; provided that you ensure that all links open in a new window and that the new page is 42px high. This page can be hosted on your own college server and updated whenever you wish.  Try creating a new page with your college logo, links to your other online resources and your college catalogue.

Homepage

The right half of the homepage can also be customised and hosted on your own college server thereby enabling regular updates as required.  You can showcase your most popular eBooks or highlight all the set texts that are included in the collection.

A public example of a customised site is available at: http://site.ebrary.com/lib/csli/home.action

ebrary Reader InfoTools

The InfoTools menu within the eBrary reader can be customised as you wish to link to web sites of your choosing. This can include any site with persistent links such as Infotrac or your library catalogue. At present only the InfoTools menu within the ebrary reader can be changed, but ebrary are working on enabling this customisation with the InfoTools menu of the QuickView.  See my previous post for details of how to get the ebrary reader working on your college network.

How do I start customising my college’s ebrary site?

You need to contact jisc-support@ebrary.com with details of how you would like to customise the site.

Further details

Full details of how to customise ebrary are on the ebrary site at:
http://www.ebrary.com/kb/librarian/basic_implement.jsp#site

Thanks to Hilary Richmond at Cheadle and Marple Sixth Form College for letting me assist with customising her college’s ebrary site to understand how this all works.

Now that colleagues are starting to use ebrary, it has come to light that to use the ebrary Reader (the one that includes speech), you may need to ask your technical team to set it up for you on the network.  Here are all the details you need which have been provided direct from ebrary. 

• We require the latest version of Java. Please make sure Java has been updated
• Please make sure cookies are enabled and that reader.ebrary.com is not blocked on ports 80 and 443.  This has been a common problem with colleges that are using proxies/firewalls
• From the diagnostics we have been receiving, it seems that many users have not allowed for write access to their home directory. The Java reader does not require admin rights for installation but it creates personalized files for users in their home directory.
• Proxies that cache ebrary data can cause session errors because each individual who accesses needs unique session data.  Ebrary servers are at 216.200.62.* .  I recommend making sure that no content is cached from those IPs.
• If you are still having trouble, visit http://site.ebrary.com/validate and http://www.ebrary.com/kb/users/java_diag.jsp

If you still have problems using the ebrary Reader, please do get in touch.

• Mobile learning moves forward at Mimas
  Inlcudes a report on the MIMAS Mobile Learning Conference in July 2009
  (tags: mobile_learning game_based_learning)
• The Loop Learning Resource Centre
  Creation of a 21st Century Learning Resource Centre at Blackpool and The Fylde College
  (tags: learning_spaces lrc library)
• 100 Ways to Use Twitter In Your Library
  Here are 100 tips that can help you effectively use Twitter in your libraries.
  (tags: twitter library communication)

Copyright. It seems like a minefield of potential problems and just when you think you have it all worked out, you find another potential issue. We get asked a lot about copyright of digital information and where to obtain information. Hopefully in this blog post I can give you some pointers for where to look for advice and the restrictions you should be aware of.

It is essential that any copying of content into a digital format, whether by scanning or retyping extracts, is licensed in some way. The CLA Licence for State FE Colleges does give some permissions for digitising UK works provided your college has an up-to-date CLA licence and is a member of the Association of Colleges (AoC) and that the content is only for the benefit of staff, students, and consultants of the licensee. (See the definition of Authorised Persons within the licence for further details).   However there are some exclusions to this licence which can be found on the CLA website. 

All content that has been digitised must be stored in a secure area that is only accessible to these Authorised Persons and there must be no links to this content from external or third party websites.

The licence restricts what can be digitised within any one course of study. The digitised form must be no more than:

• 5% of any published edition or
• one complete chapter of a book or
• one whole journal article or
• one short story or poem not exceeding 10 pages in length or
• the entire report of a single case

The college must hold one copy of the original material and the digital copy must be a verbatim copy of the original Licenced Material. In addition, the identity of the author and the title of the work from which it is extracted must be included.

This is all well and good, but where does it leave visually impaired learners? The CLA FE licence does permit copying of content for the sole personal use of visually impaired users - provided any digitisation is made in accordance with the Copyright and Visual Impairment Joint Industry guidelines.  This is a specific entry to the licence only for learners with visual impairment – the definition of which is expanded in the guidelines.

The material being digitised must not be readily available in a suitable format and the college must retain the original licenced work.

Some of the standard CLA FE licence restrictions above remain in place:

• If this original work is lent, sold or given away, any digitised format of that work must be deleted or transferred with the original.
• The digitised work must not be made available on an intranet, newsgroups or on the internet and cannot be passed onto a third party.
• The digitised copy of the original work may not be amended other than as required to enable full access. This must be done with the permissions of the author or their representative.

The copyright of the material always remains with the copyright owner and some formats can be excluded from these permissions. It is always advisable to request the permissions from the copyright owner before digitising any text content. JISC TechDis provide a Publisher Lookup tool which gives details of how to contact each publisher and simplify the process.

JISC Legal has recently provided us with general guidance regarding digitising content for learners with disabilities.

Clearly where learners with disabilities are involved there is an obligation on the institution to provide them with accessible materials. Where the learner has a visual impairment then they are able to copy and adapt materials for their learning. Where those with other disabilities require copies to be made of learning materials this can be arranged by the institution. It is in this situation where it is important to have the appropriate permission from the publisher for the copying. The publishers involved may be happy to have their work copied in the way described but that should be clarified with the publisher preferably in writing.

It may be valuable for institutions to check what use can be made of materials licensed for learners and ensure that and new agreements to purchase learning materials provide for conversion to electronic means for learners that require it.

Do be aware that the CLA FE licence only permits the scanning of UK works.

Whew! Hope that helps. All links to useful information are below.  Feel free to comment and add questions and I will endeavour to answer them or point you to where the answer may be.

The CLA FE licence:
http://www.cla.co.uk/assets/217/further_education_licence.pdf

The CLA FE webpage (including exclusions):
http://www.cla.co.uk/State_FE_colleges_EWandNI.php

Copyright and visual impairment – Joint Industry Guidelines:
http://www.publishers.org.uk/en/home/copyright/copyright_guidelines/

Publisher Lookup UK:
http://www.publisherlookup.org.uk/

Education post-16 and the DDA:
http://www.rnib.org.uk/livingwithsightloss/moneyandrights/knowingyourrights/
disabilitydiscriminationact/Pages/education_post_16.aspx

JISC Legal:
http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk

JISC TechDis:
http://www.techdis.ac.uk

In 2007/8 the RSCs were given funding for an Information Officers post whose role, for half of their time, is to seek and assist with authoring FE case studies for inclusion on the QIA Excellence Gateway.  This work has resulted in a wealth of information being made available.  Some of the library related case studies are below.

Loughborough College and West Nottinghamshire College: The search for single sign-on to electronic resources
Published: 2 April 2009

Following the withdrawal of JISC funding for ATHENS, the access and identity management system in July 2008, many FE colleges have been investigating alternative ways of accessing online resources. In this case study Loughborough College and West Nottinghamshire College have both successfully implemented Federated Access Management using Shibboleth technology to enable students to access various electronic resources by merely signing into their respective College networks.

http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/page.aspx?o=194242

Tresham Institute: Integrating two library collections
Published: 27 October 2008

Tresham Institute is a further and higher education college with campuses in Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, and The Rutland College in Oakham, with nearly 3,000 full-time and 13,000 part-time students. The College is in the process of a major redevelopment project, the first stage of which is a brand new £20 million campus in Kettering that opened to students in September 2007 and combines the provision that was previously offered at two sites in the town.

http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/Programmes/page.aspx?o=166924

Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College: Library system opens up new horizons
Published: 13 May 2009

Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College uses its new library system in an innovative way, which has benefited the College tremendously. From managing the library’s catalogue to assigning student locker keys, the new system has had a huge impact on the management of resources and improvement of student access to information.

http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/page.aspx?o=201973

Weymouth’s Learning Gateway improves behaviour
Published: 23 July 2008

Weymouth College set-up a “Learning Gateway” as part of a move towards creating a “learning” rather than a teaching environment. It involved setting up 180 workstations through which learners could access Moodle, both in timetabled sessions and on an open-access basis. The project has been so successful that, three years on, the College is looking at ways of developing it and putting it at the heart of a new build scheme.

http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/article.aspx?o=162093

Stafford College: LRC uses self-assessment toolkit
Published: 16 March 2009

Stafford College undertook a free self-assessment of its learning resource centre using a toolkit developed by the Council for Learning Resources in Colleges (Colric) and the FE and HE group of Cilip (CoFHE). The tool provided a way of evaluating quality of service and served as a useful benchmarking exercise.

http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/Programmes/page.aspx?o=192897

Harrogate College: RFID in the library
Published: 13 March 2009

RFID (radio frequency identification) systems are typically used in higher education libraries. This case study is an example of how RFID can work in a further education environment. RFID has many organisational advantages over using only a library management system, which can free staff time for a more personal library service.

http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/page.aspx?o=192902

Priestley College: How do you successfully develop your new learning space? Ask your students, of course!
Published: 13 March 2009

When Priestley College began to plan the redevelopment of its learning resource centre, it continued the culture of student involvement that exists within the College by asking students to help plan and create the new development. This case study describes how the JISC infoKit on ‘Planning and Designing Technology-Rich Learning Spaces’ was used as the starting point for ideas and planning, and how the finished development was the recognisable result of students’ ideas and plans.

http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/page.aspx?o=192957

Blackpool and The Fylde College: Rethinking spaces, rethinking staffing – new staff structure and roles for a technology-rich learning resource centre
Published: 13 November 2008

This case study focuses on how the staffing structure and roles have been redefined to meet the needs and challenges of ‘The Loop’, a new technology-rich library and learning resource centre at Blackpool and The Fylde College.

http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/Programmes/page.aspx?o=168007

Northampton College: Embedding information skills into the curriculum
Published: 26 January 2009

Northampton College has offered structured Information Skills programme in selected courses of study that have seen the skill levels rise of those learners. For example, one review concluded that grades had risen by 5% on a module that relied solely on assessment by essay.

http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/page.aspx?o=170609

Peterborough Regional College: Making information retrieval sessions “wicked”
Published: 29 June 2009

‘Library+’ staff at Peterborough Regional College have developed an innovative approach to help students get to grips with using the Dewey Decimal system. Inspired by staff development training using interactive whiteboards, they have designed an activity-based interactive pairs game which is fun, engaging and effective in helping students search for course-relevant resources in the library.

http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/page.aspx?o=228547

Lambeth College: Subject Finder – supporting student research online
Published: 11 March 2009

Subject Finder was an original idea of Teum Teklehaimanot, a member of Lambeth’s Learning Resources team, when he was himself a student and considering options for a web design course project. The subsequent development of Subject Finder as an education-based web directory and search engine has also been driven by his personal interest and commitment to providing a student-friendly Internet search tool. It is now becoming an embedded tool within the College’s virtual learning environment to support Lambeth’s students across a variety of disciplines.

http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/page.aspx?o=191739

Henley College Coventry: IT Project Area focuses on learners’ needs
Published: 6 July 2009

The IT Project Area (ITPA) is part of a converged learning resources centre (LRC) service offering study support and audio and visual services. The ITPA reflects the learners’ needs and is very curriculum-focused with services, including one-to-one IT support sessions and a comprehensive LRC induction programme.

http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/page.aspx?o=229339