9 April 2023 1

Enhancing life-long learning, teaching and research through information resources and services

9 April 2023 2

Helen Adey, Resource Acquisitions and Supply Team Manager &

Dorothy Atherton, Services Manager - Resource Acquisitions and Supply

Supporting NTU Strategy with Talis Aspire

9 April 2023 3

Agenda

• Before Aspire

• NTU Strategy

• What were we trying to deliver?

• 100% target

• How well did we do?

• Digitisation at NTU

• TADC

• Conclusion

9 April 2023 4

Before Aspire.

• LLR knowledge of resource lists variable at best

• Reading lists in many different formats and locations

• Traditional budget and acquisitions approach:– Majority of stock selection carried

out by Academic Liaison Team members

– Variable levels of involvement by academic staff

– Digitisation - a standalone request and delivery service

NTU: A renewed push for information skills

• Raising information and literacy skills – an increasing priority

• Key aims: facilitate development of the ‘independent learner’; and support ‘directed study’ through access to information resources

• Student feedback reported failings in delivery of ‘directed reading’

“I can’t find the things my lecturer told me to read”

• Existing resource/reading list management was not up to task

“I can’t find a list of things from my lecturer that I ought to read”

New Resource List solution had to deliver

• For students….– Consistent, good quality Resource Lists with (much) improved availability– Clearer guidance on different types of material (Essential, Supplementary etc)– Simple access to the lists (primarily through the learning space in the VLE)– 100% of all active modules must have a Resource List

• For academic staff…– Easy population of lists from the library OPAC and other sources (with support

for transferring existing lists to Aspire)– Required resources ‘on shelves’ (actual, virtual) quicker, with less effort– Fewer complaints from students!

• For library staff…– Improved internal workflows, and more efficient use of staff resources– Enhanced liaison opportunities with academic staff (a good ‘story’ to tell)– Better targeting of book and other collection budgets– Fewer complaints from students!

Resource lists – the university

• NTU has set out an encouraging resource list policy environment

Requirement for ‘basic onlineness’ for all taught courses

Requirement that all courses benefit from a resource list

• Vice-Chancellor has been an enthusiastic advocate

• Learning and Teaching Co-ordinators have been energised to promote

• Capitalised on good co-ordination between LLR, VLE team and IS team; and academic teams

9 April 2023 7

100% Target

• After two years, take up plateaued at c. 70% of modules

• University demanded 100% take up by October 2012

• Library responsible for achieving 100% Target

• “Non-populaters” allowed to email or post their old-style reading lists to the Library to be converted into Aspire

• If all else failed empty lists were filled by raiding VLE for indicative reading lists & converted to Aspire Lists

9 April 2023 8

How well did we do?

Throughput times

• In acquisitions throughput time reduced from 72 days to 35

• Formula driven rule-based process• Shelf-ready• 6 week lead time monitored

Easy access via Aspire in

the most appropriate

format

• Academics request content – LLR decides optimum source, format and delivery

• IR policy to always purchase ‘e’ where available• eBook links created at time of purchase• ‘One touch’ process keeps Aspire up to date• Link checking ensures good quality persistent links• Real time links to catalogue

Single , seamless workflow

• Aspire the only route for academics to request materials

• All types of resource requested in the same process

• ALT as single point of contact• ‘One touch’ process allows lists to pass smoothly

from acquisitions to digitisation to link checkers

9 April 2023 10

But there was a fly in the ointment!

Digitisation did not sit happily in the resource list process.

Why not?

9 April 2023 11

Some background on our digitisation service

• Grew up in an ‘ad-hoc’ way through word of mouth

• Used with enthusiasm by a limited number of academics, mostly in Education, Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities

• A well regarded, bespoke, almost personalised service

• Requests made to a generic mailbox. We encouraged use of a request grid

• Lots of contact between digitisation team and individual academics. Good open channels of communication

• Work ordered and prioritised according to need-by date. This allowed flexibility for processing urgent requests, and spread the workload.

• We delivered content via the VLE

• We currently use PackTracker

9 April 2023 12

Some Facts and Figures

2007/8 2008/9 2009/10 2010/11 2011/120

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

Digitised Texts at NTU

Number of Digitised Texts on VLENumber of New Requests

9 April 2023 13

Digitised Texts by School 2011/12

A&D

NBS

SBE

EDU

ACC

LLR

LAW

SS

SST

ARES

9 April 2023 14

Some background on our digitisation service

• Grew up in an ‘ad-hoc’ way through word of mouth

• Used with enthusiasm by a limited number of academics, mostly in Education, Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities

• A well regarded, bespoke, almost personalised service

• Lots of contact between digitisation team and individual academics

• Requests made to a generic mailbox. We encouraged use of a request grid.

• Work ordered and prioritised according to need-by date. This allowed flexibility for processing urgent requests, and spread the workload.

• We delivered content via the VLE

• We currently use PackTracker

9 April 2023 15

For digitisation as part of RLMS…..

Easy access in the most appropriate

format

• Digitised documents still accessed via VLE• Legacy documents not represented on Aspire• No robust way of linking from Aspire to VLE• Students had to go outside Aspire to access texts

Throughput times

• Throughput time grew longer – targets missed• Requests submitted later• Lists ‘queuing’ in acquisitions• No standard request format meant missing

information• No ‘need by’ dates• Single point of contact proved to be a frustration

Single seamless workflow

• Academics found Aspire confusing and frustrating for digitisation requests

• Loop backs between teams• Digitisation record keeping more fragmented and

difficult to maintain – lots of keying!

9 April 2023 16

The quality of the digitisation service had diminished with Aspire. How could we improve it again?

•Mandatory fields for bib data•Need by dates•Flagging where access was needed to a particular extract

Better quality requests

•Avoid queues•Digitisation requests submitted as soon as possible•Digitisation requests submitted separately but still within Aspire

Requests to reach the team more quickly

•Way of linking to VLE?•New storage/delivery solution for digitised texts

Discovery of digitised resources directly from Aspire

9 April 2023 17

Our knights in shining armour!

9 April 2023 18

How will TADC help?

•Allows requests to be made independently of the rest of the list•No queuing•Better quality request data•Need by dates!•More automation of checking saves time for staff•Less time keying in data

Throughput Times

9 April 2023 19

•All texts accessed directly through Aspire•Academics can flag possible digitisation requests•Management of authentication•More control of which texts are accessible at what times•Better management of end of year rollover

Easy Access

9 April 2023 20

•Academic requesting still within Aspire•Much easier request process for academics to manage•Workflows within dig team much simpler – less keying of data, only one set of records to manage•Many previously manual tasks automated•Another tool to help with copyright compliance

Single seamless workflow

9 April 2023 21

Our Pilot

Period of off-line testing (trying to break the product)

Feedback and consultation with Talis

Selection of two pilot schools and 6 pilot modules

Digitisation team make first live requests for legacy documents

Liaison Librarians make live requests for new documents

Request permissions rolled out to academics in pilot schools F

eed

back

an

d C

on

sult

ati

on

9 April 2023 22

Communication with Talis

• Dig team• ALT• Academics• Students

• Weekly phone• Email• Site visits• Ideas

• • Weekly bulletin• TADC Homepage• Weekly phone call

TestingFeedback

to Talis

Talis acts on feedbac

k

Changes and developments

reported

9 April 2023 23

Waiting for Widget 2. What’s still missing?

Requesting journal articles through Aspire

Ability for two-way communication with academics

Configurable wording on standard messages

Workflow tracking

Concierge to search where an eBook is available

More flexibility in manipulation of document in viewer

More detailed suite of reports

Information entered in TADC to carry through to Aspire

9 April 2023 24

New Resource List solution had to deliverNew Resource List solution had to deliver

• For students….• Consistent good quality Resource Lists with (much) improved availability

• Clearer guidance on different types of material (Essential, Supplementary etc)• Simple access to the lists (primarily through the learning space in the VLE)• 100% of all active modules must have a Resource List

• For academic staff…• Easy population of lists from the library OPAC and other sources (with support

for transferring existing lists to Aspire)•Required resources ‘on shelves’ (actual, virtual) quicker, with less effort• Fewer complaints from students!

• For library staff…• Improved internal workflows, and more efficient use of staff resources•Enhanced liaison opportunities with academic staff (a good ‘story’ to tell)•Better targeting of book and other collection budgets• Fewer complaints from students!

9 April 2023 25

Questions or comments?

NTU Resource Lists

http://resourcelists.ntu.ac.uk

• Helen Adey, helen.adey@ntu.ac.uk

• Dorothy Atherton, dorothy.atherton@ntu.ac.uk

Libraries and Learning Resources, Nottingham Trent University