Library resources to support online learning: an exercise in collaboration and development

Fiona Brown, Marshall Dozier, Sharon Boyd and Jo-Anne Murray

University of Edinburgh

One Health Conference, Boston

6 May 2013

Outline

• Context• Online learning in Medicine and Veterinary

Medicine• Support of online courses in Veterinary

Medicine• Developments since 2010• Survey aims and methods• Survey findings• Discussion• Future developments

Context

• Colleges at the University of Edinburgh (UoE) – Medicine and Veterinary Medicine (CMVM)– Science and Engineering– Humanities and Social Sciences

• 47 Taught (Masters/Diploma/Certificate) online-only programmes across UoE

• 28 programmes in CMVM• Student numbers in CMVM

– 1200 total taught postgraduate– 1048 total online-only taught postgraduate (Feb 2013)

Online learning in Medicine and Veterinary Medicine

• In 2010 CMVM strategy to increase PG student numbers to 1000 by 2013 (online or ‘traditional’)

• Growth in taught postgraduate student numbers – by 56% over the last three years (from 673 in

2009/10 to 1048 in 2012/13) – by 175% since 2007/8 (from 350)– by 3514% since first course in 2005/06 (from 29)

• 2005 – first online-only MSc• 2010 – 16 online programmes• 2013 – 28 online programmes in CMVM

– 3 MSc programmes plus CertAVP in Vet Med

Support of online courses in Veterinary Medicine

• Preparation of new materials– Adapting materials from previous years

• Induction for new students– e.g. Collaborate desktop virtual meeting– Joint induction for different programmes

• Access to resources– Facilitated by e.g. Ezproxy, ILLiad (free scans from print

holdings), e-reserve, Shibboleth

• Information skills development– At different times in the programmes– Refresher for dissertation year

• Problem solving– email to IS.helpline, course team, library team

Developments since 2010 - Library

• Inter-library loans– 20 free photocopy/scan ILLs per academic year for each taught

postgraduate student– all photocopies/scans from UoE stock still free

• E-journals– small increase in the number of titles available online

• Veterinary Clinics of North America Equine Practice

– small increase in the number of packages available online• BioOne

• E-books– 106 new titles purchased

• External resource improvements– CAB Abstracts PDFs

• Information skills moved to a different part of the course– Being moved again

Developments since 2010 - University

• More online distance learning programmes– Up from 20 to 47

• Greater emphasis at University level of online distance learning programmes– Distance Education Initiative

• With dedicated team

– Funding of £4.5 m allocated, over 5 years from 2010

– “expanding and enhancing our distance education provision” (UoE Strategic Plan 2012-16)

– First MOOCs offered in 2013

• More Information Services staff supporting online distance learning programmes– Liaison Librarians– Learning Services– Library and Collections

Survey aims

The aim of the survey was to gather from our online learners feedback on:

• how they access the remote library

• what resources they use

• their views on strengths and weaknesses of the service

• any changes since 2010

• what we should do to improve our service

Survey methods

• Main survey via Bristol Online Survey tool https://www.survey.bris.ac.uk/– 27 questions, run for one month– Multiple choice and free-text– 44 responses– Disseminated by email and VLEs via course

organisers• Overall response rate 15% (44 out of 291)• Majority of responses (59%) from CertAVP

students– Not included in previous survey

• No questions were mandatory

Survey respondents (1)

Data from complete returns:• 57% (n25) from the UK• Other 43% from 13 different countries

– 7 in Europe– 5 in Asia– 4 in North America– 2 in Australasia– 1 in South America

Survey respondents (2)

Data from complete returns:• 70% (n30) have English as their first

language• 70% (n31) female• 41% (n18) 6 years or more since previous

formal programme of study• 80% (n35) no previous formal online

learning

Survey feedback: access (1)

• Internet connection type– 64% (n28) use wifi or mobile phone network– 36% (n16) use broadband internet connection– In previous survey broadband was the main connection type

• Location of access (daily or several times a week)– 68% (n30) home– 43% (n19) work– 11% (n4) other location

• Equipment used to access course materials (daily or several times a week)– 68% (n30) laptop/netbook– 42% (n18) desktop computer– 10% (n4) mobile phone– 2% (n1) iPod/MP3 player– 2% (n1) eBook/electronic book reader– 2% (n1) iPad/tablet

Survey feedback: access (2)Do you use information services other than the University

of Edinburgh online library?

International Veterinary Information Service (IVIS) 14

Employer’s information service 7

RCVS Trust Library 5

SCONUL access for local UK academic libraries 0

Public libraries 5

Veterinary Information Network (VIN) 2

Online journal sites 2

Professional bodies sites (e.g. BVA, BSAVA) 1

PubMed 1

SPCA Library 1

Internet searches – Google, Yahoo etc. 1

Survey feedback: access (3)• These online learners use multiple information

services in addition to UoE

• No respondents use SCONUL access for local UK academic libraries– 57% live in the UK

• RCVS Trust Library is used only by CertAVP students

• 80% (n33) rarely or never use inter-library loan– Do they have access to resources using other services?– Do they know the can us this service for scans from our

collection?

Survey feedback: support• Course team was preferred source of help

• Library staff, fellow students and work colleagues equal sources of support– Course teams perceived as approachable,

understanding and responsive• ‘Most experienced and friendly’

• ‘Course team and library staff have been very patient and helpful’

– Fellow students supportive

– Work colleagues easy to contact• ‘work colleagues because I can get up from my desk

and ask’

Survey feedback: representation (1)

Do you, as a student on an online programme, feel that you views of library related services are adequately represented?•7 did not respond, of the remaining 37:•68% (n25) Yes•32% (n12) NoThose who said ‘No’ commented:

“Never been asked”“No face to face contact with library staff so

feel that less important”“because I never use an on line library”

Survey feedback: representation (2)

Do you, as a student on an online programme, feel that you views of library related services are adequately represented?

•All the MSc Equine Science and MSc Conservation Medicine respondents said yes•Only 46% (n12) of the CertAVP respondents said yes

– 10 CertAVP no– 4 CertAVP no response

Most helpful aspect of Library

• Access to wide range of electronic resources (books, journals, databases)

‘online access 24 hours a day from any location.’ • Ease of access to electronic resources

‘useful for searching for references for the course and easy to access at work or at home’

‘Findit@edinburgh’• Support

‘the speed with which the requests are processed’• Course readings

‘materials and articles related to my course’

Least helpful aspect of Library

• Accessing e-resources‘How to download/read a book online’

• Limited selection of resources‘Don’t seem to have online access to some book chapters which I would like to be able to read.’ ‘Finding articles but they are not available online.’

• Library’s online presence‘Little information on what services are available for online learning students’

• Support‘I don’t know how to search for available online book chapters and end up using Google instead which is probably not the best way’

• Limited services for the remote student‘Vet school library not open evenings/weekends’

What would students like?• Access to printed resources

– Scans of items in our collection available through inter-library loan

– SCONUL access for UK based students

• Refresher information skills session prior to dissertation– This is already available

• More e-resources– Purchasing e-resources where possible

• More training for ‘newbies’– Updating training each year

• Training on reference management software– Recently added to virtual learning environment

Students’ advice to new students

• Ask staff for help‘If you don’t understand, ask’

• Engage with training‘Need to be clear just how important it is to be able to use the library resources and how complicated it can be so even more important to attend the training provided’

• Practice‘Start navigating the site early when you have time as opposed to deadline time when you have to work out how to use it quickly’•Use the online links‘look for the swirly device and it all seems to work’

Discussion• Despite changes some users still seem to be

unaware of what’s available for them– We need to produce more ‘back to basics’ and generic

support– Regularly remind students of what’s available to them

• Students with more formal contact seem to feel better represented

• Students with more formal contact seem to be more confident finding and using resources

• Some users seem not to be aware of the most appropriate resources for their subject area

• Huge increase in the number of courses and of students will continue to impact on support

Future developments

• Continue to work on areas of misunderstanding (e.g. document delivery)– Possibly rebrand ‘inter-library loan’

• Work with colleagues in Information Services to develop more ‘back to basics’ and generic support– e.g. using the catalogue, accessing e-books

• Work with course colleagues to further develop relevant Library and Information Skills support within the programmes – e.g. refresher sessions, sessions to support dissertation students

• Promote Library induction to programmes currently without one– e.g. develop support for CertAVP students

Contacts

Fiona Brownf.brown@ed.ac.uk

Marshall Doziermarshall.dozier@ed.ac.uk

Sharon Boydsharon.boyd@ed,ac.uk

Jo-Anna MurrayJo-Anne.Murray@ed.ac.uk