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Teaching Support

Reading lists

Reading Lists

 

Why we want all reading lists

Students have told us that they can’t always find the books and journal articles they need for courses in the Library and so we are asking you to help us keep the Library stock up to date. Send us copies of all of your reading lists so that students can access all of the material you need them to read for teaching. Whenever you refer students to material remember to tell us so that we can make it available in the Library.

 

TalisList Electronic Reading Lists

The Library encourages the use of electronic reading lists. We use the TalisList software which enables the creation and management of web based electronic reading lists, with lists sitting between and integrating with WebCT (or any web page) and the Library Catalogue.

On an electronic reading list, each reference to an item in the library will be a link directly to the item's details in the library catalogue. References to websites, online journal articles or other electronic resources will be links directly to the resource in question. Items can be added to an electronic reading list without re-keying the data, for example it is possible to simply "harvest" it from the library catalogue or from other online resources. This makes list creation fairly simple and helps to maintain accuracy.

Sample Electronic Reading List

See a sample reading list, with examples of links to the different types of resources: items held by the library, ejournal articles and web sites:

Link to Sample Reading List

Sending your reading lists to the Library

Simply attach your reading list in an email to: Reading Lists (or rl12@stir.ac.uk) and include the following details:

  1. Module (or programme) code

  2. Title for the module

  3. Course coordinator

  4. Semester (or other dates) the course is running

  5. Estimate of student numbers
  6. Whether the course is by distance learning
  7. If you know DOIs for references please include these – they can significantly speed up list creation
  8. Please mark on the list whether you would like references made available in digital format – we will investigate the options/costs and get back to you with details. For example we can obtain digital copies of book chapters or journal articles that are not already available in electronic format.
  9. A note to tell us if you don’t want an electronic reading list created

If you would like your reading list converted to an electronic reading list in time for Spring Semester 2010 please email us your list by Friday 22nd January 2010. Lists will be dealt with on a first come, first served basis.

Note after this deadline date we may still be able to prepare your reading list but we can no longer guarantee it will be ready for start of semester. Email Reading Lists to check whether we can work on your list.

 

Alternatively Create Reading Lists Yourself

You can use TalisList yourself to convert your reading list, however there is lot of work involved; for a start, see the the TalisList Training Slides.  If your reading lists will contain links to journal articles see also the different methods used for linking to different ejournal suppliers and publishers.

To get started using TalisList to create your own list you will need an account in the system, and TalisList Courses will need to be created for each course you wish to create a list for. For more information on creating your own reading list email Reading Lists (or rl12@stir.ac.uk).

TalisList information for your students

There is a separate TalisList web page for students.  TalisList is very straight forward to use and students very quickly get used to it. If students require any assistance there is a section at the top of every reading list entitled "Getting Help with your Reading List " - this provides the email contact details of a Librarian who can help them with any queries. There is also a TalisList Reading Lists User Guide available for students.

Benefits of TalisList

  • Making the creation and management of electronic reading lists possible for academics

  • Providing students with online access to up to date course resource lists

  • Providing quick and simple access to reading list items for students

  • Facilitating student navigation between course content, resource lists and the library catalogue

  • Facilitating seamless access to paper-based and electronic resources (including accessing online journals at the article level), either directly to the resource itself or to the library catalogue record

  • Easing academic management of, and student access to, local and external web based resources

  • Improving the accuracy of resource lists through electronic harvesting of resources

  • Informing the decision-making process on stock purchases and management

  • Encouraging the use of electronic resources

  • Increasing the visibility and use of the Library Catalogue

  • Improving communication and collaboration between academics and library staff regarding reading lists

For more information about reading lists see our Lists Presentation.

Feedback from TalisList Users

Comments from staff:

“Invaluable. Using Talis meant I can now abandon hard copy reading packs which has saved a lot of time and money!”

“It provides a "one-stop-shop" for student's reading needs and acts as a catalyst for further reading”

“From initial scepticism regarding 'spoon feeding' for students, I have now found TalisList invaluable for distance learning students... I consider it an essential feature for any new web based modules.”

Comments from students:

“As a part time student working full time and a family [TalisList] helped me save time finding cited references and more time to read them. Thanks”

“I really struggled and wasted many valuable hours obtaining articles in the first few modules, the TalisList certainly made better use of my time as you could access articles instantly. Valuable asset to this online learning process.”

“TalisList is excellent and should be made mandatory for every unit!”

Contact Us

If you would like more information about TalisList Reading Lists or would like your reading lists made available electronically in this way please contact us: Reading Lists (or rl12@stir.ac.uk).

 

 

 

Page last modified 2 December, 2009