Fit for the future: New ways to support students at a distance

Josephine BurtLibrary Services Business Development Manager

‘Future technology now’

5th annual SLIC Conference for Further Education library and information staff in Scotland

Contents• The Open University

– OU in Scotland• Library Services

– What we offer students• Challenges for the future• Stuff you might use

Context - The Open University

• 13 regional centres• Single module,

certificate, diplomas, awards, PG, research

• Materials - paper-based, blended and online learning

• Europe and

worldwide

• 500 modules, 200 quals• Supported open learning

Open University students

OU students• no previous qualifications

required• 180,000 undergraduate

students• 30,000 postgraduate students• 10,000 students have

disabilities• 30,000 students live outside

UK• Part-time study

– 70% of undergraduates in full-time employment

– 50% sponsored by employer

• 2,000,000 OU alumni

Multichannel content

Headcount

1 – 20

21 - 40

41 - 60

61 – 86

Based upon Ordnance Survey BoundaryLine® data © Crown Copyright 2008. All rights reserved. Ordnance Survey Licence number 100046763

ssssssssssssssssssss

The OU in Scotland Campus2006/7 students by postcode district

The OU in Scotland• 4 in 10 - part-time undergraduates taught by OU • 15,000 OU students - live in virtually every community

across Scotland• 1 in 100 - participation rate for adults in Shetland -

studying with the OU• 1 in 5 - OU’s new undergraduate students in Scotland

come from the college sector, building on their higher national qualifications to gain a degree

• Working with Colleges– Progression – College routes– 15 colleges

Online Library Services 2009/10

• 98,000 unique student visitors to the Library website

• database usage 1,600,000 searches = 20% rise

• 6m website page requests

Our priorities are to

• Provide a variety of excellent learning resources to enhance the student’s learning experience

• Ensure that all our students develop the skills they need for work and study in the knowledge society

Use of Online databases by students and staff (ATHENS & EZProxy)

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul

No

of

sess

ion

s

2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11

Martin Bean, Vice-Chancellor of the Open University

Naomi Sargant Memorial Lecture, 2010

Services for students

• E-resources and IL skills embedded in courses (inc. InfoRate and Safari)

• One stop search• Helpdesk support• SCONUL Access to other academic

libraries• Accessibility support• Induction via Elluminate

Where do I start?

Library Resources on module websites

Library resources embedded into VLE

Mobile OU Library website – v1 (developed in early 2007)

Information Literacy• Recognised as key skill• Levels framework• Faculty strategies• Digital literacies• E-meeting software

sessions for students and staff

Diagnostic quizzes

Programmes and materials to help staff develop their knowledge and skills

Library Information Literacy

Our challenges 1

• Students of the future• Social networking age• New technology and

applications• Information overload

– More new information has been produced in the last 30 years than in the 5,000 years before that

Our challenges 2

• Improving the student experience

• Supporting Digital Literacy• Improving search even more• Students helping

themselves• Taking Library Services

where the students want to be

Our challenges 3

• Giving the service and support flexibly• Information management policies• Change management• Being flexible

Resources for you and your students• Safari• How to …

guides• Referencing

and citation info

• Plagiarism• iKnow

Resources for you and your students

• Open research

online

Openlearn

Find information in …

Openlearn in Scotland

Services to partner institutions

website

Finally something for you!

• The evolving information professional – Helps keep you up to date– Short 30 hour course– Flexible, 1 -2 hour elements– Online– 10% discount for CILIP members

Thank you!

Contact

Josephine Burt, Business Development Manager– email: j.m.burt@open.ac.uk– tel: 01908 659121