*Apologies for cross-posting*

Dear colleagues,

As part of my work as the Modern Languages Content Editor for the Humbul
Humanities Hub www.humbul.ac.uk, a free UK-based service which finds,
evaluates and catalogues online resources considered useful for
learning, teaching and research in the humanities, I am conducting
initial research into the UK HE academic community’s awareness, usage,
and perceived value of such resources. I would be very grateful if you
could spare a few moments to complete the following short questionnaire
designed to elicit views on using the World Wide Web in teaching and
research. In the current academic climate where “e-learning” and
“e-research” are frequently-heard terms, the aim of my research is to
determine the extent to which the Web is embedded in Modern Languages
teaching and research, to understand why online resources may or may not
be used, to gauge which types of resources are most popular and how they
may be best exploited, and to ultimately offer examples of good practice
in using the Web for teaching and research which may be shared within
the Modern Languages community.

The questionnaire should take no longer than 10 minutes to complete.
All comments are gratefully received.

The questionnaire is both copied below and attached as a Rich Text
Format document to allow you to complete answers within an email or a
RTF or Word document, according to your preference. Please return
answers to: [log in to unmask] preferably before 29th
August 2005.

Thank you in advance for your time.
Best wishes,
Shoshannah Holdom

Please supply your details, which will be kept confidential:
Name:
Role:
Institution:
Email:
Subject area:
Level(s):


1) Have you ever used online resources in your research (e.g. material
available on the Web, such as specific websites as well as search engines)?


a) If yes, please indicate which resources you have used and why you
have used them, i.e. accessing research articles from electronic
journals; viewing digitized manuscripts; searching online
bibliographies; reading online literary magazines. Where possible,
please give the name of the resource you have used.


b) If yes, can you give any examples from your own experience of where a
Web resource has facilitated an area of research which otherwise might
not have been possible?


2) Have you ever used online resources in your teaching, or drawn upon
Web resources to produce your own teaching materials?


3) Have you ever included online resources in your undergraduate reading
lists or specifically directed students to online resources? If yes,
please list the names of those resources.


a) If you answered yes to either questions 2 or 3, please indicate which
resources you have used and why you have used them, i.e. CALL
activities; online newspapers as primary sources; digital libraries for
electronic texts.


b) If you answered yes to either questions 2 or 3, can you give any
examples of where students have found using an online resource to be
particularly useful and/or rewarding?


4) Which of the following services do you use to locate material for
teaching and research available on the Web?

Search Engine, e.g. Google, Yahoo
Humbul Humanities Hub
Resource Discovery Network
Arts and Humanities Data Service (AHDS)
Google Scholar
Other (please indicate)

5) If you have never used or rarely use online resources in your
teaching or research, please could you give an indication of why this is
so, e.g. you don’t find online materials relevant to your work or you
don’t have time to look for new material on the Web?


6) Please indicate whether you agree or disagree with the following
statements:

There is a lot of useful material on the Web for research and teaching
in Modern Languages

strongly agree agree don’t know disagree strongly disagree

Online materials feature prominently among the sources I use in my research

strongly agree agree don’t know disagree strongly disagree

Online materials feature prominently among the sources I use in my teaching

strongly agree agree don’t know disagree strongly disagree

As an academic, I find the Web indispensable for my work.

strongly agree agree don’t know disagree strongly disagree


7) Are you familiar with the AHRC ICT Methods Network and its work?
Yes/No/Don’t know


8) Are Internet research skills embedded within postgraduate training at
your institution? Yes/No/Don’t know


9) Are Internet research skills embedded within staff development
programmes at your institution? Yes/No/Don’t know


10) How would you rate yourself as an Internet user for academic purposes?


e.g. Advanced: I know exactly where to look for materials and I’m aware
of developments in ICT for academic purposes.
Competent: I know exactly where to look for materials and I am usually
successful in locating material of use.
Basic: I feel uncertain as to where to look for materials, and I need
guidance in how to best use the Internet for my work.

11) Do you have any further comments?


Thank you for your answers, which will help us understand the extent to
which the Web is impacting upon Modern Languages teaching and research.


--
Dr Shoshannah Holdom
Content Editor (Modern Languages)
Humbul Humanities Hub
Oxford University Computing Services
13 Banbury Road
Oxford
OX2 6NN
Tel: 01865 273 260
Fax: 01865 273 275
Email: [log in to unmask]
URL: http://www.humbul.ac.uk/