Thank you to those you responded to my request for information regarding how institutions support academic staff to develop their reading lists. I've summarised the main points below and hope this is a true reflection of what was discussed and fedback. There are a number of institutions like LSTM who have yet to adopt reading list software as well as some commonly expressed issues around reading list development. This included getting academic staff to update their lists, ensuring consistency in layout/language used and working with academics who are opposed to reading lists for pedagogic reasons whilst ensuring their subject areas are adequately resourced. The general consensus appears to be that whilst teaching staff appreciate some training and guidance in the use of electronic list software and perhaps access to ‘best practice’ examples, there was and always will be widely differing practices adopted, both within and across different disciplines.
Many thanks
Alison
Reading List Repository
This is one idea being considered at an FE/HE college involving lecturers and librarians working collaboratively to develop best practice reading lists.
Guidelines and reading list policies
Some institutions have drafted guidelines and more formal policy documents which sets out recommendations for academic staff developing lists. This includes the University of York whose guidelines can be accessed via this link http://www.york.ac.uk/about/departments/support-and-admin/information-directorate/directorate-policies/information-directorate-resource-list-policy/guidelines-information-directorate-resource-list-p/
General guidance & support
Including information on reading lists in staff handbooks aimed at new academic staff.
Using examples to show staff alternative ways of structuring their lists accompanied by the message that this helps to signpost students more effectively (e.g. lists organised by theme, topic or week)
Providing instructions on how to use reading list software and general guidance on reading list development via university web pages.
Encouraging consistency across reading lists developed by various teaching staff teaching on a single module.
Encouraging academics to talk to their students about their reading lists and be explicit about what they expect of them.
Training
Many institutions offer training and support around electronic reading list software. In addition to this, some also provide examples of reading lists to staff illustrating different approaches (simple vs highly annotated/structured).
Academic librarians at Northampton University deliver a training session for new teaching staff incorporating discussion, group work and examples of reading lists to explore what makes a good reading list and their overall purpose. This session arose from a piece of research on foundation degree students' experience of reading lists, a summary of which can be found via this link http://www.lirgjournal.org.uk/lir/ojs/index.php/lir/article/view/605
The example lists which can be downloaded from the journal site as a supplementary file are also used during the training session.
Plug-in
One individual suggested the use of a plug-in called Curriculum Builder which works with EBSCO Discovery Service and can be embedded within the VLE. This enables the creation of reading lists which pull in your collections and resources in a simple but effective way. I’d be interested to know if anyone is currently using this.
Alison Derbyshire • Academic Liaison and Training Officer
LSTM Library • Pembroke Place • Liverpool • L3 5QA
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