Library resourcing of UWE programmes offered at partner institutions.
Faculties embarking on the development of programmes with partner institutions are able to benefit from the expertise of Library Services on the resource and training issues in relation to Library materials. A short checklist has been generated to help in this process. There may be some costs involved in ensuring that all the required information is available, e.g. owing to licensing restrictions for some resources.
Preparatory work.
To be done by faculty and library staff, as appropriate.
- Indentify, as soon as possible, the library resources that will be required to support all modules in the programme.
- Assess the strength of the library collections available at or through the institution (or other locations).
- Confirm that the library is adequately staffed, and that library staff are appropriately qualified.
- Confirm that students and staff have adequate access to computers and the Internet.
- Confirm that library opening hours are sufficient at the institution (or other locations) to support students' studies.
- Check existing UWE licences for the electronic resources that are being recommended for use and, if necessary, negotiate with the suppliers about access for the institution. Additional costs may need to be incurred to permit overseas use.
- Negotiate with book suppliers about supply, if the institution is overseas.
- Negotiate with audio visual material producers about supply, if the institution is overseas. The Educational Recording Agency licence does not cover use overseas. This could include audio visual material used in teaching as well as that recommended for student use.
- Develop specific Athens usernames and passwords to facilitate access to the portfolio of UWE e-resources that are required (and permitted) and establish faculty systems to incorporate this extra stage of the process.
- Develop and maintain a set of Library web pages and/or other material to support staff and students at the institution, if they are based overseas.
- Communicate with the institution's staff in order to answer any concerns and questions.
Ongoing work.
Library staff will undertake to:
- Train both library and academic staff within the institution. This provides a valuable opportunity to introduce staff to the range of electronic resources provided by UWE in support of the programmes.
- Assess the resources available locally. The resources available from UWE enhance the existing provision at the institution. Library staff need to confirm whether sufficient resources are available for some of the more specialised assignments.
- Advise on the content of any documentation that may be prepared for accreditation by UK professional bodies.
- Establish mechanisms for support and communication. This involves both technical issues and exploration of ways in which library enquiries that could not be answered by the college staff could be dealt with.
In order to do this, a visit to the organisation by the librarian would be advisable in order to contextualise the library service, to establish good working relationships with the institution's library and academic staff, and to talk through any outstanding or difficult issues. For an overseas institution, this would need to be factored in to faculty start-up costs.
