Over the past two years Library and Learning Services have developed a new Collection Development Policy and invested in resources to assist our digital-first approach.
This approach supported the pivot to online delivery in March 2020, where we aimed to provide as much online content as we possibly could. At the time we were supported by publishers and provided with some new and innovative ways of providing access to resources. Unfortunately, much of the publishers free access to eTextbooks and eResources was temporary, and removed when students returned to campus in the same year.
eBook Engagement Figures 2019 – 2021
Our data tells us that as students returned to site there continued to be high demand for online access.
Meeting Demand
To meet demand we continue to invest in eBooks and eTextbooks and have recently launched a new and updated version of Discover More. This new tool provides improved searching to increase the discoverability of eResources.
To balance demand and cost we keep a watchful eye on usage data and purchasing costs. This is often a complex task as individual eTextbook titles can cost anywhere up to £14K and student course numbers can vary between 3 and 300+.
To ensure we continue to support developments at the University, and our current collections do provide access to the right resources, we have created a short survey to try to identify how academics discover, use and promote eResources.
This survey consists of just 8 questions:
- Which faculty are you based in?
- When creating a new course/module where do you look for eResources?
- How do you decide what is essential or recommended reading?
- How often do you update course reading materials?
- Which eResources do you signpost your students to and how?
- What is your experience of using eBooks for teaching or for your research?
- Do the library eResources satisfy your own and your students’ needs for teaching and learning?
- Open comments for the library regarding eResources.
We also provide the opportunity to leave contact details to discuss comments or eResource usage.
Complete the survey
Academic staff can complete this 8-question survey to provide us with essential information enabling us to tailor our work to provide the best possible service.
For more information about the Library’s or this survey please contact: [email protected].
Did you know?
Staff and students can access training to learn more about how to make the most of our eResources.
If there is a book or a journal article/book chapter you need for your research that you can’t find through the library catalogue, you can visit our ‘You want it we get it’ webpage.