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issue Information Services at Stirling University

www.is.stir.ac.uk

No. 84 – March 2011

mStir: IS Gets into Smart Phones!Information Services is currently investigating how its services and those of the University may take advantage of the new generation of mobile phones, known as smart phones, to improve services to students. As part of this work, the mStir trial will be operating throughout this semester.

To access mStir, enter m.stir.ac.uk into your phone’s web browser. mStir contains a number of trial apps for the use of current students to help us explore the possibilities and limitations of providing a wider range of smart phone services in the future. Apps in this trial include:

> fi nd the locations of free PCs in the Labs and library

> listen to Listen Again recordings of lectures

> browse the library catalogue

> useful University and staff contact numbers

> how to use IS services videos

> sports news including results

IS wants to know how useful you fi nd these apps and what others you would like to see. There is a feedback app in mStir which you can use to tell us your experiences and aspirations.

Mark TooleDirector of Information Services

Contents 1 mStir: IS Gets into Smart Phones!

2 RIS project update – UK CONVERIS Conference

2 ceLTIc Project Update

3 Keep track of your Information Centre calls

3 University Treasures

4 New STORRE opens for business

5 Blackboard Learn 9.1(aka WebCT 9)

6 Major Enhancements to StirGate Service

6 Listen Again – Streaming Video

7 OER (Open Educational Resources) Part 2

8 Purchase of Joe Ingleby Sculpture

8 Document Delivery for 3rd Year Students

The mStir mobile interface

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I thought it was timely to give an update on the JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) funded ceLTIc project (creating environments for Learning using Tightly Integrated components). In plain English the primary objective of the project is to investigate how elearning applications (examples would be Campus Pack, Elgg, PebblePad and WebPA) can be integrated with virtual learning environments (WebCT, Learn, Moodle) through the use of the IMS Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) specification. We are using a range of popular open source and commercial elearning applications (noted above) both to identify priorities for integrations with virtual learning environments and to evaluate the benefits which can be derived from adopting this approach.

The project partners are: The University of Edinburgh, Queen Margaret University and the University of Stirling along with commercial partners Blackboard, IMS Global Learning consortium, Learning Objects and PebblePad.

The first part of the project has involved building integrations for the applications we are using. Edinburgh has done the WebPA work and Stirling has developed the integration for Elgg (the software underlying Stirling Connect) but the work on LTI is using a later version of Elgg than Stirling Connect currently runs on. Queen Margaret is doing the evaluating work.

The project gave a public demonstration of its work at the 11th Durham Blackboard Users’ Conference. We gave what is believed to be the world’s first public demonstration of the Basic LTI functionality which has recently been included in Blackboard Learn 9.1 along with a demonstration of Full LTI using WebPA (LTI comes in

two flavours, Basic and Full LTI, but the differences don’t need to worry us here). The work got a mention in the keynote given the next day by Jim Hermens, Senior Vice President of Product Management for Blackboard Learn.

Without going into the technical details, LTI offers benefits for Learners, Instructors, System administrators and Developers! Here I’ll detail the upsides for instructors. LTI as implemented in Learn 9.1 offers the ability to integrate third-party tools directly into Blackboard (just like Turnitin and Campus Pack currently integrate into WebCT or Learn 9.1) without any intervention by the system administrator. To illustrate with an example, say you found a blogging tool that you wanted to use with your class (the Campus Pack one is very good and I recommend that) and that tool supported LTI then you could create a link in Learn 9.1 to that tool that meant that your students could use without needing to register with the Blogging tool themselves. LTI will also mean that marks allocated in the Blogging tool could be transferred in the Grade Centre (Learn 9.1) or Grade Book (WebCT) automatically. It’s therefore possible for instructors to extend the power of the University’s learning environment on their own.

We are planning to give further demonstrations/updates at a number of forthcoming conferences: Blackboard Europe, Canadian eLearning Conference, IMS Learning Impact 2011, Blackboard World (in Las Vegas) and ALT-C.

Simon BootheLearning Liaison and Development

ceLTIc Project Update

The University of Stirling hosted the first meeting for the UK CONVERIS user group (project known as RIS) which took place on January 21st at the Management Centre. The aim of this initial get together was to form a permanent group with a shared communication platform for regular, quick and effective exchange of information on technological topics and developments in research policy and with the Research Excellence Framework (REF).

Twenty members from the UK institutions that so far are using CONVERIS participated in the meeting. A set of actions were agreed to strengthen the collaboration between the institutions as well as initiating a few areas of joint development to sustain CONVERIS leadership as the end-to-end research information system. The next UK CONVERIS user group meeting will take place at Cranfield University in the summer this year.

Lynn McDonaldBusiness Systems Development andSupport

RIS project update – UK CONVERIS Conference

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The University of Stirling is fortunate to hold a wide variety of ‘treasures’ in its Art Collection, Archives and Special Collections. Although the University is relatively young (and so has not benefitted from the gifts and bequests which a medieval university might expect), you may be surprised at some of the collections we hold. The latest exhibition in the Library contains a selection of items of great historic and cultural importance held in our University Collections.

The art on the walls has been selected by two members of the University’s original Art Committee (1967-1974) which was responsible for fulfilling Tom Cottrell’s vision that art should be part of the everyday experience at the University. Matilda Mitchell was, as Tom Cottrell’s Secretary, the first full-time employee of Stirling University and the first Curator of the Art Collection. Douglas Hall sat on the Art Committee from 1968-1972. He was the first Keeper of Art at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, in which role he promoted and supported the life of the visual Arts in Scotland.

Matilda, ably guided by Douglas, installed and sustained a continuous series of exhibitions in Pathfoot and the MacRobert during the late sixties and early seventies while keeping a watchful eye on the Art Collection, ensuring the holdings developed national and international significance. It’s a privilege to have them select their favourite pieces from the Collection and once again fill the University walls with colour.

We are also grateful to those members of academic staff who have selected their favourite ‘treasures’ for display in the reading room cases and have contributed their expertise to the exhibition as well as short essays on the historical importance of their chosen objects. Our Archives and Special

Collections provide a wide variety of material for researchers, as this exhibition demonstrates.

An online version of the exhibition is available on our Flickr pages, http://www.flickr.com/photos/40937572@N08/sets/72157626024864842/

Helen BeardsleyAcademic Liaison and DevelopmentKarl MageeUniversity ArchivistJane CameronArt Curator

Logon to the portal (https://portal.stir.ac.uk) and select the ‘Resources’ tab. There is a section on this tab called ‘My Information Centre calls’. Enter your call reference number and click search. On the next screen, you will see some basic information about the status of your call including:

> Call description: this is the basic description of your problem/enquiry which has been entered by the person who logged the call. If you have emailed the Information Centre you may see your own email here.

> Last journal entry: this is the last formal entry made by IS staff in completion of your enquiry.

Keep track of your Information Centre callsStaff can now keep track of the progress of any calls they have logged at the Information Centre on the university portal. When you log a call at the Information Centre, you will be given a call reference number. You will need this to check the status of your call.

The Information Centre Calls search box

Sometimes there will not be a journal entry if your call has been a relatively simple one.

> Call status: will tell you the current status of your call. Entries in this field include• open - your call is still being

worked on• reopened – a previously closed

call has been reopened• responded – the person the

call was assigned to has acknowledged the call and taken some initial action

• waiting – the person the call was assigned to is awaiting information/advice from a 3rd party (possibly you)

• worked on - your call has been acknowledged by the team it

has been referred to and has been worked on

• closed - your call has been closed. If it has not been resolved to your satisfaction, please contact the Information Centre

We hope that this simple utility will allow you to keep track of the progress of your calls and reduce the number of calls you have to make to the Information Centre.

Trish DaveyInformation Centre Manager

University Treasures

A selection of Penguin books

A letter to his parents from China (26th September 1949), from the Norman McLaren Archive

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The new STORRE was built on new hardware using the latest version of DSpace. All the locally implemented features and functionality of the old STORRE, such as Embargoes and the ‘Request a copy’ feature, were recreated on the new system. Work was also done to ensure that the existing STORRE persistent URLs (or Handles) would continue to work when we switched from the old to the new system.

At the end of January, once the basic system setup had been completed, the existing STORRE was closed for deposits so that a copy of the STORRE data could be taken and migrated across to the new system. Once that data was in place, it was re-organised to match the new University structure, and the new version of STORRE went live on 31st January 2011.

We have kept the outward appearance and basic functionality of STORRE the same in the new version so end users shouldn’t notice too much difference when using it. We also took this opportunity to introduce some new features which are worth highlighting, however:

Web 2.0 toolsAll the Item description pages now contain a new Web 2.0 ‘Share’ button which allows users of the system to share details of the item with friends and colleagues via their favourite Web 2.0 platform. The system supports a range of Web 2.0 tools and services, including Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Delicious, Google Bookmarks, and many more. It is also possible to share details of items with other individuals via email.

Item centric statisticsSTORRE now has a new real time statistics logger which records individual accesses to every item, and the statistics for any item can be accessed via a ‘View Statistics’ button at the bottom of the appropriate screens. These statistics show the total number of times the item has been viewed, as well as giving a breakdown of the number of views per month for the last 6 months, and a breakdown of accesses by Country and City. As part of the migration from the old STORRE to the new STORRE, historic log data (for the last 2 years) was used to pre-populate the statistics system, so the statistics data goes back to before the new STORRE was implemented.

Browse by AffiliationThe ability to assign any number of ‘Affiliations’ to an item has been added. At the moment we have only added affiliations for the Schools and Divisions that are represented in the current STORRE structure, as well as some legacy departments that are not represented in the new structure. It is intended, however, to add affiliations for more ‘organisational units’, such as Research Centres and Institutes, as part of the integration with the new Research Information System. The ability to browse the STORRE content by Affiliation has been added via a link in the main left hand menu, and it is hoped that this will eventually provide a way to browse the content in STORRE in a variety of different ways.

As this is a totally new STORRE, we are aware of a number of issues and are working to resolve them:

Item Centric statisticsThere is currently a problem with the real time statistics logger that is preventing it from successfully logging all accesses. This means that the access counts that are shown since the end of January are probably slightly lower than the actual number of accesses. Also, a lot of work was done to try and eradicate all search engine spiders and other web robots from the statistics. We are aware, however, that a small number of these have sneaked through. For example, accesses from ‘Needham heights’ that are appearing on all STORRE records are almost certainly search engine related.

Content locationDuring the restructuring of the system content was moved between Collections. Whilst every care was taken to try and ensure content ended up in the correct location, it is possible that some items are not where they are supposed to be. If you notice any problems relating to the location of content, please contact the Repository Librarian (repository.librarian@stir.ac.uk).

Deposit permissionsThe mechanism that allocates permission to deposit in STORRE has been reworked to make it more flexible and to enable it to use the multiple levels in the new University structure. Users should, therefore, automatically get permission to deposit to their School/Division’s Collections in STORRE. This facility relies on data held centrally, however, and because the structure has not yet been totally finalised this central data is not yet completely accurate. Therefore automatic allocation of deposit permissions may not work correctly for everyone at the moment. If you require permission to deposit to a School or Division’s Collections in STORRE, but don’t have that permission, please contact the Repository Librarian (repository.librarian@stir.ac.uk) who will be able to sort this out for you.

So, welcome to the new STORRE - we are open for business - feel free to have a look around and to start depositing!

Michael WhiteJoint STORRE Manager

New STORRE opens for businessOver the last couple of months, Information Services staff have been

building a new version of STORRE, Stirling’s Online Research Repository

(http://storre.stir.ac.uk/). Whilst STORRE has been running without

problems for several years now, it became necessary to upgrade the

DSpace software that underlies STORRE in order to support integration

with the new Research Information System (RIS) that is currently being

implemented. We also took this opportunity to restructure the content

in STORRE to match the University’s new structure and to introduce

some additional features.

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> Integration with YouTube, Flickr and SlideShare (these are called Mashups in Learn 9.1). These integrations make it very simple to include material from these sites into your module.

> Notifications - all sorts of events in the system can generate emails: assignments becoming available; assignments being due; unread discussion board messages and many others

All the features in WebCT that are provided via third parties like Turnitin and Campus Pack have equivalents in Learn 9.1 so we will maintain access to Turnitin and Campus Pack in Learn 9.1. Also, the Building Blocks technology that Blackboard used to extend their product has a much richer eco-system than the equivalent in WebCT (which was called PowerLinks), so a greater range of additional features should be available via Building Blocks.

Learn 9.1 also has a much slicker interface, incorporating features that Stirling staff and students have requested for a number years: drag-n-drop; in-place editing and, for staff, switching between the instructor/designer and student views is much more simple. Also to aid staff the set of tools for a designer and those for an instructor will now be available in one place, rather than on different tabs.

Learn 9.1 does have a different look and feel from WebCT 8 which is much more 2011 than 2005. Figure 1 shows an example of what the home page of a module might look like. In Learn 9.1 speak the rectangular boxes are known as modules! Note that an ‘Edit Mode’ button appears top right. This is how you switch between the student and instructor views (Figures 1 and 2 both show the student view as the ‘Edit Mode’ option is set to ‘Off’).

Blackboard Learn 9.1 (aka WebCT 9)Last March Blackboard (the company that now owns WebCT) released Learn 9.1 which is the official upgrade path for WebCT 8 (the version we are now using). Learn 9.1 brings together the Blackboard Classic and WebCT product lines into a single product. Learn 9.1 offers all the features of WebCT 8 plus a range of new features:

Learning is organised via Content areas (e.g. Week 1), links to tools (assignments, assessments, discussion etc), and links to external tools, along with headings and dividers.This organisation is a bit different from WebCT and probably pushes us towards a more week 1, week 2, week 3 and other content areas as opposed to the lecture, resource, information style we have used in WebCT. Of course, a combination can be used to get the best of both worlds. An example of a content area (Week 1) with some items in place can be seen in Figure 2. The current plan is to make Learn 9.1 available from April 2011, with a view to it being the main system for all autumn 2011 modules (i.e. from 1st September). It is not the intention to shutdown the old WebCT server on 1st September. Instead it will be retained for modules where switching would be a major problem. For example, a two-year MSc for students at distance that is halfway through would present a major challenge to switch to Learn 9.1 midway. In this case it clearly is sensible to complete the MSc in WebCT.

One change we plan with transition to Learn 9.1 is to drop naming the online learning environment after the product on which it is built. This is partly because the online learning environment now consists of much more than WebCT. We also have the Turnitin plagiarism service, Campus Pack (web 2.0 technologies: blogs, wikis and podcasts), Listen Again for lecture capture, electronic reading lists via TalisList, Stirling Connect and Elluminate for webinars and online meetings. Thus we need a name for this set of services. I’m happy to receive suggestions but there isn’t a prize for the best suggestion except to see your name idea in lights!

It is eLD’s intention to visit all the schools both to demonstrate Learn 9.1 and answer any questions staff have about the system. We also plan to offer training in Learn 9.1 starting after the spring semester.

Simon Boothe-Learning Liaison and Development

Figure 1: An example Blackboard Learn 9.1 module homepage

Figure 2: An example Blackboard Learn 9.1 module content area

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The lecture capture service, Listen Again, will be enhanced for the spring semester by the addition of streaming video. Nothing changes in how staff get material onto Listen Again or in how students access the material. The difference is that playback should be much smoother over a broadband connection as streaming deals with slower connections much better than standard web downloads (as used last semester). On campus the addition of a streaming capability will make virtually no difference as the network is so fast but as just over 50% of the usage of Listen Again is from off campus many users will benefit from the new streaming feature.

Listen Again – StreamingVideo

Further to enhance the usability of Listen Again and to exploit the streaming capability we have added a feature that indexes the presentation by slide transition. This makes it much simpler to sample a selection of a recording. This makes Listen Again even more useful as a learning aid.

To use the Listen Again service please

contact your eLD liaison person. A list updated for the Schools is available here:http://www.is.stir.ac.uk/aboutis/teams/aldt/eld.php

Simon Booth and Derek RobertsoneLearning Liaison and Development

An example Listen Again page

After careful consideration we have selected EBSCO’s Discovery Service, which has also been chosen by Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt and St Andrews universities. The name StirGate is being retained as it is well known among our users. The ‘new’ StirGate product was launched on 1st February in time for the start of the Spring semester.

StirGate is designed to be a gateway to academic literature with simplicity at its heart. It provides quick and easy access to the Library’s subscription resources and facilitates multidisciplinary research. From one single search box users are able to explore our printed and electronic resources. In the near future it will also be possible to search Stirling’s research outputs from STORRE and our unique archival holdings.

Major Enhancements to StirGate ServiceStirGate, our federated search engine for library resources, has recently been replaced with a new, improved product. Since StirGate was launched in 2008, advances in searching technology have resulted in the launch of a new generation of searching tools and we are pleased to announce that Stirling is among the early adopters of one of these new products.

Enhancements from the previous StirGate service:

> Faster searching times > Ability to export results by email,

or directly into RefWorks > Ability to save searches to be re-

run at regular intervals > An impressive range of limiting

options to improve the relevancy of results

What it searches now: > the library catalogue for details of

printed and electronic materials at all three campuses

> full text journal databases such as Business Source Premier and JSTOR

> subject-specific indexes including ATLA (religious studies), CINAHL (health), SportDiscus and Web of Science

> The Times Digital Archive (the full text of the Times newspaper from 1785-1985)

> 46,000 electronic journals

Over the next few months new resources will appear in StirGate, including more subject-specific indexes such as the British Education Index and MathSciNet. To keep up to date with additions to StirGate see our news blog (http://www.is.stir.ac.uk/) or follow us on Twitter: @isstirling.

StirGate is available from the Resources tab on the Portal or from the A-Z List of Online Resources. It can be accessed from on and off campus. A user guide is available from: http://www.is.stir.ac.uk/research/dbase/StirGate.php.

We welcome feedback on the new service; please send any comments to library@stir.ac.uk.

Sarah KevillLibrary Liaison and Development

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Finding high-quality, relevant materialA JISC web page (https://openeducationalresources.pbworks.com/w/page/27045418/Finding-OERs) gives a short list of dedicated search engines, whilst SCORE (Support Centre for Open Resources in Education based at the Open University), links to nearly thirty OER projects and networks in UK universities (http://www8.open.ac.uk/score/networks). The list includes a range of resource banks in a variety of subject areas, all developed within the UK Higher Education community.

Zaidlearn (http://zaidlearn.blogspot.com/2008/06/university-learning-ocw-oer-free.html) is a really useful site, although with a bias to the US. It offers an annotated list of starting points for discovering OER, and features a number of collections which have been handpicked by ‘special individuals’, as well as OER communities. Perhaps most useful of all, the site provides lists of OER providers and repositories around the world, with links. Many repositories offer a range of search filters: for example, one can limit a search by level, discipline or format.

A Google tool offers a customised search facility (http://www.google.com/cse/home?cx=009190243792682903990:e40rcqv1bbo) which covers a range of OER repositories, whilst YouTube has provided access to all the ‘videos and channels from [its] college and university partners’ via a single web page (http://www.youtube.com/education).

Perhaps the majority of potential users will see the provider as the best indicator of quality. Some ‘discovery’ sites such as OER Commons, as well as posting abstracts, provide facilities similar to those on Amazon sites which allow users to comment on, and rate, resources.

Use and re-useConcerns over copyright, technical problems, impermanence, inability to find appropriate material, and perhaps the ‘not invented here’ syndrome have all played their part in holding back use and re-use of OER. Now, however, the situation is changing: the millions of dollars, pounds and other currencies which have been poured into initiatives have led to the development of specialised resource banks, and discovery tools, and the continuing development of technical standards. The emergence of Creative Commons licensing (http://creativecommons.org/) is one of the most significant enablers. Now a potential user can quickly determine how a resource may legally be used. Most commonly, resources come with no strings attached, or are available for remixing and sharing, or for sharing only.

Nowadays, the incredible range of material from such a wide variety of prestigious providers makes the likelihood of finding useful resources all the more likely. If you are tempted to undertake repurposing of material with technical challenges, then you may wish to seek support from SCORE (http://www8.open.ac.uk/score/). For advice on licensing, the OER IPR site maintained by JISC is a useful starting point (http://www.web2rights.com/OERIPRSupport/starter.html).

On the other hand, little adaptation may be necessary. For instance, a link to a film clip on YouTube may be used to illustrate a lecture, or links to a podcast or e-text may be added to a reading list. Then again, course outlines and question banks may be browsed for inspiration in developing a new module. It would also be quite simple to set up a virtual learning lab with flexible learning materials for individual students wishing to develop numeric or language skills. Whilst a live tutor may be irreplaceable, OER

resources offer valuable opportunities to enrich and reinforce learning.

Last but not least, let’s not forget the sheer fun of browsing OER without any serious purpose in mind. Cambridge University’s slow motion video clip of a magnified flea jumping was my latest treat (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcnoL1kJ4so).

And finally, a challenge from HEFCEJanuary 2011 saw the publication of a new HEFCE report, ‘Collaborate to compete: seizing the opportunity of online learning for UK higher education’ (http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2011/11_01/) which makes the case for further investment in OER in the UK and exhorts universities to use such resources. There is no point duplicating effort to create content that is already available and has been proven to work. Institutions can build on the existing open educational resources initiative (funded by HEFCE, managed by the JISC and the HEA) to achieve economies of scale and efficiencies. In addition, they can pull in the best content and openly-available learning resources from around the world and adapt them for particular courses. Students can then access a richer, wider range of material to enhance their learning experiences wherever they are studying, and leading experts can build a profile beyond their institution. There are also significant opportunities for partnership with private organisations to produce content that is interactive, responsive and pedagogically effective.

Carolyn RowlinsonAssociate Director, Information Services

OER (Open Educational Resources) Part 2Last December’s ISSUE article on OER focussed on providers and their motives for making digital learning resources available globally, without charge, via the internet. This article concentrates on the identification and selection of relevant material, and considers quality, use and re-use.

8 ISSUE is designed and printed by Graphics & Print Services.The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159

Information Services Newsletter Schedule for 2011

ISSUE is produced bi-monthly by Information Services for staff and students of the University. Comments and suggestions are welcomed and should be sent to the editor Steve Boulton, ext 6883, email steven.boulton@stir.ac.uk.

Issue Number85

Issue Date23rd May 2011

Deadline for Articles9th May 2011

Reservoir Tap was made for the 1995 Scottish Sculpture Open 8 at Kildrummy Castle, Aberdeenshire, which then toured to the University of Stirling’s MacRobert Arts Centre. At the end of the exhibition, the Curator of the Art Collection requested that Ingleby’s work remain sited within the grounds as a loan. Over a number of years this temporary measure has been renewed to such an extent that Reservoir Tap has become part of the landscape of the campus, including being featured on the front of the ‘Stirling Alumni’ magazine (Autumn 2006) and as part of the Art Collection web site. The purchase has secured its future with the University.

Purchase of Joe Ingleby SculptureWith generous assistance from the National Fund for Acquisitions, the Art Collection has recently purchased Joe Ingleby’s Reservoir Tap. This outside steel sculpture is a welcome new addition to the permanent Art Collection, and will already be familiar to many, since it has been on loan to the University since 1995.

The Reservoir Tap by Joe Ingleby

Joe Ingleby is a Glasgow-based artist whose work regularly combines the natural and the mechanistic. Reservoir Tap is a sheet steel work with a cogged section that ‘holds the lid’ on a lower vat-like base. This lower section is suggestive of the emerging top of an underground vat or reservoir. Above, the metamorphic cogged shape opens up, leaf-like. It is a loosening lid or tap, evolving into an organic form, teetering to break free. With its ‘reservoir’ reference it is appropriately sited near a small loch close to the MacRobert.

We are very pleased to have been able to ensure that this well-loved sculpture remains a permanent

feature on the site. For those interested in Ingleby’s work, other publicly sited examples can be found nearby in Alloa (Time Vessel, 1998, is situated on Clackmannan Road) as well as in Rutherglen, Glasgow (Slipstream, 2001 overlooks the Clyde at Dalmarnock Bridge).

Rhona RamsayPart-time Curator, Art Collection

From this semester, access to the Document Delivery service will be extended to third-year undergraduate students. It had previously been available only to staff, postgraduate, and fourth-year students. The primary reason for extending the service is not only the direct benefit to third years, but also for future dissertation support. Feedback from fourth-year students suggests many of them are not aware of the service until it is too late for them to make full use of it for their dissertation. Earlier introduction might help this, and the email we send to all fourth-year students will become a reinforcement message rather than an introductory one.

There are some necessary limitations on how the service can be used. Most importantly it is for individual research only; Document Delivery cannot be used by students on the same taught course researching the same topic. This is a legal restriction, but it also makes practical sense in that if more than one student requires the material it would be much better to purchase and make it available in the Library collection in the normal way.

The extension will initially be for a trial period to assess whether the additional costs and staff resource can be absorbed without detriment to the overall service. Currently

electronically-delivered articles cost £5.94, and books £9. In addition there is an asbestos problem in the British Library affecting much of their collection, which means much more work in sourcing documents must be done in-house.

David GardinerLibrary and IT Enquiry Services

Document Delivery for 3rd Year Students