At the Talis Aspire Open Day 26 February 2013 Michelle Anderson, Director of Library Services, Robert Gordon University shared their strategies and experiences of adopting Talis Aspire.

1. Introducing a reading list
solution: RGU’s experience
Michelle Anderson, RGU

2. Student perspective
 Questions arising from
survey data Student
expectations
Experience at
 Consistency of point of
Quality of
access Reading lists
experience (NSS: 95%+,
sub 80%);
 Equivalence of
experience (DSB). Availability &
Resource
format of
discovery
materials

3. Reading lists and students
 Discussion with our students show they are
frustrated when reading lists:
 Contain material not available in the library
 Only include print books and nothing else
 List out of date books
 Provide no context or guidance
 Have difficult to access material
 Do not exist for their module
 This leads to a poor learning experience for
students, problems for staff, and is detrimental to
the student’s interaction with the library service.

4. Strategic priorities
 Priorities
 Growth through online distance learning and
corporate programmes (international, niche
markets);
 Ensuring a consistent and high quality student
experience;
 More inclusive practice.

5. Leadership challenge
STaRS (Watkins, 2003) Realignment
Start Up Turnaround How to revitalise the service?
 Challenges
 Strong cultural norms
 Building a case for change
 Opportunities
Realignment Sustaining Success  Significant strengths
 Colleagues care about the
customer experience and
want the library to be a
success

6. How do these factors align?
Leadership
challenge: A
driver around
which to build
the need for
change
Student
expectations of
access to
reading
materials
Mitigate risks associated
with growth through ODL
& differential experience
for ODL students
accessing reading
material
Effective business partnering

7. Effective business partnering in the
context of the library
 Successful, long term, strategic relationships
between the library and faculty.
 Understanding faculty strategy and approaches,
identifying how the library service may support
delivery;
 Providing intelligence to inform enhancement across
other areas of library service delivery;
 Library colleagues as trusted and valued partners.

8. Why adopt a reading list solution?
 An opportunity to enhance faculty/library
partnerships;
 Enhancing the student experience
 Improving the experience at the point of access;
 Managing student expectation of access to resources;
 Delivering excellence in learning and teaching;
 Adding value to module/course development;
 Improving quality and consistency of reading lists;
 Advancing equality and diversity.

9. Building the business case
 Building a need with key colleagues (identifying
the issues);
 Securing support from senior colleagues;
 Creating an awareness of reading list management
software (what it is and how it may address the
issues);
 Defining the project (articulating the business
benefits, outcomes and risks);
 Securing resources (capital bid, 1 yr pilot)

10. Why Talis Aspire?
 After investigation and a tender process RGU
decided on:
 Its features and benefits would allow us to
work towards the outcomes.
 Other benefits were that the company was
actively developing the product, the support
was good, and the community growing.

11. Implementation of ASPIRE@RGU
 ASPIRE@RGU (http://resourcelists.rgu.ac.uk)
was successfully set up and was launched on
31 May 2011.
 After the first year of use it was decided to
continue to subscribe to Talis Aspire, meaning
we are now in year 2 of the project.

12. Day to day management of lists
1 - Academic staff send their new / updated lists to
the library
• This can be done via a web form, email, or in person
• They are asked to include details of the module, student
numbers and a “needed by” date
2 - The list is assigned to one of a core team of 5
library staff
• This is done using a rota system
• While creating the list the library checks if we have sufficient
copies and looks for new editions / eBooks / etc
3 - When complete the list is made available
• The list is published, attached to the module and the member
of staff informed
• Academic and library staff communicate throughout the
process as needed

13. Day to day management of lists
 This approach was chosen as:
 It was felt offering to do the work would elicit more lists
 It would allow library staff to review the lists and ensure
accuracy in editions, access information etc.
 Library staff could take on the associated tasks of looking
for online versions, and ensuring the Library had sufficient
/ up to date stock.
 Issues that have arisen from this approach:
 Time management especially at key times of year
 Prioritisation of work for library staff
 The need to manage expectations from academic staff
about the time for list creation
 How to manage reviews and updates as list numbers grow

14. Promotion and raising awareness
 Academic staff were informed about
ASPIRE@RGU in several ways:
 Presentations at appropriate events, committees and
meetings
 General presentations set up with all staff invited to
attend
 A dedicated web page was set up
 Use of the blog, email, twitter etc
 Students find out about ASPIRE@RGU:
 Links in their modules on Moodle
 Advertising via blog posts, emails, twitter etc
 The library web pages

15. Has it been a success? Number of lists
 On 22 February 2013 there were 327 lists on
ASPIRE@RGU.
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Aberdeen Business School Faculty of Design and Faculty of Health and Other
Technology Social Care
 Approx 20% of modules have a list attached.

16. Has it been a success? User comments
…………………..I ‘launched’ it at my
What an excellent tool ASPIRE@RGU
introductory lecture this week. A few
is, I find it so useful to have a 'one-
hours later, in a follow-up ‘clinic’, a
stop' shop for bookmarks, module
student came to explain to me and her
reading lists etc………………………As a
fellow students that she found the
distance learner I think I am going to
resource ‘brilliant’. In particular, she
find this software/tool very useful.
liked the access to the e-books…………
The new facility is very useful
indeed…….is it possible to compare
I really like what you have done with
usage across different resources made
the list. The section labels are very
available i.e. use of e-books compared
helpful, and I think will make it easier
with use of videos etc. In this way
for students to find what they are
ASPIRE might be able help us develop
looking for.
a more sophisticated appreciation of
different learning styles……..

17. Has it been a success? Reading lists to
resource lists
 A major benefit we see for ASPIRE@RGU is
the opportunity to expand on what a reading
list can be and create better quality lists.
Greater structure
More use of online Wider range of e.g.
resources resources provided sections, importance
levels, notes

18. Has it been a success? Workflows
 Changes in the budget for 2012/13
 Split into two areas of spending – orders for
resource lists and orders for general
collection/research material.
 This allows increased focus on providing resources
on reading lists & more flexibility when resourcing
new courses.
 Changing systems & workflows for purchasing
reading list materials (kaizen review)
 Review of roles & responsibilities (co-
ordination and delivery)

19. Has it been a success? Wider influence
 Driving policy
 ASPIRE@RGU also ties in with policies such as library’s
resourcing strategy. The main tenets of this are:
 All reading lists on ASPIRE@RGU.
 All resources for distance learning students available
electronically.
 Early engagement of academic staff with the library prior to
the development of new courses.
 University Strategic Implementation Plan action
around ODL & student journey
 Deepening & more strategic relationships with
faculty

20. Monitoring usage - Google Analytics
 Aspire uses Google Analytics to provide statistics
 Statistics cover areas like:
 Visits
 Unique visitors
 New and returning visitors
 Page views
 Sources i.e. referrals and direct links
 Locations of visitors
 Average time on pages
 Browsers and networks being used
 Can create comparisons between time periods
 Can export statistics to excel

21. Visitors to the site – 01/06/11 – 15/01/13
 124425 visitors to the site
20000
18000
16000
14000
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0

22. Visits / New and returning – 01/12/12 – 31/12/12

23. Location / Referrals – 01/12/12 – 31/12/12

24. List usage with comparison – 01/12/12 –
31/12/12 (compared to same period 2011)

25. Top ten lists – 01/06/11 – 15/01/13
Business Environment BSM029
Business strategy BS4104
Learning for Professional Person Centred Care NU1442
Strategies & Approaches to Community Health NU4773
Principles & Concepts of Public Health NU4773
Research Methods PH4014
Poverty Inequalities, Vulnerability & Social Exclusion NU4773
Health Needs Assessment NU4773
Finance For Managers BSM017
Research Methods BS3184
0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500

26. Monitoring usage - Dashboard feature
 New feature that sits on the lists themselves and
gives users a easy look at list usage.

27. Contact
 Michelle Anderson
 Michelle.anderson@rgu.ac.uk
 01224 263452