Reading Lists

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Reading Lists

• Or to take ARMS against a sea of Academics

Andra Bloomfield University of Wales Aberystwyth
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Whats so important?

• Locations
• Voyager (Aberystwyth OPAC)
• Modules (AStRA)
• Sentient Discover
• Blackboard
• Academics own lists
• Destinations
• Library
• Students
• Academics
• Module web pages
• Bookshops

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Whats so important?

• Locations
• Voyager
• Modules (AStRA)
• Sentient Discover
• Blackboard
• Academics own lists
• Destinations
• Library
• Students
• Academics
• Module web pages
• Bookshops

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A Brief History

• Pre 1999
• Academics doing their own thing
• June 1999
• Module Reading lists developed for AStRA
• Academics still doing their own thing
• March 2003
• Signed up with Sentient Discover
• Academics still doing their own thing
• March 2004
• Group formed to look into Reading Lists

• June 2004
• Decided to go ahead with in-house system
• October 2004
• ARMS went live
• January 2005
• ARMS V2 released
• September 2005
• ARMS V3 due for release
• The Future
• Academics still doing their own thing?

(AStRA Aberystwyth Student Records and
Admissions system)
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What is this ARMS?
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What is this ARMS?
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What is this ARMS?

• Each Module has one or more reading lists
• Each Academic can have one or more reading lists
• Main reading lists available to all
• All other reading lists assigned private or
  public status
• Private to owner
• Private to students taking that module

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What is this ARMS?

• Items can be added to a list
• Manually
• Searched for
• Voyager OPAC
• National Library of Wales OPAC
• Global Books in Print
• Items on a list can be
• Ordered for the library
• Have their loan status changed

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What is this ARMS?
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What is this ARMS?

• Items can be added to a list
• Manually
• Searched for
• Voyager OPAC
• National Library of Wales OPAC
• Global Books in Print
• Items on a list can be
• Ordered for the library
• Have their loan status changed

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What is this ARMS?
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What is this ARMS?

• PHP
• V 4.3.10
• Yaz (a Z39.50 development tool)
• V 1.21
• Oracle
• V 8i
• Sun Sparc V240
• Solaris 9

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Usage

• Over the past 9 months, of the 2485 Module
  Reading lists within ARMS
• 99 have been accessed at least once
• Over 50 have been accessed 13 times or more

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Feedback

• Wont Use
• Doesnt do everything
• Too complicated
• Too much work
• My Students wont use it
• Spoon feeding!
• Why should I? The departmental secretary does it

• Will Use
• Easy to use
• Good access for
• Students
• Library
• Bookshop
• Nice to be able to search for things
• Lets me maintain my own list

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What Next?

• Bi-lingual
• Copying items between lists
• Reporting features
• Auto notification to academics for lists not
  updated
• Upload pre-prepared lists

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ARMS
Andra Bloomfield Management Information
Services University of Wales Aberystwyth adb_at_ab
er.ac.uk http//arms.mis.aber.ac.uk