A Teachmeet presentation for UHMLG 2014

1. Helping medical students access recommended resources: the
role of Aspire reading list software at Lancaster
Jenny Brine

2. • Wide range of
recommended resources
– Electronic books
– Print books
– Journal articles
– Official documents
– YouTube
– Web resources
What’s the problem?
• New medical students
(about 50 a year)
– PBL (every two weeks)
– Used to printed textbooks
– Unfamiliar with
conventions of journal
articles
– Web not a place for serious
study?
– Authentication for access
to electronic resources

3. • Aspire software from Talis (2012)
• Embedded in Moodle
• Have to use Aspire list – no other way to get the list of
recommended resources
• Tutors ensure students know how to use Aspire
• Tutors prepare lists of suitable resources for each PBL area,
which the Subject Librarian turns into an Aspire list
• Tutors can and do add material if they wish
Aspire reading lists within Moodle

4. • Lists very well used
• Links to anatomy and physiology and clinical
medicine books the most heavily used
• Just about all the recommended readings
consulted by at least some of the students
• Complaints when a resource is inaccessible for
any reason
Effective?

5. • First year students tackle
first SSM in second term –
have to search for literature
independently
• Not sure on this one –
evidence?
• Subject Librarian
responsible – most lists take
me about an hour to do.
Any issues?
• Does it make finding the
literature too easy?
• Does it discourage reading
around a subject?
• Workload for Library?

6. • In Moodle
• Student List View
• Click through to electronic resource
– Note link to library catalogue, Amazon
• Dashboard
What does it look like?

11. Conclusions
• Makes electronic the norm from the very beginning of
students’ academic life
• Easy access on mobile devices
• Ensures expensive electronic books are well used
• Subject Librarian can ensure key print material is digitised
when need be
• Far fewer complaints about inability to access key readings!

12. Jenny Brine
j.brine@lancaster.ac.uk
01524 592545
www.libweb.lancs.ac.uk
Contact details