Moodle update

Lots of work has been carried out on Moodle over the summer on both the E-Resources and iSkills pages.  Hannah will be writing about the iSkills page so this post will address the changes to the E-Resources information.

In light of the introduction of mySearch it was felt that we had a great opportunity to rethink how we presented information on this page.


As many of our online resources will be accessible via mySearch there is no need to list them all in separate subject listings.  However it became apparent that we would need some extra topics to highlight particular resources.

• Audio visual material has a section of its own as this type of resource is not easy to include in discovery services such as mySearch. Direct students and staff here to find images, video, audio, and maps.
• It is also important that the sources of help are easily accessible so they keep their own section.
• Information for HE students about access to libraries at other universities was pulled together
• We also had a small amount of business material (dissertations and podcasts) that has been added and this was also kept in its own section

In addition to this a More Online Resources 'book' has been created to list resources which are not in mySearch.  This has a chapter for each site and the Guildford chapter has been further split into sub-chapters.  As this is a new facility we have used please do take a look and give us any feedback you may have.

New Dawsonenter functionality

Dawson Books are pleased to announce new features in dawsonenter. These have come in response to customer suggestions, and will enhance the way Libraries work with dawsonenter. Bertram stock information – dawsonenter will provide information on number of copies physically in stock at Bertram. Option to take Classmark from Dawson record on dawsonenter – when adding items to baskets, permitted users have the option to automatically add the classmark from the Dawson record to the order. Respect territorial rights for ebooks – dawsonenter will alert users when they either view or try to order an ebook for a country where Dawson is not permitted to sell the book. Profiling information – additional information will be available for titles which have been profiled as part of the new Approval Plan service. Format icon on basket details - the format icon (book, ebook, AV) has been added to the basket details page. These new features will be available from Wednesday 14th August. Click here for new features guide Coming next month Add purchase order information to titles in dawsonenter lists – when adding titles to dawsonenter lists, it will be possible for permitted users to add fund codes, location codes, loan types and notes. Customer specific pricing – where requested by the library, it will be possible for dawsonenter to display a more accurate indicative price.

Dawson download to devices goes live

Dawsonera download to devices is now live so staff and students will be able to add e-books to Apple and Android devices.  Students have asked about this before but, until now, it was only available on the Ebrary platform.  This new upgrade to the Dawsonera site will allow students to add more reading list material to their phones and tablets giving them even better access to the resources they need.

There are helpsheets available and they have been added to the E-Resources page on Moodle under Video Tutorials & Helpsheets.

New Circulation Rules

The previously advertised changes to the circulation rules have now been implemented.  Please see the earlier post for details.

Please note that books issued before 1 August will still follow the old rules for renewals etc.  Everything issued after this date will use the new settings.

JISC MediaHub now available

JISC MediaHub has been made available for free to FE colleges and our access to it has now gone live.

JISC MediaHub provides search results for video, image and audio resources from many different collections.

Users at college can use the direct access link but off site they will need to use the one for the UK Federation.

Dawsonera launch delay

Please see the message below from Dawson regarding the forthcoming upgrade to Dawsonera.  I'll let you know when I have details of the new launch date.



We regret to inform you that due to an extended testing schedule the launch of latest exciting upgrade to dawsonera has been rescheduled. The dawsonera team are committed to supplying you with the best possible user experience and conduct thorough product testing before any upgrade. Our commitment to this approach ensures you receive the highest level of service and it is because of this commitment the decision to delay the launch has been made.
  
The upcoming upgrade to dawsonera is our largest yet. The upgrade will see the launch of the much anticipated download to mobile device functionality, real-time order processing and more front-list content than ever before with new EPUB compatibility, adding to our current library of over 280,000 ebook titles.

We will keep you updated on the revised launch timescales and apologise for any inconvenience this has caused.

Kind regards

The dawsonera team