Hearing from academics at the Talis Aspire Day with the University of Birmingham

We co-hosted a Talis Aspire Day with the University of Birmingham, where we heard sessions from library teams and academics on the impact of Talis Aspire. Dr Sarah Hall and Dr Sophie Hadfield-Hill, lecturers from the University of Birmingham spoke about what they have achieved with Talis Aspire.

Dr Sophie Hadfield-Hill, lecturer in Geography talked to us about her experience of using online reading lists with Talis Aspire.

At the time of setting up her reading lists, Sophie was also developing a new module. The fluidity of the list allowed her to be really flexible with this process, adding resources as she found them, developing the list along with her module plan. She also explains that having a dynamic list is great for students, as they can keep checking for new content, some of her students even suggest resources to be added.

During her presentation, Sophie also talks us through her list, explaining why she divided it into sections and ordered as she has, and why this works for her style of teaching. Watch a recording of her presentation below:

Dr Sarah Hall, Lecturer in Religious Education gave us a different perspective on reading lists. Sarah explains that much of her time is not spent on campus, and unlike Sophie’s undergraduate classes, Sarah’s students are usually post-graduates who live away from campus. For this reason, both lecturer and student have a different relationship with the library, and Sarah explains that online reading lists have been a great way ensure students are connected to the resources that they need.

Sarah revealed that the results of a student voice survey she ran before she started using online reading lists showed that the students had not been using the paper-based lists provided. Now, especially with the section level embedding functionality in Canvas, students are much more engaged with the resources.

Watch Sarah’s presentation below:

We also heard sessions from customer institutions, including the library teams from the University of Birmingham, Royal Holloway University of London and the University of Leicester. To watch the recordings of these presentations, click here.

Thanks again to the University of Birmingham for hosting the event at their new library.

If you have any questions about the topics mentioned in the videos, please raise a support ticket, or get in touch via info@talis.com.