LACC Report to P&RC – June 2015
Library & Academic Computing Committee
College of Humanities & Social Science
12 June 2015
Paper 9
Disclosable
For Information
College of Humanities and Social Science
Library and Academic Computing Committee (LACC)
Report to College Planning and Resources Committee, 8 June 2015
The Committee met in February, with the final meeting of the year due to take place on 12 June. During
semester 2, the Committee considered the following issues for note by P&RC members:
1. Electronic Submission of Assessment and Return of Feedback
LACC approved and supported a proposal from the College CIO for the College to work towards achieving
100% electronic submission of assessed coursework and 100% electronic provision of feedback, insofar as it
is pedagogically appropriate.
This policy requires the submission of coursework and provision of feedback electronically only (some
Schools and Subject Areas currently require both electronic and print copy submission, a practice that
should be discontinued), but does not dictate that marking must be done electronically. The College will
not require Schools to use any specific piece of software to support this initiative, noting that the University
already has access to a number of appropriate platforms, such as Turnitin.
Following approval by LACC, College UG Learning and Teaching Committee, College PG Studies Committee,
and College QA Committee were also consulted on the proposal. Approval was secured from all
committees, with particularly enthusiastic support from student representatives. Electronic submission
should therefore be the norm from academic year 2015/2016 onwards.
Action: Heads of School are encouraged to support this new policy for introduction from September 2015,
and to contact Fraser Muir, College CIO, if support will be required to put appropriate arrangements in
place.
2. Allocation of Library Materials Budget - update
During 14/15, Heads of Schools, LACC Reps, School Library Reps and Academic Support Librarians have
been consulted on proposed changes to how the Library Materials Budget from Information Services is
allocated within CHSS. The proposal would see the introduction of a Course Collections Fund to support
the acquisition of course materials, in conjunction with a move to allocating the remainder of the library
materials budget based on resource type, rather than allocating an individual sum to each School.
There was general consensus that change is necessary, as a result of the trend towards electronic versus
physical materials and the increasing use of “bundles” by publishers. However, it was clear that confidence
in the efficiency and fairness of the proposed new model was dependent on the identification of specific
procedural mechanisms and safeguards to support and manage the allocation of resource.
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LACC Report to P&RC – June 2015
An extremely productive workshop, attended by LACC Reps, School Library Reps and Academic Support
Librarians, was held in April to discuss the detail of what the new model should look like, and specifically
what procedures and safeguards should be put in place.
Ideas and recommendations arising from the workshop are currently being considered; a revised model will
be presented to LACC in semester 1 15/16. It is intended that allocation using the new model will
commence in August 2016.
Action: Heads of Schools are asked to note this update and will be kept informed of the development of the
new allocation model via College P&R Committee, towards an implementation date of 1 August 2016.
3. Other Library Materials Budget matters
a. Budget for 2014/15: in addition to the allocation from IS, there is an additional allocation of £300k from
the College, £60k from the School of Law and £10k from the School of Divinity. The Library is expecting
that all funds will be fully spent by end July.
b. Library collections budget for 2015/16 and beyond: securing a longer-term solution to the ongoing
pressures on the Library Collections Budget being faced by all the Colleges has been a key component of
the current IS Planning Round process. The outcome will be known after Court meets on 22 June. IS will
then set the College budgets for 2015/16 and the allocations to each of the CHSS Schools will be
determined in the usual way thereafter.
Action: Heads of Schools are asked to note the current budgetary position for 14/15; School materials
budgets for 15/16 will be communicated to Schools as soon as they are available.
4. New Library Management Platform
Following a successful procurement process, Ex Libris was awarded the contract to provide the Library’s
new management platform. The LACC Convener chairs the Library Discovery User Group, which has been
leading the customisation of the user-facing discovery element of the new system, DiscoverEd.
The new system offers effective integration of print and electronic resources and provides useful
management information on a variety of topics, such as expenditure. The new system also offers users the
ability to draw on Open Access materials and other open resources.
DiscoverEd goes live on 29 June 2015. The key change that users will experience is that the Classic
Catalogue will no longer be available. The approach to rollout, promotion and provision of training on
DiscoverEd is currently under consideration and will be communicated to Schools in due course.
Action: Heads of Schools are asked to support the rollout of DiscoverEd and to note the 29 June launch date.
Alex Laidlaw
Secretary to LACC
June 2015
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