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"Reading Lists"
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Academics’ experience of online reading lists and the use of reading list notes
Reading Lists Systems are widely used in tertiary education as a pedagogical tool and for tracking copyrighted material. This paper explores academics' experiences with reading lists and in particular the use of reading lists notes feature. A mixed-methods approach was employed in which we first conducted interviews with academics about their experience with reading lists. We identified the need for streamlining the workflow of the reading lists set-up, improved usability of the interfaces, and better synchronization with other teaching support systems. Next, we performed a log analysis of the use of the notes feature throughout one academic year. The results of our log analysis were that the note feature is under-utilized by academics. We recommend improving the systems’ usability by re-engineering the user workflows and to better integrate notes feature into academic teaching.
Journal Article
Inclusive education: co-creating a reading list diversity toolkit with student input
This article introduces the initiative by library staff and students at the University of Leicester, co-ordinated between 2020 and 2022, that focused on creating a reading list toolkit to support academic staff in diversifying their module reading lists. Developed through collaboration with student volunteers and academic staff, the toolkit provides prompts for academic staff to critically assess and diversify the resources on their reading lists, addressing biases and ensuring representation across dimensions such as race, gender and socio-economic background. Keywords: reading lists, diversity, student collaboration, collection diversity, inclusive education, reading list toolkit
Journal Article
Implementing a reading list strategy at The University of Manchester – determination, collaboration and innovation
Reading lists are a fundamental part of any programme and it is essential that libraries and academic colleagues work in partnership to ensure that universities are able to provide students with ready access to key information resources. It is generally recognized that today's students have higher expectations than in the past, in part as a result of paying fees. At The University of Manchester 91% of 1,446 students consulted as part of an independent library survey responded that they believed the Library should guarantee them access to all the books on their reading lists. Whilst the Library at The University of Manchester tends to score very well each year in the National Student Survey, analysis of the open comments have shown that a high percentage of negative remarks about the Library have related to the lack of available core and essential texts. A three-year collaborative Library-wide project (Books Right Here Right Now), involving extensive research and consultation with academic colleagues and students, resulted in The University of Manchester Library reading list strategy. The strategy seeks to ensure that Library provision of reading list material is more effective and consistent. The successful implementation of a new service to deliver on this strategy has required determination, some lateral thinking and a truly collaborative approach. Keywords: Reading lists, e-textbooks, reading list software, purchasing policy, reading list strategy, collaboration, innovation
Journal Article
Diversity or decolonization? Searching for the tools to dismantle the ‘master’s house
Within the literature on decolonizing the curriculum, a clear distinction is frequently made between diversity and decolonization. While
decolonization
entails dismantling colonial forms of knowledge, including practices that racialize and categorize,
diversity
is a policy discourse that advocates for adding different sorts of people to reading lists and the staff and student body. As a team of staff and students, we are committed to decolonization, but we are also aware that within our discipline of political science, calls for diversity are more likely to be understood and accepted. We therefore bid for, and obtained, funding to conduct a quantitative review of our department’s reading lists in order to assess the range not only of authors, but also of topics and ideas. We found that male White authors wrote the majority of the readings, with women of colour authoring just 2.5 per cent of works on our curriculum. Our reading lists also featured disappointingly little theoretical diversity, with very little coverage of feminist, critical race or queer theory approaches, for example. We therefore used the standard methodologies and approaches of our discipline in order to point towards the silences and gaps that a decolonizing approach would seek to remedy. In this article, we explain our approach and findings. The project has been educational in the best sense and has disrupted hierarchical relationships between staff and students. It has helped us think more deeply about how data and research inform, and sometimes limit, change, as well as how the process of learning about how knowledge, including reading lists, is generated can support decolonization in itself.
Journal Article
University academics’ perceptions of reading list labels
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the results of continuing professional development sessions delivered to academics on the importance of a properly annotated reading list to the student experience.
Design/methodology/approach
As part of the session, the academics were asked to take part in a “pop quiz” providing their interpretation of commonly used reading list labels.
Findings
There was quite a broad interpretation of the labels, with several eliciting strongly positive or negative reactions. The similarity of meanings between some reading list labels made them redundant for helping students to prioritise their reading.
Originality/value
This case study could be used to provide sessions on reading lists at other institutions, and the results from the quiz can be used to simplify reading list labels.
Journal Article
How diverse is your reading list? Exploring issues of representation and decolonisation in the UK
There is a growing impetus, from university students and administrations, to decolonise the curriculum and develop diverse reading lists. Yet, there is limited theoretical or empirical analysis of the authorship of current reading lists to justify this imperative. The present study developed and applied a method for auditing the authorship on reading lists of two modules, one from science and one from social science, in a research-intensive British university. The paper explores whether these reading lists can be considered descriptively representative of the student body or scholarly community. The analysis of reading lists found empirical basis for concerns that university curricula are dominated by white, male and Eurocentric authors, with some exceptions. The reading lists did not represent the diverse local student body but came closer to representing the demographic profile of academic staff. To interpret these findings, the paper argues that reading lists have a role to play in decolonising our universities, and offer opportunities to critique and deconstruct disciplinary boundaries. Further research is required to explore student and staff views of reading lists and the meaning of diversity, to evaluate existing tools, and address barriers to decolonising our curricula on a global scale.
Journal Article
A holistic decolonial lens for library and information studies
PurposeThe aim of this paper is to introduce a holistic decolonial lens for Library and Information Studies (LIS). As such it centres in the following questions: what does decolonisation mean in the context of LIS? How can a holistic approach help improve our understanding of the field?Design/methodology/approachThis is a conceptual paper that draws on theoretical analysis and discussion with in-depth examination of two cases of librarianship and information for development.FindingsThe paper presents a decolonial framework for interpreting and comprehending LIS-specific issues. As a result, we believe it is critical to recognise three interconnected types of colonial legacies and identify ways in which LIS academics and practitioners can consider these in the context of their research and work.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper introduces a holistic framework for thinking about decoloniality in the LIS discipline. Further work should consider how this framework can be useful for other LIS fields.Practical implicationsThe framework is of practical significance for LIS academics and practitioners who wish to take a decolonial approach to their research and thinking. We provide questions intended to lead to action.Originality/valueThe paper provides a holistic decolonial approach to critically reflect on research and teaching practices in the context of LIS.
Journal Article
