16
July
2021
|
09:07
Europe/London

Important Library information about reading lists and the eTextbook programme 2021/22

The Library appreciates your support this year with ensuring your students have access to their teaching resources and reading lists. It’s now time to help us get ready for Semester 1 2021/2022.

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Here’s what you need to know: 

  • Use Reading Lists Online to order new teaching materials
  • How to prepare your reading lists for the course unit rollover in Blackboard
  • How to apply for a core eTextbook for your students

Use Reading Lists Online to order new teaching materials 

  • Reading Lists Online is the only way to order new teaching resources for the 2021/22 academic year. 
  • Review the importance tags on your new list to ensure they are correct, and tag any new items according to our policy for the purchase of reading list books. Full instructions are available in our user guides. 
  • If your reading lists are not currently in Reading Lists Online, you can add them to the system yourself following the instructions in our user guides
  • Submit new lists and any edits to existing lists as early as possible to give the Library time to process your requests. 
  • Tag each item according to our policy for the purchase of reading list books. This enables us to make sure we provide sufficient access to the resources on your list. 
  • Once your list has been submitted please monitor it for availability. Where we are unable to source electronic access for an essential or recommended item on your reading list, it will be marked “Complete no e-book available”.
  • As you’ll be aware, since March 2020 we’ve only been able to provide reading list books that are available electronically as we’ve been unable to receive deliveries of printed books. From 1st Aug the team will be starting to place print orders again where no electronic access is available, however due to the significant backlog of orders and new COVID secure workflows (including those implemented by our suppliers), receiving and processing stock will take a little longer than usual.
  • If there is no link for Reading Lists Online in Blackboard you can add the link yourself following the instructions in our user guides. If a course has changed code, please email uml.readinglists.@ac.uk with details of both codes and the Library will manually relink the list.
  • Email uml.readinglists@manchester.ac.uk for help with reading list queries. 

Prepare your reading lists for the course unit rollover in Blackboard

  • In preparation for the 2021/22 academic year, the Library’s Reading Lists team will duplicate all current reading lists in Reading Lists Online. This is to provide you with a copy of your list to edit for the next academic year. These duplicate reading lists will be visible and ready for you to edit in Reading Lists Online on Wednesday, 2 June, but your students will not see them in Blackboard.
  • Review the importance tags on your new list to ensure they are correct, and tag any new items according to our policy for the purchase of reading list books.
  • When your course unit rolls over in Blackboard this summer, your course unit space will automatically link to your new 2021/22 list in Reading Lists Online. Your old 2020/21 list will still be available in Reading Lists Online, but won’t be visible to students in Blackboard.
  • Any permalinks embedded into teaching materials will automatically link to your new 2021/22 list.
  • Contact the Reading Lists team at uml.readinglists@manchester.ac.uk for help with reading lists queries.

Apply for an eTextbook for your students

  • The Library’s eTextbook Programme provides each student on a course unit with individual access to an interactive, electronic textbook where possible. A core textbook is defined as “A textbook which students are required to use extensively throughout the course” in the Library policy for the purchase of reading list books.
  • For an item on your reading list to be considered for the eTextbook Programme, you should tag it as ‘core’ in Reading Lists Online and submit changes to the Library by Friday, 18 June 2021 to enable the team to process these requests.
  • Only one item should be tagged as core on your reading list. This should be the item you want to be provided as an eTextbook. Please do not tag the item more than once even if it appears on the list twice or as a different edition as the system will not recognise it as a request for an eTextbook.
  • If you have chosen to tag a ‘core’ text to be considered for our eTextbook Programme it will be supplied on the Kortext platform via your Reading List in time for the start of teaching. If this is not possible, we will supply via a standard ebook platform linked from your reading list. If we are unable to supply electronically, you will have been contacted to suggest an alternative title.
  • If you have already been provided with a core eTextbook for 2020/21 and would like it to be considered again for 2021/22, please check that it is the only item tagged as core on the list.
  • If you have already been provided with a core eTextbook for 2020/21 and would like it to be changed or removed, please tag an alternative item as core and/or remove the core tag on the current title and submit changes to the Library.
  • The Library will provide the latest edition of the text as a default, please contact the team if you require a different edition.
  • This year we are only providing access to ‘Core’ texts on the eTextbook Programme via Reading Lists Online. Students will be required to register for a Kortext account using their UoM email address and will need to choose University of Manchester from the drop-down list when prompted. Course instructors will receive a free electronic desk copy directly from Kortext. Please contact support@kortext.com if there are any additional teaching staff who require access. Instructors can also access a comprehensive analytics dashboard to track and encourage student engagement with their etextbook.
  • Email uml.etexts@manchester.ac.uk for help with eTextbook queries.