Blended learning and the shape and design of library services            

What was this programme about?

As we took stock and reviewed the impact of the sudden shock the sector faced and the future shape of our services, we had an opportunity to share and learn from our responses and to think creatively about the future. Which elements of this adaptive practice should we retain and which should we discard? Which established practices no longer look fit for purpose? What barriers have we identified to full digital delivery of our services? This programme examined these questions and provided a space for members to stand back from the immediate challenges we were facing and plan for the future.

Programme activities

Libraries as Creators of Content
Friday 15 July 2022

Across our community, libraries increasingly participate in content creation activities. These include supporting and facilitating open access publishing and scholarly communication, and wider open education practices in a range of areas.

Government and funders’ agendas have been key to driving requirements for open access and knowledge exchange, and we have seen the creation and expansion of new open access university presses alongside established presses seeking new opportunities in open publishing and wider collaborations. This collaboration and cooperation reaches above our institutions to consortial, national and international levels.

Our event brought together speakers with insight into these collaborative approaches in content creation. The session explored commonalities across different types of content such as articles, monographs and open educational resources (OERs), and aim to understand the opportunities of and success factors for working in these different collaborative contexts.  

Shaping the institutional discussion on the future of content
Monday 6 June 2022

Access to learning resources, scholarly communications, open access, print legacy and digital collection management are huge challenges for academic libraries. This session explores the library’s role in the provision of content in a broader university context. How well do our academic colleagues understand the changing nature of content provision, and how might this have developed over the course of the pandemic? Are open access mandates making a difference to how we collaborate with colleagues? Can we shape expectations at an institutional level, and do our colleagues outside the library service have views on the best use of our budgets to deliver content? 

From research service provider to research partner
Tuesday 24 May 2022

This event looks at the library’s evolving role in relation to research more widely, including moving from a focus on compliance to the library’s role in developing research culture. 

Choice and personalisation in blended learning
Tuesday 1 March 2022

The rapid acceleration of new teaching and learning modes as a result of the pandemic, has provided new insights into student preferences around blended learning and how that can differ by learning style, discipline, and background. This event explores choice and personalisation in blended learning and the implications for the library.  

Blended Learning and the Shape and Design of Library Services
Wednesday 29 September 2022

This event looks at developing thinking across HE on delivering blended learning and teaching. Hear perspectives on the implications for libraries from those writing and thinking on these issues including Jisc, OfS and UPP, followed by a plenary session. 

Webinar for members from small and specialist institutions to examine the impact of the pandemic on their library services
Thursday 15 July 2021

Library services at small and specialist institutions, whether they be arts focused or specialist STEM institutions, share a number of particular challenges as library buildings re-open and we adjust to the new environment in which we’re working. This webinar examines the impact of the pandemic on their library services and discuss a roadmap out of the current crisis.  

The campus experience post Covid: what does this mean for library spaces?
Monday 5 July 2021

This event focuses on the use of library spaces in a post Covid era. It includes the launch of research by Dr Andrew Cox, University of Sheffield, on drivers for the usage of library spaces in the UK. The launch includes presentation of the findings followed by a panel discussion on the impact of Covid on the use of library space. 

Shared international perspectives on libraries’ responses to the pandemic
Monday 29 March, 11.00 - 13.00

Academic and research libraries across the world are facing a similar set of challenges in responding to COVID-19 and all that has followed. This launch event brings together speakers from Hong Kong, Europe and Australia to help frame the conversation we have about the mutual challenges and opportunities facing us.  We will share perspectives on our learning around user wishes and needs, about barriers to full digital delivery, and the opportunities the crisis has brought to rethink established patterns of service delivery and user expectation.