Just an update on how I’m getting on with my e book readers. At present we are evaluating four different readers: the Irex Iliad, the Sony reader, the BeBook and the CyBook. We are looking at how easy they are to get started with, readability, usability and their different functionalities. For example, whether it’s possible to annotate them, how easy it is to read pdfs, which formats work on each reader and how the availability of resources affects choice. We’re also asking folks to tell us how they envisage using a reader in their academic life – might a Masters student use one differently to a teacher,librarian or administrator, for example – and which features they find most useful and most irritating!
I have developed a short questionnaire covering these areas and would love to have some more data, so if you are using an ebook reader or know someone who does, please do get in touch.

Meze harbour, Summer 2008

I thought I would use a little of my NTF funding to buy a selection of E Book readers. My aim is to evaluate them for ease of use and to speculate on what kinds of implications and applications they might have for academic libraries. I will be looking at as many different models as possible, testing how they handle different formats, thinking about accessibility and potential uses within HE. I plan to ask a range of people (students, teachers, admin staff, library staff) to try them and give me (structured) feedback on some of the above points and more. I wondered if any people reading the blog might also have an ebook reader and might like to contribute their experiences, give me an opinion, or volunteer to try out a reader for me. If so, I’d love to hear from you (moira.bent@ncl.ac.uk)

Fitzroy Gardens in Melbourne (pic from Louise)

Last week I gave a talk at Leeds Met University based around the topic of learning habits and information literacy. One of the case studies I mentioned generated a bit of interest so I thought it was worth mentioning here. I’ve been working with a couple of academic staff on ways to measure the impact of IL interventions and we have come up with an IL assessment criteria sheet. We’re using it to “score” evidence of IL in student work at the start and end of the first year. We used it with a group of students this week – alongside the feedback from the lecturer about the content of their work, they received a feedback sheet from me about various IL elements. I was pleased with how well this went, the students took it quite seriously and asked a lot of questions about how to improve their score. Time will tell whether future assessments demonstrate a difference, but giving feedback in this way certainly seemed to raise awareness amongst the students.

Another view of Hadrian’s Wall