LEARNING RESOURCES

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Welcome to the Summer edition of Update, the interactive Learning

Resources magazine. Each section is packed full of useful tips and

resources to help you with your studies, assignments and research.

Click the images and links to find out even more.

This edition focuses on revision tips and careers. If you can’t find what

you are looking for within the magazine, please contact a member of

Library, iPoint or e-Learning staff who will be happy to assist you

further.

Happy Reading!

General LR Information Pages 1-4

Dudley 6th Page 5

Revision Tips Pages 6-8

Time to relax Page 9

Careers Pages 10-11

Key Contacts Page 12

LEARNING RESOURCES

LEARNING RESOURCES LIBR

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1 Need a break from work?

Fed up with carrying heavy books?

Broadway Library has 4 Amazon Kindles you can borrow. All are pre-loaded with novels, biographies and other interesting reads. Ask in the Library today!

Borrow a Kindle!

LEARNING RESOURCES

LEARNING RESOURCES

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Service Level Agreements...how did we do?

We always try to give you the best possible service within Learning

Resources. Our Service Level Agreements ensure we stay on the ball at

all times. Once a year, we measure our performance to check that we

are keeping our promise. Below are the results of this year’s audit:

iPoints

1. Students can access a PC within 10 minutes of arriving.

93.4% of students were issued a PC within 15 seconds of arrival.

3.6% of students were issued a PC within 1 minute of arrival.

3% of students left the centres before a PC became available.

2. Faulty PCs are fixed within 24hrs or reported to IT services.

Broadway: 1 PC had to be re-imaged but was back in service within

1 hour of report.

e-Learning

1. Monitoring via survey (results on next page).

2. Requests for support or staff development in any area relating

to e-Learning are responded to within 5 working days.

During the audit, 88% of requests were dealt with on the same day. 8%

were processed within 24 hours and 4% were processed within 3 days –

these jobs were larger but still within the SLA timeframe.

3. Monitoring - Performance Management Reviews.

The e-Learning team are making positive progress against all targets set.

LEARNING RESOURCES

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Library

1. Ensure e-mail reminders are sent 3 days before items are due

for return.

All 50 reminders were sent out on time during audit week.

2. Ensure overdue notices are sent out on time (14 & 28 days

after due date).

All 34 overdue notices were sent out on time during audit week.

3. Ensure that an available reservation made within the library is

communicated to students no later than the next working day.

All reservation notifications were sent out on the day items became

available during audit week.

Student Survey Results

We recently conducted a student survey to ensure we are providing

good services to our customers. Here are the headline results:

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Overall, please rate Live@EDU.

I know how to access Live@EDU from within college and at home.

Overall, how do you rate ProPortal?

ProPortal helps me keep on track with my course.

I find ProPortal easy to use.

Overall, how do you rate Blackboard?

A good range of materials is available on Blackboard for my course.

I find Blackboard easy to use.

Overall, please rate the service you receive from iPoint.

iPoint staff are helpful and friendly.

iPoint has a good selection of hardware, software and resources.

Overall, please rate the service you receive from the library.

The library has helped me progress on my course.

The library has a good selection of books, materials and resources.

Strongly agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly disagree

LEARNING RESOURCES

LIBR

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DUDL

EY 6

TH

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Now on Twitter!

Follow us:

@DCTLibrary

for library-themed

updates.

New catalogue

The library has recently upgraded the catalogue to improve the customer

experience. Follow the link from this page: www.dudley.ac.uk/library/

Opening hours for the current week

Type your search terms in here. Type in your ID number to

access your record and

renew your items.

Find out which titles are

new on the library shelves.

LEARNING RESOURCES

LEARNING RESOURCES DU

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Extended iPoint opening hours

at Dudley 6th. During the exam period, DS112 will stay

open longer than usual.

New times are as follows:

Mon –Thurs: 8.30 - 7.30

Fri: 8.30 - 6.30

Bookshelves in DS128

Items locked away in the white cabinets in DS128 are available to use

while in iPoint. Please ask a member of iPoint

staff or Liz on reception if you see anything on

the shelves you would like to use and the

cabinets can be unlocked for you. For any other

books/resources please head over to Broadway

Library. You can search for items on the

library’s online catalogue, available here:

www.dudley.ac.uk/library/

Remember!

All library books and textbooks are due for return

on 14th June. If you need your books for longer,

please speak to a member of library staff to avoid

fines.

LEARNING RESOURCES

REVI

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6

10 steps to revision success

Revision space: find a good place to work. Use the library’s quiet

area or silent study room.

Revision timetable: draw up a revision timetable. It should be

realistic, cover all subjects and allow you time off to relax.

Make notes: don’t just read through your class notes, make notes.

One useful tip is to condense your notes so they fit on the back of a

postcard. Use different colours to highlight different sections.

Questions and answers: write out some questions and answers to

see how much you’re actually remembering.

Prompts: put key words and phrases on sticky notes around the

house so you’ll see them often.

Seek help! Don’t go it alone. Get friends and family on board to help

you revise.

Exercise: do some exercise to renew energy levels and refresh your

brain.

Diet: keep off caffeine and eat a healthy balanced diet, eating plenty of

brain boosting foods including oily fish, fresh fruit and vegetables.

Stationery: purchase any forgotten items from the library.

Relax: if you panic, you’re lost! The exams are going to happen so

you might as well give yourself the best chance of doing well by starting

to revise early and keeping calm.

Adapted from 10 steps to revision success. Available at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/studentlife/revisionandskills/

revision/10_steps_to_revision_success.shtml

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8 steps to exam survival

Timing: make sure you know how much time you will have in the

exam, what kind of questions you will be asked, and how many there

will be. That way you can split your time between the questions to

make sure you answer them all.

Move on: don’t spend all your time on questions you know the

answer to. Remember to leave enough time for all the questions you

need to answer.

Handwriting: make sure your writing is legible, it’s worth taking a

little extra time making sure your work is neat enough for the examiner

to be able to read it. Try to avoid spelling mistakes too.

Be prepared: the more prepared you are the more likely you are to

succeed.

Exam post-mortem: don’t try to dissect the exam once you’ve

finished it. There’s no point comparing answers with your friends. If

you had different answers, worrying about it won’t help you in your

next exam.

Move on: once an exam is over, forget about it. There is nothing more

you can do about it. The best thing you can do is go home and revise

for the next one.

Adapted from 8 steps to surviving exams. Available at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/studentlife/revisionandskills/

exams/how_to_have_a_good_exam.shtml

LEARNING RESOURCES

REVI

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Get more revision tips from these books available in the library. Click

the pictures to go straight to the catalogue and find out whether you can

borrow them now:

Websites can be very useful when revising. Try one of the

following. Click the logos or links to go straight to the sites.

Revision guides, question banks and

revision apps. www. s-cool.co.uk

Make your own revision timetable

and use the GCSE and A Level

revision resources. www.revisionworld.co.uk

Get Revising can help you

study for

your exams: GCSE, AS, A2.

www.getrevising.co.uk

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Take a break!

Need a break from exams and coursework? Have a look at some of the

new DVDs and CDs on offer from the library. You can borrow two for a

week, free of charge. Click the pictures below to find out if you can

borrow them now.

We also have a portable DVD player for you to use in the library. Ask

at the desk if you want to borrow it. Remember, you’ll need to bring

your own headphones.

LEARNING RESOURCES

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Careers advice The library has a large collection of books to help you find out more

about your chosen career. They’re mostly kept with the relevant subject

area - ask a member of staff if you can’t find what you’re looking for.

Click the pictures to find out if you can borrow them now:

We also have books with tips on CV writing and interview techniques.

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Haven’t decided on a career yet?

We also have books to help you decide what to do:

Click on the logos below to look at the following websites dedicated to

helping you with your chosen career:

You can find careers advice and information on a wide

range of jobs, training course resources and funding

here.

Take the test here to find out which career

best suits your personality.

Search for jobs here.

The Teams

If you have any suggestions for inclusion in the next edition of

Update please contact the relevant team on 01384 363353 or

363374.

Computing Dena and Suresh

Engineering, Construction & Motor Vehicle Dena

Foundation Studies and ESOL Beth and Lee

Sports Studies Chris and Suzy

Hair and Beauty Chris and Amy

Arts Beth and Tracey

Care & Early Years Beth, Sue and Janet

Public Services Beth, Janet and Sue

Business & Retail and Catering Dena and Jon

Travel and Tourism Chris and Suzy

Dudley 6th Sarah

Editor Beth

Key Contacts:

Learning Resources Co-ordinator:

Richard Gibbons

01384 363374

richard.gibbons@dudleycol.ac.uk