ucl library services embedding special collections in taught courses at ucl dr tabitha tuckett...

UCL LIBRARY SERVICES

Embedding Special Collections in taught

courses at UCLDr Tabitha Tuckett

Rare-Books Librarian; Promotion And OutreachUCL Special Collections

e-mail: [email protected] consult the collections: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


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Contents

History of Special Collections

and taught courses at UCL

How are collections used?

With what impact?

Developments to embed Special

Collections in taught courses

© UCL Special Collections

© UCL Special Collections © UCL Special Collections


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Special Collections, teaching and learningat UCL

A university collection Over 0.5 million items, many acquired specifically to

support teaching & research Department formed in 1968 to strengthen this support Rebranded in 2002 to acknowledge increased demand Core business for Special Collections Teaching from original material trains good researchers And motivates public engagement


4© UCL Special Collections


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How are Special Collections used in taught courses?

52 classes and lectures taught or supported, 2012-13 In all three schools:

SLASH (Arts & Humanities, Laws, Social & Historical

Sciences, SEES)

BEAMS (Built Environment, Engineering, Mathematical & Physical

Sciences)

SLMS (Life & Medical Sciences)

Individual sessions within the module timetable Undergraduate and postgraduate


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Three approaches: 1

Lecturer selects material and teaches. We handle and supervise the material.

Suitable if:

a) Items have already been identified eg from previous year

b) Accurate references are available to retrieve items

c) No additional knowledge of the items is needed

eg English Law (PG and UG); History of Migration (UG)


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Three approaches: 2

We teach or present, and select and supervise material.

Suitable if:

a) Session can take advantage of library staff’s specialist knowledge and teaching experience in the subject

b) Development of the session requires knowledge of material across a wide range of Special Collections

Staff expertiseFred Bearman book history, preservation, conservationGill Furlong archive management, collection historyTabitha Tuckett historical bibliography, Early Modern studies,

Classics, research skills


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Three approaches: 3

Material is selected and session developed and presented jointly.

Suitable if:

a) Using Special Collections for the first time, or developing a new module, a new teaching approach, or identifying new material to use in teaching

b) Lecturer and librarian bring complementary expertise

eg Physics UG; French UG

Most successful for embedding material in teaching, but staff intensive


9© UCL Media Services


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Transcript of interview with tutor about using collections in teaching:

‘All the feedback I’ve had from the students … has been so positive, and it helps them find new avenues for their own research and it feeds into what we’re doing at UCL now: there are more interdisciplinary degrees’

I noticed at the time how reluctant students were to actually touch the books

‘Yes, they were very reverential! Partly that’s testament to the fact that they recognise the value of these objects, but also it reveals that they don’t have much experience working with them, so I think that’s why it’s particularly valuable to have a forum where they can actually get close to these objects, we can bring in experts to talk about them’


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What’s the impact?



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Feedback collected from students and tutors, then evaluated:

1. Teaches fundamental research skillsfor all subjects that require physically handling

material, from History to Science And

Technology

What we have How to access it How to handle it How to read it How to date, interpret and understand it How to cite it professionally


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Some feedback from tutors and students:

‘An indispensable part of the students’ early training to be able to move forward with their own researches.’ (tutor)

‘We had a session with UCL Special collections looking at some primary sources which was really invaluable incontextualising some of the information.’ (student)

‘Actually seeing the texts in question lends reality to theoretical ideas.’ (student)

‘We're all used to seeing and reading cases as law students, but it's hard to imagine what the historical texts looked like and what information they contained. It would have been nice if this could have been better integrated into the course, rather than a one-off session.’ (student)


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2. Promotes awareness of Special Collections’ riches, which leads directly to research on the material

Not associated with a University or retired

Yes No

Before coming to the class, were you aware that UCL Special Collections

held this material?


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3. Builds on research into the benefits of object-based learning, and brings best practice to Library Services

‘Having original documents in the seminar gave students a new dimension of learning … (almost all of them for the first time)’ (tutor)

‘Students benefit enormously from seeing medieval textuality in the skin.’ (tutor)

‘A Chinese student was especially interested by viewing and handling early European books, something she felt was a unique experience for her in UCL and the UK, as she would not have access to similar resources in China.’ (tutor)

What have you enjoyed? ‘Being able to touch the books’ ‘Interaction with the real manuscripts’ ‘Being able to touch and read through the manuscripts’ (students)


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Future developments



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Future developments

Ease temporary logistical hurdles Venue (Science Library 416 when possible) Timetabling (online booking form coming soon) Catalogue visibility Retrieval (‘REF COLLECTION B’ / ‘REF COLLECTION K’) Briefings for subject librarians and academic staff

Work with departments on syllabus development History, BASc

Acknowledge our growing teaching reputation outside UCL

Join up teaching initiatives with research and public engagement proposals


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Leading the wayin teaching with Special Collections To find out more about

UCL Special Collections, visit

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/special-coll/

All ppts from today are available at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/open-forum.shtml



http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/open-forum.shtml

ucl library services embedding special collections in taught courses at ucl dr tabitha tuckett...

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