Abstract
The 2020 Covid-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on Higher Education (HE) libraries, requiring them to rapidly overhaul their services and accelerating the shift to digital in a short space of time. One of the most significant challenges has been how to provide students and other library users with continued access to resources previously only available in print, when libraries have been closed or are operating with restrictions in place that limit access to the physical library space. This has led many libraries to increase investment in digital content to better support students in the current climate. This article shares the perspective from Edge Hill University in the UK and focuses on work undertaken by the library to implement university-wide e-textbook access for the first time. The article explores some of the barriers the library has faced sourcing textbooks and concludes by reflecting on how 2020 may shape the library’s purchasing strategies in a post-pandemic information landscape.
Highlights
In March 2020, the UK Government announced that universities, along with many other businesses in the UK, would be required to close their physical premises in an effort to stem the spread of Covid-19
Over the coming months we will begin the process of evaluating the e-textbook initiative and thinking about how we can demonstrate impact and, crucially, provide evidence to the University that will support a case for ongoing investment
BibliU provides us with access to an analytics dashboard where we can monitor a range of usage and performance data and use these to understand how our students are engaging with the content and, perhaps, eventually even look at potential correlations between e-textbook access and student progress and attainment
Summary
In March 2020, the UK Government announced that universities, along with many other businesses in the UK, would be required to close their physical premises in an effort to stem the spread of Covid-19. At Edge Hill University, we went from being a hive of activity to shutting up shop in a matter of days. The lockdown that followed resulted in significant and rapid change as the University began the unenviable task of shifting its entire operation to an online model. Not an easy feat when most of your services have been designed around face-to-face contact and in-person transactions. This article shares the response of Library & Learning Services, with a focus on the work that has taken place to transform our library collections by adopting a ‘digital first’ purchasing strategy and introducing an e-textbook programme to better support students during the pandemic
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