Liaison visit to Coventry University London Campus

Rosalyn Bass and Louise Dorman visited the London campus of Coventry University where a colleague, Jane Alderson-Rice, is working on secondment as manager of the Learning Resource Centre (LRC). 

The London campus occupies two floors of East India House, Bishopsgate.  It has been open approximately 2 years and teaches 1,000 law and MBA students who have chosen to study in London rather than Coventry.  The majority of these are non-UK students, a large proportion of which are from China or India. 

The LRC staff comprises 3 librarians, 3 Information Technologists and 5 English language sessional teachers.  An additional library graduate trainee post has just been secured.  A third floor in the building has been acquired and the LRC is to be relocated.  LRC staff are currently negotiating over the proposed layout.

Information gathered during the visit which was of particular interest and relevance to the University of Kent library is summarised as follows:

Induction -  There are several new intakes in a year.  Students are required to attend a compulsory, time-tabled IT workshop which covers hands-on IT set up and login into Moodle, reading lists, timetables and library catalogue.  Moodle is used very much as a “one stop shop” for student resources. A separate library session has been offered but take up was low, so library sessions have been added onto the end of the IT session.  This has been more successful.

Information Literacy/IT skills/Study skills – An impressive calendar of training sessions is available delivered collaboratively by IT and library staff.  This are bookable though a separate module “Spotlight”.

Enquiries - one librarian explained that the level of understanding of spoken English for some of the international students can be quite low compared to their written English, and that cultural differences can require a specific and careful approach. 

Staff training – Cultural awareness training days for front line staff have been offered and found to be very helpful. 

Signs and shelf labels – the library was user-friendly and labels helpful.  We liked the: “A newer edition of this book exists” labels,  the simple listing of all the classmarks and subjects on the shelf end, and the “Not for loan” labels.  See photos.