1. Eating
the
Elephant
Linda Jones
University of Portsmouth

2. First identify your elephant

3. Target the problem
Referencing
Access

4. Identify stakeholders & recruit team
Referencing @Portsmouth (R@P)
(University-wide initiative)
Body in the Library (BiL)
(Departmental pilot)
Academic Course Leader
Academic Skills Unit
Department of Curriculum & Quality
Enhancement
Dissertation Supervisors
Faculty Librarians
Floor manager
Library Web Developer
Faculty Librarian
Library Assistant
(NVQ candidate)
Department of Curriculum & Quality
Enhancement Web Developer

5. Analyse the problems: Referencing

6. Look for a solution: Referencing= R@P

7. Analyse the problems: Access

8. Look for a solution: Access=BiL

9. Start small
The benefits of a soft launch
R@P was piloted as a in-house Access
database of queries and answers.
R@P started with the basics, i.e. how to
reference a book, an article, and a website
using the most widely adopted system. It
grew as it attracted queries.
BiL was aimed specifically at one study
skills unit with little or no publicity.

10. Think big
R@P has grown to
cover both OSCOLA
and Vancouver and is
still expanding to
cover new resources.
It is now being linked to by
numerous other institutions
including our partner
colleges, franchised courses
and other universities.

11. Think big
BiL is being adopted
within the piloting
department for
campus based
students.
We are tailoring
further editions for
Digital Forensics and
Forensic Accounting.

12. Utilise existing assets
R@P was
initially based
on an existing
printed guide.
BiL linked to
many of our
printed guides.

13. Utilise existing assets
By kind permission R@P links to both the
Cardiff Index of Legal Abbreviations, Cardiff
Citing the Law and Oxford Standard for
Citation of Legal Authorities.
BiL also links to some of our own information
literacy “nuggets” such as The Information
Literacy Landscape and Captivate demos.

14. Utilise existing assets
The original idea for a
virtual BiL came from
an actual Fresher’s
Fair event.
Our Web Developer came
up with the idea for
R@P’s selection tool
whilst shopping on eBay.

15. Spend time on the design
The majority of BiL is generic guidance but actual resources and
links to personal help are designed to be easily changeable.

16. Spend time on the design
The selection tool in R@P means that it can cope with an
expanding range of resources and formats with no extra work.

17. Spend time on the design
In R@P each style utilises the
same style sheet adapted to
the specific system
The design
makes it
easy to
emphasise
common
general
principles.

18. Collect feedback and utilise it
With R@P we initially collected comments from staff and students:“It is the best thing about the University.”
(Politics student)
“…has made my responses more efficient. I can in some cases
simply point the enquirer to it, rather than using my response to
model references.”
(Academic Skills Unit lecturer)
“It has really helped me understand what I am supposed to be
doing.”
(Criminology student)
“The definitive guidance.” (Lecturer)

19. Collect feedback and utilise it
Now with R@P we use:New queries via the Contact us link to generate
additional guidance pages.
Logs of failed searches to identify useful examples
or items which need better indexing.

20. Collect feedback and utilise it
With the pilot of BiL we monitored use with
Google analytics:Launch of ICJS
Course Induction
Centre
Study School
Linda promotes
resource finding on
discussion boards

21. Collect feedback and utilise it
We have also collected together some audio feedback to use
in promoting the resource next year:-
Fran
Sarah
BSc Crime and Criminology
Alan
FD Police Studies
MSc Counter Fraud &
Counter Corruption Studies
Lisa
Kevin
BSc Crime and Criminology
MSc Criminology

22. Celebrate Success
Hits on R@P by over academic years from August 2006- mid May
2010.
80000
70000
60000
50000
40000
2006-7
2007-8
30000
2008-9
2009-10
20000
10000
0

23. Celebrate Success
Hits rates on R@P growing year by year.
500000
450000
400000
350000
2006-7
300000
2007-8
250000
2008-9
200000
2009-10
150000
100000
50000
0
2006-7
2007-8
2008-9
2009-10

24. Celebrate Success
The projects have been publicised with posters and
presentations at internal Teaching and Learning
Conferences.
Library staff involved in both projects have been given
Contribution Awards, Teaching and Learning Awards.
The projects have been mentioned in presentations at
Umbrella and LILAC conferences and have been
written about in various professional journals.

25. Be prepared for unexpected consequences
My email inbox has shrunk, although I doubt all the
predicted 420,000 Referencing@Portsmouth hits
were really heading my way. Perhaps a more
realistic plus is that access queries were down by
two thirds with the launch of the Body in the Library.
So are my elephants sliced, diced or tamed?

26. Perhaps, but …
The Library has acquired a reputation for
imaginative and creative problem solving and for
delivering on projects.
Library staff have developed a liking for working
„outside the box‟.
I have been energised in my work on information
literacy.

27. What next?
I am:currently involved in a bid to pilot a scheme for
student information literacy mentors in our Business
School.
involved in work on multi-level, cross-unit subject
hubs in our VLE for Criminology.
looking at developing some guidance on developing
Law dissertation proposals.
still nursing an ambition to develop a RLO on
„Weighing the Evidence‟.

28. What’s that on the horizon?

29. No elephants were harmed in the
making of this presentation
but
until 4th July there is time to capture
one of your own on film.
For more information see
http://www.elephantparadelondon.org