Portfolio of Services

1. Introduction

Aberystwyth University has an integrated approach to the management and delivery of information services. Information Services oversees the provision of Library Services for teaching, learning and research, ICT Services for Academic purposes, Business Information Services and Media Services, including those provided in centrally bookable teaching spaces.

Information Services is managed by the Director, Mr. Roger Matthews. He is supported by staff experienced in Library, ICT and Media Services.

2. Libraries in Aberystwyth

Aberystwyth benefits from an excellent range of local library facilities. Information Services has libraries located as follows.

• The Hugh Owen Library, situated on the Penglais Campus, houses the University’s main collections in the Humanities, Life Sciences, Social Sciences, Education and Lifelong Learning, Rural Studies, Welsh and Law. The Hugh Owen Library is open for 91 hours every week during term, 0830-00.00 Monday-Thursday, 0830-2130 Fridays and 1000-1800 at weekends.
• The Thomas Parry Library on the Llanbadarn Campus houses a major collection relating to Information Studies.
• The Physical Sciences Library on Penglais Campus houses materials for Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science.

As well as these University facilities all students are also able to draw on the enormous research collections of the National Library of Wales, a copyright deposit library adjacent to the Penglais Campus, and several other specialist libraries and collections in the area.

The University libraries provide study places for around 1100 students. Study places are made up of traditional silent study and open plan areas, computer work areas, study carrels for research students and group study areas for student project work. Provision is also made for students with special needs (see Section 15).

3. Material Collections

The University libraries hold over 845,000 printed volumes, much non-print microform material and subscribe to around 45,000 periodical titles, bibliographic records for all these items being accessible through the Primo computer library system which deals with all aspects of acquisition, cataloguing and circulation. Materials not available in the University or National Library of Wales can be obtained speedily via the Inter-Library Loans Service. In 2010/11 there were some 521,000 book issues, many of these being handled through fast, efficient self issue and return facilities.

During 2010/11 nearly £1.5 million was spent on material acquisition and binding. The service uses a system of formula distributed funding based on staff and student numbers and research performance to determine the allocation of purchasing funds to different subjects. Special attention is given to student needs by the purchase of multiple copies of course texts alongside electronic materials where appropriate. Information Services maintains close liaison with academic departments in the selection of new library materials.

4. Electronic Library Services

Increasingly the focus of information has moved from holding resources locally in conventional printed form to providing speedy access to information whenever and wherever it may be needed. Students have access to a vast range of information obtainable from major bibliographic databases such as Web of Knowledge and OCLC First Search; the full text of scholarly research contained in well over 10,000 electronic journals, including major research series such as JSTOR and Science Direct; subject information and links for every academic department and computer links with other libraries and web based resources. Links to all of these resources are available through the eLibrary service, a new online tool which will allow users to browse and search relevant subject resources available from Aberystwyth at www.aber.ac.uk/en/is/elecinfo. All of these materials are available from hall rooms, or via public workstations which are connected to the Primo library computer system or to the local computing network and also remotely via VPN or Shibboleth. Information Services personnel are on hand to give assistance with these facilities and give instruction to groups in their use both during initial induction and throughout academic courses. Information Services also provide an online research repository, CADAIR. CADAIR is Aberystwyth University's showcase for theses, dissertations and peer-reviewed research in the arts, humanities and sciences.

5. Public Workstation Services

ICT Services are provided by a network of 600+ PC-based workstations running Microsoft Windows 7; all systems offer a consistent user interface with support for bilingual working as far as possible. All systems have access to the network and the internet.

These public workstations are located in 23 different areas, 8 of which are bookable for teaching, 12 of which are always available for individual academic work and the remaining 2 areas are reserved for students with accessibility requirements. The number of workstations in each area varies from 4 to 100 and some areas, especially those in halls of residence, are available for access 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All the Workstations currently have, 19” or 20” TFT flat screen monitors and are running Windows 7. All public workstations are available to undergraduate and postgraduate students and all members of staff.

Software to run on the PC workstations is distributed by 3 Windows 2008 Servers with Windows 2008 R2 Domain Controllers, supported by 2 Windows System Management Servers.

A wide range of software is made available to run on computers in university computer rooms including:

•             Microsoft Office 2010 Enterprise Edition (Word, Access, PowerPoint, Excel, Publisher, Groove, InfoPath, OneNote, SharePoint Designer) with most offering full support for Welsh and English Languages;

•             Various facilities available via web browsers (including Web mail);

•             Adobe Acrobat (file reader);

•             Nvivo (qualitative data analysis software package);

•             Keypoint & PinPoint (survey software);

•             Minitab and SPSS (statistical analysis packages);

•             Java (development tool);

•             Visual Studio 2010 (Programming Languages - Visual C++, C#, J# & Visual Basic);

•             Endnote (tool for publishing and managing bibliographies);

•             Primo (our Library catalogue);

•             Blackboard (Virtual Learning Environment);

•             Putty & X terminal emulation software;

•             Various Multimedia & Presentation Tools. 

Some of these computers also have packages such as Photoshop, CorelDraw & Dream Weaver (for image editing and web site development).

Wherever possible all computers in university computer rooms can access any of these software items with equal facility although as noted some packages are limited to specific locations or to members of specific departments, due to licensing restrictions.

A site license for the Sophos anti-virus software has been purchased enabling both local and remote users to benefit from its protection. This software is automatically updated as new threats emerge.

6. Central compute services

Central compute services are based on a dual, quad core 2.3Gh processor system running the LINUX Gentoo Operating System. This can be accessed by any networked machine upon campus and remotely via SSH.

A powerful set of software is provided on the central Compute Server, including:

C, C++, Java, Perl, FORTRAN (Programming Languages),

Reduce (Mathematical software)

Latex (Document Preparation),

ORACLE (Database Management),

GIMP (Image manipulation)

XV (image manipulation)

 

7. Software Services

Support and advice is offered on the acquisition of software packages and licenses. Also, subject to certain conditions, we can accommodate departmental requests for central software package installations for teaching purposes.

8. Filestore and Backup Services

All registered users can store data on a number of Storage Area Networks (SANs) providing transparent access both to Windows and to UNIX users. These SANs are based in geographically disparate locations to provide disaster recovery should one of the locations or the SANs located there becomes unavailable. Users currently receive an allocation of 2 Gigabytes of storage for email and 2 Gigabytes of user data storage on these devices.

This filestore farm is backed up daily to a centralized backup unit. There are 2 dedicated backup servers each with a disk staging area and LTO5 tape auto-changer.

9. Media and Sales Services

Opening hours: 8:30 – 17:00 Mon – Thurs; 8:30 – 16:30 Friday

The Media and Sales team provides a quick, professional and cost-effective photocopying, digitisation, scanning and printing service. They can produce high volume photocopying and printing in a variety of different formats for example leaflets, cards, photographs, large format printing/posters.

They also offer binding and laminating service – details at www.aber.ac.uk/en/is/printing/binding/

Our loan service allows staff and students to borrow items free of charge for short period of time. These include laptops, netbooks, E-book readers, Flipcams and other digital photography and video equipment, as well as conference phones and the Qwizdom voting system often used in teaching. Further details at: www.aber.ac.uk/en/is/computers/loans/  

They can take portrait photographs of staff for department displays of staff members. Please contact them for further details and to make an appointment

Commonly requested items such as blank CDs and DVDs, USB pens, paper and cables can be purchased.  In addition they hold stock of printer cartridges along with Network cards and a range of software which is available under site license.

 They are responsible for the administrative aspects of the Aberystwyth University telephone service including fixed-line, VoIP and mobile telephony.

They offer a fax service, making a small handling charge for this service plus cost of the call. There is no charge for incoming faxes.

For refunds of printing and photocopying credit and any queries relating to the purchase of credit please contact is-mediasales@aber.ac.uk.  Refunds are only given at the end of summer term. Sums up to £10 will be refunded as cash, greater sums by cheque through the post.

10. IT Equipment Purchasing Advice and equipment maintenance service

The IT procurement service can give advice on the selection and purchase of personal computers and software. It also can provide a range of toner cartridges for laser printers.

It is possible to supply recommended equipment on rental or for purchase at competitive rates. A full workshop facility provides repair and upgrade services for staff and students' own equipment.

11.  Email facilities

Email facilities are available to all registered computer users to enable them to access email both for local and world-wide communication. Two methods of working are supported.

The email service for undergraduates and postgraduates uses a service hosted on a pair of Intel-based computers running Linux to provide web-mail facilities. Locally produced software makes this distributed system appear, to its users, as a single machine and extra machines can be added transparently if demand increases.

Staff members use Microsoft Exchange. The current version (Exchange 2007), shortly to be upgraded to Exchange 2010, provides support for desktop, laptops and mobile devices such as Smartphones and PDA phones for email, calendaring and maintaining lists of contacts.

Incoming mail is scanned by Sophos to remove any email viruses and a locally produced system helps to keep “spam” at bay for both web-mail and Exchange-mail users.

12.  Networking Services

Information Services staff are involved with network cabling installations, support and maintenance, both with the inter- and intra-building fibre optic backbone links, as well as the local cabling-to-the-desktop. In such projects, early liaison with the departments involved (and with the Estates Office and/or contractors on wider projects), is sought in order to minimise later problems.

All residential rooms on campus have a network point based on wired technology providing a high speed connection. This enables students to access the Aberystwyth University local area network and the internet. A very high percentage of residents avail themselves of a connection and no additional charges are levied for access to this service or on the basis of usage. To ensure that as many students as possible can avail themselves of access to these facilities irrespective of means, an economical PC rental scheme is in operation.

A wireless network facility covers socialising areas (e.g. Students Union bars, cafes, and relaxation areas), as well as many of the main teaching rooms and libraries. In these and other areas there is the provision of networked laptop points to allow the connection of users own laptops which are not wireless capable.

13. Telephone Services

Information Services staff are involved in maintaining and enhancing the University telephone service and we are currently into the last year of a major project to move the University telephone service over to Voice over IP (VOIP), while also introducing new services and features like Voicemail, Caller line ID, and extension mobility.

14.  Services for remote users

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) service is in place which offers a secure mechanism for users to access the central services through an authenticated connection. This is used by those accessing our services using the wireless network facility, from home on their own broadband link, or from anywhere on the Internet.

15. Services for persons with special needs

Computers in our computer rooms provide a good range of accessibility software including Microsoft Windows 7 accessibility tools and Inspiration mind mapping. Additionally, we provide areas which are restricted to special needs students who have registered to use them, and provide computers with scanning and additional specialist applications including screen readers & voice dictation software. One purpose built room provides a reading machine and also CCTV screen and print magnification tools. Some of these special areas are accessible by wheelchair users. Additional support services are available such as book collection and delivery services and Braille printing.

16.  Multimedia Services

We provide a comprehensive range of facilities to allow staff and students to use media within their work.  Tools for video, picture and sound editing are available on all of our public computers providing for most user needs. The media loan stock provides staff and students with free short term loan access to a variety of digital cameras, digital camcorders, laptop PC's, and video/data projectors. See Section 9.

We also offer a ‘supported service’ for multimedia activities in which a member of I.S. will offer assistance to staff and students who are not confident in the use of the technology.

To assist lecturers in preparing teaching materials, we have a subscription to the British Universities Film and Video Council as well as the Open University off Air Recording Scheme and the Educational Recording Agency.

17.  Videoconferencing facilities

Five videoconference facilities are available for learning, teaching and administrative conferencing; each facility is equipped with teaching aids including interactive whiteboards and document cameras. These studios allow high quality remote access via IP connectivity. ISDN connectivity is possible but all ISDN charges will be paid by the customer. It is preferable to use IP connectivity when possible. http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/is/media/vidconf/

18.  Business Information Systems

The BIS Division is responsible for systems providing corporate management information. These systems run on a mixture of resilient Oracle Solaris and Microsoft Windows Application Servers supported by a resilient pair of Oracle Database Servers housed in geographically disparate locations.

The main systems supported are the Finance system (ABW), the Human Resources and Payroll system (Cyborg) and the Student Records and Admissions system (AStRA).

The AStRA system has been developed in-house on an Oracle database platform.  It supports the Undergraduate and Postgraduate admissions processes which link through to Student records.  These records cover personal and address details, entry qualifications, academic records, modules and marks.  Student and Admissions records relate through to the Study Schemes and Modules records which are maintained through AStRA and published to the University website. The system also covers details of Halls and Private accommodation, Lifelong Learning Students, Personal Tutors, Careers, the Sports Centre, Student Support and Student Fees processing. There are also interfaces to the Blackboard Virtual Learning Environment, the University Timetabling system (Syllabus Plus), Staff Development, Library records, ID card production, and Email accounts and to the Finance and HR systems.  BIS also supports the student attendance monitoring system (SAMS) and self-service systems which provide students and staff access to see and update certain parts of their record.

Staff in administration and in academic departments can apply to access the AStRA system if their work requires this.  AStRA offers an extensive range of enquiry screens and report options.  Users are encouraged to contact the Business Information Systems division with any requests for specific data extracts and analyses not offered by the standard system.

19.  Teaching Room Support Services

All centrally timetabled teaching rooms incorporate IT and Audio Visual equipment. As a minimum all rooms include a networked PC fitted with a standalone DVD/VCR player and a high resolution data projector with stereo sound for large screen presentations. Lecturers can also connect their own laptops to the equipment without requiring support staff intervention.  Instructions for use are available in each room as well as an online instructional video. Every room has a telephone which just needs to be picked up to dial straight through to the ICT and AV technical support team.

20.  E-Learning Services

Information Services provides students and staff with a range of technologies to enhance learning. These include AberLearn Blackboard (the Institutional VLE), Campus Pack building blocks for Blackboard (blogs, wikis, journals, and podcasting), Panopto Lecture Capture, Questionmark Perception (online exams), Qwizdom in-class voting system, as well as support for the use of media in learning and teaching. IS provides and maintains the servers that run AberLearn Blackboard, Panopto, and Questionmark Perception. In January 2012, 1238 individual online exams were taken, the largest exam testing 378 students.

E-learning services are provided jointly by Systems Development and E-services and Communications staff, who are responsible for installation, maintenance, development, trouble-shooting, and day-to-day running of the systems. User support is provided through email, telephone, FAQs and web pages. The Nexus website provides an ever-growing set of case studies and advice for staff on the pedagogical use of technology to enhance learning. Training sessions are developed and provided for staff and students, with consultations and bespoke sessions provided upon request.

21. Training and Development

Each term, Information Services runs a programme of training courses which are available to any member of the university.  Induction courses and events are run for new students as soon as they arrive in Aberystwyth to familiarise them with the facilities available and how to access them. Information Services provide a clinic service whereby we offer one-to-one help to all Aberystwyth University staff and students with questions using the facilities we provide, for example electronic resources, Blackboard, Microsoft Office or other software.

Training sessions in the pedagogically-effective use of technology-enhanced learning are offered to academic and other staff. These courses count towards fulfilment of the CPD requirement in the PGCert in Teaching in Higher Education. Bespoke training sessions for specific departments, as well as one-to-one consultations, can be arranged upon request. AberLearn Blackboard or other e-learning training for students by module or department can also be provided upon request. 

22. Enquiry Desks

ICT and library enquiry desks are sited in a number of library locations on the Penglais Campus and at Llanbadarn, offering staff and students advice on both library and ICT matters. Enquiries can also be made by phone, email and instant messenger. These support desks can refer enquiries to either IT specialists or Subject Librarians when required. Outside core opening hours, enquiries can be submitted via answerphone or email for attention at the next staffed period. IS also offers extensive online IT and library advice in the form of “Frequently Asked Questions”. http://www.inf.aber.ac.uk/advisory/faqs/

23.  Information/Digital literacy

Academic Services Librarians work with lecturers to embed information and digital literacy within the curriculum which includes teaching and producing supporting print and online resources. At a generic level Academic Services Librarians in collaboration with Student Support and the Careers Service run a Study Practices Programme each Semester for undergraduate and postgraduate students.

24.  Web-based Services

Information Services provides and maintains the servers that host the Aberystwyth University web pages, which are produced using the University's Content Management System (Terminal 4).

25.  Arrangements to monitor service quality

Information Services is anxious to ensure that its facilities and services are subject to evaluation by its customers, and a Users' Committee, chaired by one of the Pro-Vice Chancellors with representatives of each academic department meets every term to hear reports on new initiatives and to review progress. There is a Business Information Projects sub-group to ensure that business information projects are successfully coordinated.

Academic Services Librarians meet with academic departments’ IS Representative twice yearly and attend Staff Student and Research Students Consultative Committee meetings and respond to any IS issues raised. Information Services staff also meet annually with staff and students in all academic departments in a series of Round Table meetings to discuss their particular departmental concerns. User comments are also elicited through a variety of suggestion forms, web comment pages and the like. In addition, an annual general questionnaire and survey of Information Services performance is conducted among the local user community via the Web, supplemented periodically by other surveys targeting particular issues and groups. Results are used to highlight areas of strength and weakness when considering new service developments. A range of annual statistics is prepared for national bodies such as HESA, UCISA and SCONUL allowing for comparison with activities in other institutions, such benchmarking offering a valuable management tool. Information Services has also developed a statement of measurable Core Service Guidelines for academic departments setting down the standards of service provision that may be expected and these are supplemented by further guidelines relating to the needs of non-traditional users. A similar broader statement of service guidelines has been prepared to cover the relationship between Information Services and the student community generally. These guidelines and standards are kept under regular review.

26.  Further Information

Information Services produces extensive web-based documentation about its services and how to use them. This can be found at: http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/is/

 

Roger Matthews,

Director of Information Services.