According to the survey conducted by Ilia State University in the fall of 2009/2010 academic year, only 30% of the scientific (information) literature, referred in the syllabuses by the academic personnel of the university, is available at the library of university.
The fact that many of the resources are unavailable for our students hinders them to be fully engaged in the academic process (despite the actions of the academic personnel and University, who have developed other strategies to provide students with studying resources, for example, the program of ‘Argus’, Xerox, etc.). This, in turn, reflects negatively on the quality of teaching. It also takes up much time and renders those professors, who employ various rigid ways to share the studying material with their students, uncomfortable.
Ilia State University has developed the project which will help the working process become smooth for professors and support students to access all the necessary resources, printed or electronic, with minimal expenses of their time and financial resources. As a result, we hope this will improve the academic process.
This project will have direct as well as indirect results. The process will play a role of the survey and determine professors’ needs for interesting information resources, with the goal of improving various aspects of the library service.
Those students who are employed in the library of Ilia State University on the basis of competition will be involved in the project. Aside from having a job, this project will enable them to develop and refine skills necessary for the studying process, as well as for their future employment.
Problem:
- The fund of the Ilia State University library is not in accordance with the order №1030 of the Minister of Science and Education of Georgia issued on 20thof November, which states that “the library fund of the institution (printed or electronic form) has to comply with the literature indicated in the syllabus of an academic course”;
- Students being on three different degree levels are not fully integrated in the academic process, because of the lack of access to studying resources;
Goals:
- Provide the academic process with all the necessary information resources;
- Attract professors (lecturers) and the academic personnel of Ilia State University into the library and inform them about various services designed to improve the quality of teaching/studying;
Strategies:
- Have direct contact with the heads of studying courses (organize meetings); inform and consult them about the services library provides;
- Enquire the heads of studying courses according to different parameters and plan relevant activities to tackle emerged problems (questionnaire);
- Involve the heads of studying courses in the evaluation of information resources indicated in the syllabuses (electronic catalogue, card catalogue);
- Provide access to information resources referred in the syllabuses;
- Improve the library service by providing students with the studying resources.
Objectives:
- Organize and hold meetings with the heads of studying courses;
- Analyze the results of the questionnaires electronically and at the meetings, then determine needs;
- Acquaint the heads of studying courses, electronically or at the meetings, with the services and rules drawn out by the library (for example: the rule for purchasing information resources, rules for sending material in order to make ‘readers’, rules for syllabus evaluation, electronic catalogue of the library, etc.);
- Draw out adequate procedures and implement activities in order to provide the library administration with access to information resources.
The rules and procedures drawn out by the library administration:
Determining dates
The deadline for sending a ‘reader’ material of the academic course is determined to be one month before the end of the previous semester (for example; the deadline for the fall semester of 2009/2010 academic year would be June 4th of 2010).
By the beginning of each semester ‘readers’ will be ready in printed and electronic format.
Meetings with academic personnel
- In order to inform professors and heads of courses, the library administration will send them material electronically (They are already familiar with the procedure, so the focus will fall on the deadline and changes in the procedure itself). As an example see the rule for sending ‘reader’ material, etc.
- Arranged together with the administration of Ilia State University, the academic personnel of different faculties will take part in planning meetings. The heads of these faculties will attend the meetings (presentation, contact material in printed and electronic form, questionnaire);
Individuals responsible for making printed and electronic ‘readers’, their functions and the procedure of making readers
- Arranging space:
There will be a special space set aside for making ‘readers’ and it will be properly equipped. It will include a scanner (desirably 2 of them), a printer, computers (minimum 5), shelves for safely sorting and storing the received material, and a table;
People in charge and services:
The person in charge of securing accessibility to information resources (Natia Chkhenkeli), the person responsible for ensuring technical maintenance in the process of creating information resources (Levan Elerdashvili), the person in charge of planning and coordinating the works for students (Elisabeth Jijavadze), the person responsible for the cataloging and putting material in the relevant reading halls (Tamar Bzhalava), people in charge of doing various tasks (receiving material, registration, scanning, processing, uploading ‘readers’ on the internet) – students, people in charge of binding ‘readers’ – press staff.
Distribution of functions:
Natia Chkhenkeli: issues instructions for students; lays down general rules; offers consultations; receives reports on accomplished works; creates report samples, manages and comes up with ideas for tasks that need to be fulfilled; monitors accomplished tasks; informs students about their functions.
Levan Elerdashvili: gives function to the students according to their technical skills; offers consultations about technical tasks; takes part in laying down general rules; receives reports on fulfilled tasks and monitors them; informs students about their functions.
Elizabeth Jijavadze is in charge of optimally alloting the students’ time; creates and monitors schedule.
Tamar Bzhalava: takes care of cataloging, sorting and distributing printed ‘readers’.
Students: receive material, sort them out, make lists, scan and process, compose, print, bind them according to studying courses, send and receive material from the press, send material to the cataloging department and upload electronic versions on the web-space.
Procedure for making printed versions:
- Heads of the course hand in the material and fill in the form indicating relevant information (printed and electronic forms);
- The systematization of information material (printed and electronic) will be conducted according to the studying courses (attaching codes) and studying material;
- The material handed in by heads of the course, including the personal information, the name of the course and the amount of pages that need to be printed or scanned, will be recorded and sorted on the book shelves and in the computer system (electronic material);
- The received printed and electronic material will be recorded in the google.doc file according to the different parameters, and they will be moved for scanning; each stage of processing undergone by the material until it becomes a ‘reader’, will be recorded in the same file; The document will then be shared with those heads of course that brought in the material. That way, they can keep an eye on each of the stage that constitutes the process of making a ‘reader’.
- The material which is handed in according to the procedure will be scanned altogether. Working on the next material starts after the first one is done and moved to the repository for the scanned material; that material which is not handed in by observing all the rules, moves to the bottom of the list and becomes an additional material;
- The folder named after the code of the course is created during scanning and scanned files will be uploaded there under the relevant material code (for example: course code – 01; code for the first material – 01-1 etc.). Covers of each printed resource will be scanned inevitably and uploaded to the relevant folder;
- The electronic material handed in by the head of the course will be uploaded to the same folder containing the ‘name’ – code for the course;
- The scanned material is prepared for processing (according to the procedure described in the 3rdparagraph). It may be possible that the electronic material will also need processing;
- The relevant head-page of the course is created according to the parameters of the full material;
- The processed material is combined (for example: one excerpt of the material combined in one file);
- After combining all the materials of the course (for example: all excerpts + head-page), they will be ready for printing;
- The printed material will be recorded in the google.doc file under the name ‘list of readers’ and then will be sent to the press for binding. The press will receive information about the quantity of ‘reader’ papers and the format of binding (vertical/horizontal);
- The ‘reader’ received from the press will be checked (technical support) and sent to Tamar Bzhalava for later distribution;
- After clarifying the quantity of students registered on each course there will be a proper amount of studying material copies that were bound in the press according to the procedure described in the 9thparagragh
Procedure for creating electronic versions:
- After giving the course material its final touches or printing it (in order to avoid gaps), the electronic version of the processed material will be uploaded to the website;
- In order to avoid inaccuracies, the gaps will be identified and eliminated in the shared file of google.doc.
Informing academic personnel
Heads of the course will receive information about different stages of reader making with the help of the shared file – ‘material for readers’.
Questionnaire:
- There will be questionnaires for each head of the course at the meetings which will be held according to the subject field;
- The questionnaires for the heads of course will have been processed by the beginning of the new semester in order to identify their needs;
- The results of the analysis of those questionnaires will be attached as a separate file by the beginning of the spring semester;
Recommended activities:
- Trainings for the heads of courses on how to effectively use google.doc services;
- Increasing professors’ awareness;
- Identifying quantity: how many of the questioned heads of courses ordered readers and presented a purchase statement.
Estimation of expenses:
The expenses of making a ‘reader’ were established on the basis of calculating the fulfilled work:
Material resources:
- Sheets of paper: quantity of papers for an average ‘reader’ – 90; quantity of papers for 100 ‘readers’ – 9000 sheets, 4 boxes – 20 package, 140 GEL;
- Cartridge: cartridges are charged 4 times in order to make 100 ‘readers’, the cost amounts to 100 GEL;
- Files: 5 packages of needed files – 20 GEL;
- The total expense for making 100 ‘readers’ along with the expenses of the press and communication amounts to 40 GEL;
- 300 GEL in total.
Human resources:
- Students: For each student hourly job of making ‘readers’ is 20 hours a week; from the beginnig of making readers (11.02.2010) until the beginning of March their hourly load was 1046 hours in total.
The salary for one hour was 2.25 GEL and in total 2343 GEL.
Individuals in charge:
The total salary of two coordinators (Levan Elerdashvili, Natia Chkhenkeli) and one other individual in charge (Nana Khuskivadze) was 5050 GEL:
In total: 7403 GEL.
From 11th January until April of 2010 making of 100 ‘readers’ required financial expenses and material, as well as human resources the sum of which amounted to 7703 GEL.
Expected (direct and indirect) results:
- Activation of corporate networks by the heads of studying courses;
- Establishing relation between the library resources and resources indicated in the syllabuses;
- The heads of courses will give information to the students in order to provide them with studying resources;
- Those heads of courses who need training on how to use google.doc will be identified;
- The trainings will be arranged for them by the beginning or the end of the studying process;
- The library will receive information resources;
- The effective work will incite professors’ trust towards the library and increase their need to communicate with it, which in turn will increase their partnership;
- Making ‘readers’:
- The financial resources are saved (the price of the books would have been much higher, see the account);
- The well-organized coordination saves the time of a responsible individual (they are able to work in different directions);
- The employed students will gain practical skills, increase their qualification using various abilities (is beneficial for their future career).