Managing Learning Resources for Tourism Students

Tourism

In the current environment for teaching tourism, the learning resources available are
numerous and diverse. They range from books, journals and other traditional
print materials, to online sources of information in the form of websites, electronic
journals and databases. Deciding which research tools to use, and finding specific information
within these resources, offers a challenge to both students and educators.
Although universities still invest heavily in books and journals, electronic resources are
increasingly taking up large portions of library budgets. In some cases electronic resources
will replace print materials outright, but ideally, digital and print collections should complement
each other and offer the widest possible scope for research. To maximise the benefit
of both print and online materials, these collections should be well chosen and
integrated.
Higher education institutions are trying a variety of means for making learning
resources easily available. University library webpages and online catalogues often
serve as starting points for finding resources both in-house and through the internet.
Virtual Learning Environments may provide direct access into specific educational
materials. Departments within institutions and individual academic staff often provide
‘useful internet links’ from their own webpages. This multi-tiered approach may lead a
student to valid information from whichever access point he/she is located. However,
this method can also cause confusion if it means that learning resources are not organised
in a coherent manner.
Even if the access to learning resources is straightforward, lack of training can hinder
their use. In order to maximise the potential of learning resources, it is vital to provide
basic information skills training along with user education for specific research tools.
Effective training, along with strategic organisation and dissemination of learning
resources, will not only assist students in finding high-quality and relevant information. It
will also increase usage of learning resources — helping to ensure that an institution’s
investment in this area is well spent.

[ by Tourism at 3-17-2009 07:12 edited ]

Tourism

The majority of learning resources in higher education institutions are managed by the
library, and each academic library should have its own collection management policy.
Even a very basic collection management policy can be a useful tool for generating guidelines
for the selection and management of learning resources and should address a few key
considerations (Jenkins & Morley, 1999):

Allocation of budget: It will be necessary to make informed decisions regarding the
funding and allocation of the learning resources budget. How the budget will be divided
amongst individual subject areas may be influenced by factors such as student numbers,
volume of courses or costs of discipline-specific resources.

Stock selection: Ideally, the library will purchase learning resources in consultation with
academic staff. Factors influencing choice of material may include: relevance to teaching
and/or research; currency; student demand for a particular resource; price and value for
money. Table 4 details questions which can be posed when selecting specific types of
learning resources.

Withdrawing stock: Considerations when withdrawing stock may include currency,
actual use of the resource, physical condition, availability of electronic versions and space
constraints.

Accessibility: Learning Resources should be located so that they will receive the highest
possible use. Depending on the institution, this could mean housing a subject-specific
collection at a separate site, or conversely, distributing resources across campuses.
Decisions about which items are available for loan or for reference use, and what is available
on and off campus will depend on costs and overall collection management policy, but
can be influenced by the needs and expectations of both students and staff. Any access
strategy should take into account distance learners and special needs users. The institution
should also determine how it will assist students in accessing resources held elsewhere (for
example, through inter-library loans or collaborative schemes).

Tourism

Books (Core texts)
How many students require the book, and how many copies
per group of students? (Are students expected to purchase their
own copies or are they relying exclusively on library stock?)

Journals
How do new journals complement or duplicate existing
subscriptions? Should a journal be available in print,
electronically or both? Is it already available electronically
via a database subscription?

Statistics, reports, conference proceedings
Are these reports required for specific reasons? How much use
will they receive? Are they available elsewhere (for example,
free via the internet)?

Background reading
How much background reading is required and how much can be
found through existing electronic subscriptions (databases,
electronic journals, etc.)?

Electronic resources
Which electronic databases are vital for tourism studies?
Is there a duplication of content in database subscriptions,
or between databases and electronic journals?

Multimedia
Are multimedia materials required for teaching, research, or
both? How much use will they receive and do they offer
something unique to the user?

Newspapers
Should newspapers be received in print, electronically, or both?

Theses
Where in the institution should theses be held and how will they be accessed?

Special collections
Where will special collections be housed, and who will manage
them? Will there be a need to acquire more material for the special collection?
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Table 4: Stock selection.

Tourism

Most academic institutions deliver electronic access to in-house learning resources via their
library website. This approach means that all learning resources are available and managed at
a central location, and therefore are easy to find. However, students are probably not concerned
with the fact that learning resources are the ‘domain’ of the library. They simply want
a convenient means of finding relevant information (Tenopir, Hitchcock, & Pillow, 2003). To
ensure that students are taking full advantage of learning resources, there must be a
straightforward access point (either through the library website or elsewhere) which clearly
presents what is available, and allows easy navigation between resources regardless of format.
Although academic libraries still invest heavily in traditional print materials (Creaser,
Maynard, & White, 2004), electronic resources are equally vital tools for research.
Effectively integrating online and print collections is a challenge. The library catalogue
will give students access to a full list of books and journals available in-house, and can also
provide access to electronic versions of the same titles by including links into online subscriptions.
However, although the catalogue can offer straightforward delivery of a mix of
the institution’s own learning resources, it may not be an appropriate means for accessing
material elsewhere since it is, after all, a record of what is held in the library collection.
Some library catalogues also provide links into subscription databases. Yet, database
access through the catalogue may cause confusion for students since a database is often
used to find journal articles or book chapters, regardless of whether they are held by the
institution. Databases can be treated as a unique type of research tool and grouped by subject
on the library web page, and if the database provides full text, it can be used without
reference to anything else. But in the area of tourism, the majority of databases provide
only index records or abstracts, so after using the database, the student must then locate a
copy of the actual book or journal to which the citation refers.
Databases, bibliographies and even internet search engines can lead students to
resources which may not be available in their own academic institution. Union catalogue
websites, usually sponsored by academic or local library networks, allow cross-institutional
searching of library catalogues, so books or journals can be easily found in other collections.
Any integration of in-house learning resources should take into account the
facilities available for finding resources elsewhere, and there should also be information
available about how these materials can be accessed.
Internet subject gateways and other relevant websites bring another dimension to the
integration of tourism learning resources. Groups of useful websites are usually given to
students in simple lists for the subject area, or are sometimes arranged by the type of
resource (for example, ‘statistics’ or ‘government reports’). This approach makes it easy
for the student to find internet information sources for their area of interest, but there is the
danger that by grouping websites in subject lists, others that may have tangential relevance
will be missed. Regardless of how websites or other online resources are recommended, it
is vitally important that they are checked regularly so students are not being directed to
information sources that no longer exist.

Tourism

New students may receive an induction in the use of library resources, but this is often
done in the first few weeks of term, and usually focuses on the basics of using the library
facilities. At some point, they should also receive an introduction to learning resources for
their subject area and training in the use of these resources — preferably before research
for specific assignments begins. Because of demands on the time of both students and
staff, this further training often is not provided. This is unfortunate since an awareness of
available research tools and an understanding of their use will almost certainly save students’
wasted research time in the long run. Once an institution has invested in learning
resources, it makes sense to actively promote their use through training, rather than assume
that students will be able to find and use learning resources without assistance.
Instead of overloading students with learning resources training at the beginning of the
academic year, it may be more practical and useful to approach information skills as an ongoing
part of their education. A checklist for learning resource training is given in Table 5. If
user education sessions are strategically targeted to lectures or assignments, students are
more likely to remember and immediately apply what they have learned. Printed guides
which detail the use of particular learning resources should be on hand for students to refer
to independently. The option for one-to-one training should be available along with the
understanding that if a student tries a resource and it does not work, they can return for further
advice. A librarian who understands the subject area as well as the application of learning
resources will be able to recommend other in-house resources, or offer guidance on how
to find resources elsewhere.
Academic staff can work with the library regarding the delivery of learning resources,
but should also make sure they themselves have current knowledge of what is available.
When actively using a variety of research tools, both students and staff can offer constructive
feedback on what they find useful, and learning resources will become a dynamic
part of the educational environment.

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● Have students had a library induction or training in the basic use of the library (i.e.
borrowing books, finding journals, using the catalogue, etc.)?
● Are students familiar with the institution’s library website and the resources available?
● Have students had the opportunity for training, or practice using specific electronic
resources?
● Have students been given a list of relevant websites to explore?
● Do students know their options for sourcing material elsewhere?
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Table 5: Introducing students to learning resources — checklist.