Melbourne Students & Learning - Research Publications
Permanent URI for this collection
Search Results
1 - 10 of 11
-
ItemEstablishing an eprint repository at the University of Melbourne: implementation aspects( 2003)In 2002, the University of Melbourne Information Division established a repository for research output of University of Melbourne staff. The repository is one of a growing number, both nationally and internationally, using open source software compliant with the protocols and standards of the OpenArchives Initiative. The paper discusses these and also outlines the experiences of the authors in establishing the repository. The paper complements EPRINTS@MELBOURNE by Jane Garner, Lynne Horwood and Shirley Sullivan and which outlines the means used to populate and publicise the repository to academic staff.
-
ItemBringing hidden treasures to light: illuminating DSpace( 2004)The Open Archives Initiative (OAI) has gained momentum since eprints.org was released in2000. An alternative to eprints.org is the recently released DSpace, the open source software developed at MIT. The paper will trace the history and development of DSpace initiatives, such as the joint project between MIT and University of Cambridge. It also discusses the impact and benefits of repositories for research institutions and libraries.
-
ItemConstructing Information Literacy: A Vygotskian approach(Central Queensland University Press, 2004)The prominent educational theories of Vygotsky have just entered the discipline of information literacy. I will concentrate on three of his themes: the dialectical interdependence of the environment and the self, the need to relate to a student’s potential rather than their achievement, and the inadequacy of most current measures of information literacy.
-
ItemCourseware design and development program: providing professional development and project experience.( 2004)The Courseware Design and Development Program enables academics to participate in a program that integrates a major curriculum development project along with professional development. In its short history, the Courseware Design and Development Program has demonstrated itself to be a sustainable model. It is a model that fulfils a role of encouraging innovation in teaching and learning using technology. The integration of professional development and project development seems to appeal to otherwise busy academics as there are concrete goals and positive outcomes.
-
ItemEprints@Melbourne( 2003)In 2002, the University of Melbourne Information Division established a repository for research papers authored by University academics. The effort forms part of a world wide endeavour to share scholarly literature via eprint repositories. The repository uses eprints.org software and is compliant with the protocols of the Open Archives Initiative to ensure interoperability with major worldwide eprint initiatives. Academics within the Faculty of Economics and Commerce were the initial target group of contributors as they have an existing culture of digital distribution of draft research papers. The paper provides a brief overview of the relevant literature, discusses the benefits of an institutional repository, outlines the methods used to gain academic support and involvement in the project and gives a current state of play of the repository of the University of Melbourne in terms of its usage and content coverage. The paper will complement Establishing an eprint repository at the University of Melbourne: implementation aspects by Eve Young and Shirley Sullivan.
-
ItemEtexts: free scholarly resources reviewed( 2003)Academic libraries and research institutions such as state libraries have been expending considerable resources over the past few years on digitising collections such as those significant for local history, or for literary criticism. During 2002, the University of Melbourne Information Division staff evaluated three etext centres for their suitability as resources to support academic programmes. These are the Humanities Text Initiative (HTI), the Electronic Text Center (ETC) and the Arts and Humanities Data Service (AHDS). A set of defined criteria for evaluating the etext centres was created and applied. The paper reports on the evaluation and the conclusions reached. Appendices provide an annotated list of similar, useful sites, a table outlining the results of applying the evaluation criteria to 3 etext centres, and a table comparing the results of a search in one etext centre against the recommended readings in a number of University of Melbourne subjects.
-
ItemA layered approach to the re-use of content and its presentation( 2004)This paper deals with techniques for overcoming the mosaic effect - an impediment to the sharing of content, and proposes layered re-use as a conceptual framework for solving the problem. The mosaic effect occurs when a course is built by sequencing Shareable Content Objects (SCOs) from a variety of independent sources. Because SCOs have their own individual "look and feel", courses made up of SCOs from different sources suffer from inconsistent presentation styles and interfaces in the format of the learning content. To overcome the mosaic effect, it is necessary to separate content from its presentation. Two techniques have been put forward as solutions to the mosaic effect in the SCORM environment. The first is the Dynamic Appearance Model (DAM) and the second is SCORM with Style-Sheet Support (SCORM-SSS). While the DAM proposes content to be encoded in XML and uses XSL transformations for correct rendering, SCORM-SSS is based on content in HTML and proposes course related style-sheets to ensure the desired course presentation. This paper develops the concept of layered re-use in which the re-use of content and content structures is governed by specifications appropriate to the content level (e.g. SCORM, IMS QTI specifications) and the re-use of" look and feel" properties and their application throughout a course is governed by HTML-based specifications applied at the display level. In layered re-use terms, for any one course there may be many content models within the content layer and for a particular user or cohort there is a single display model. The advantages of adopting layered re-use include, a) ease of technical implementation (at scale and wide scope), b) low impact on course development work-flows, c) ease of maintenance against growing complexity in course design and re-design and d) it supports the DAM and SCORM-SSS developments as complementary approaches to overcoming the mosaic effect.
-
ItemReplacing the real with the virtual: buying and borrowing journals at the University of Melbourne( 2003)During the past decade, the costs to academic libraries of acquiring resources, especially journals have soared. This has been an international phenomenon which has been exacerbated in Australia by volatility of the A$. The University of Melbourne has been as hard hit as any other institution and once comprehensive research collections of journals have been reduced considerably, in some cases to core collections for teaching and research. The Library has examined a number of possible ways of ameliorating the situation, none of them unique or original, and all tried elsewhere with some success However, the end result of the Melbourne experiment has been to embed the use of ILL and document delivery as a part of the management of the Materials Vote on an ongoing basis, and to have this approved by the University hierarchy. This paper outlines the stages taken to reach this decision
-
ItemSupporting Collaborative Learning Activities with SCORM(Educause in Australasia 2003 Program Committee, 2003)
-
ItemNew models of research publishing( 2004)New models of research publication have been developing in recent years. Examples include the open access journal model (such as BioMed Central (BMC) and Public Library of Science (PLoS), and growth in number and content of institutional and subject based repositories. The paper discusses features of both open access journal publishing and eprint models. The paper also discusses the promotional efforts of library staff. The paper concludes with a brief case study where library staff undertook a range of activities to stimulate academic interest in new publishing models.