Welcome from the Director

Library and Learning Services has seen a period of considerable success, with investments in the improvement of facilities and services for students reflected in excellent feedback and scores in local and national surveys and league tables. We believe Northumbria now offers the overall best range of services and facilities in the region.

Students who get to the library, get ahead
We know that students who make good use of our libraries see better results. In one case a tutor reported a grade altering performance between those students who had made use of the services and support on hand and those who had not. So it is clear that to get ahead our students come to the library, and all evidence suggests they are doing just that.

Library use at an all time high
The actual use of our libraries at Northumbria continues to rise and is presently at an all time high. Our libraries are the first choice for students wanting to work independently or in groups and with new technologies to permit collaborative online working the trend will grow. The unique mix of services, facilities, advice and opening hours is a success we want to keep repeating at Northumbria so we are working enthusiastically within the Estates Master Plan to ensure that future space planning provides room for growth.

Coffee aids creativity!
Success needs to be fed and student use of library facilities has increased both in frequency of visits and length of time spent on site.

Our Libraries are becoming the first choice for students wanting to work using on site University facilities, precisely because we have developed such effective working environments.

Our 24 hour access pilots and late night opening regimes have met with enthusiastic responses from users, proving that even late at night or in the small hours, our students want to work in library settings.

But what about the books?
In the last year we have done a lot of work to determine what students really want and need of the library and it is clear that access to well equipped and supported learning and study space is still very important – as is a ready supply of key texts and reading list materials. It is clear that access to the library and the services it offers as a physical learning environment is enhanced and enriched by the the award winning array of distance and online learning tools available via the web.

Not everyone can come to Newcastle - but the library can go to them
As the University continues to reach a wider global audience, so the remit of the Library has expanded to serve customers wherever in the world they may be. We are committed to continuing to develop our service and the delivery of facilities to our partner institutions overseas.

Researchers need libraries too
As well as providing invaluable front line support for taught students, Library and Learning Services continues to support the whole University through a variety of audits and RAE exercises. In the year ahead we look forward to establishing Northumbria’s own repository of research so that the world can beat a path to our door and see our research outputs online.

Keeping learning flexible
Our use of state-of-the-art innovations such as wireless technology, TeamMate Learning Stations and Flexible learning suites, proves our commitment to build on recent successes such as the WebFeat President’s Award for Innovation for NORA - our online library search system and our contribution to Northumbria being named Computing – Most IT Enabled Organisation.

I hope you will find some new and exciting things to explore
by visiting our libraries in person or online. If you have ideas
to offer or examples we can learn from then please let us
know – just send an email to ask4help@northumbria.ac.uk

Prof. Jane Core, Director Library and Learning Services

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