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3 - Mapping and library services at UOC: a preliminary case study for BPC and UOC
- from Part 1 - Best practice for the use of mobile technologies in libraries
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- By Pep Torn, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Anna Zuñiga Ruiz, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), Carme Fenoll Clarabuch, Catalan Government's Head of Library Services, Spain
- Edited by Gill Needham, Ally Mohamed
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- Book:
- M-Libraries 5
- Published by:
- Facet
- Published online:
- 08 June 2018
- Print publication:
- 10 June 2015, pp 31-34
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- Chapter
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Summary
Introduction
The project ‘Mapping and library services at UOC’ is the result of a study of options for co-operation between the Public Libraries of Catalonia and the Open University of Catalonia, and is a good example of the potential for co-operation between different public service oriented entities.
Below we will describe the territory in which the project is to be implemented, the main characteristics of the participating entities, the Public Libraries of Catalonia and the Open University of Catalonia, to then explain the role of mobile applications in the Open University of Catalonia and how their use enables new services to be conveyed, the fruit of the co-operation between two entities.
Catalonia is a country in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula with a population of 7.5 million people: 1.7 million living in the capital, Barcelona, and over 4 million living in the Barcelona metropolitan area.
The public libraries of Catalonia (www.biblioteques.gencat.cat) (hereinafter BPC) form part of the library system in Catalonia. In 2012, the 370 member libraries received 25.2 million visits and made 16.3 million loans, while there are 3.3 million public library card holders. The libraries are places of cultural and social dynamism distributed throughout the territory that contribute to integration and facilitate access to content and resources of interest to citizens.
The Open University of Catalonia (www.uoc.edu) (hereinafter UOC) was founded in 1995 with the mission to provide people with lifelong learning and education opportunities. The aim is to help individuals meet their learning needs and provide them with full access to knowledge, above and beyond the usual scheduling and location constraints. The UOC has 60,096 students, with more than 40,000 graduates. The university offers undergraduate and master's degrees, postgraduate and specialist courses, PhDs, short open courses and incompany training, in different areas of knowledge ranging from arts and humanities, health sciences, information and communication sciences, law and political science, economics and business studies, IT, multimedia and telecommunications, psychology and education sciences, city management and urban planning, tourism, and information society, to food systems, culture and society.
The UOC Virtual Library (www.biblioteca.uoc.edu), hereinafter VL, is a virtual library in that it does not have a building accessible to the public; the website of the Library is the library itself. The Library can be accessed from inside the campus, and from the UOC portal.
5 - Deploying an e-reader loan service at an online university
- from PART 1 - DEVELOPING MOBILE SERVICES
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- By Anna Zuñiga-Ruiz, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya Library, Cristina López-Pérez, Open University of Catalonia (UOC) Library
- Edited by Mohamed Ally, Gill Needham
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- Book:
- M-Libraries 3
- Published by:
- Facet
- Published online:
- 08 June 2018
- Print publication:
- 23 January 2012, pp 43-50
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- Chapter
- Export citation
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Summary
Introduction
The Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) is an online university born of the knowledge society and with a mission to provide people with lifelong learning and education. It was founded in 1995. The UOC offers student-centred learning with the benefits of personalized study, flexibility, accessibility and collaboration. In its online study programme, the UOC places the student at the centre of the learning process and provides him/her with the necessary distance learning resources for interaction with the whole of the university community. Learning at the UOC is oriented to responding to the needs of the student and takes into account the demands of the professional environment and technological and social developments.
UOC's educational model
The UOC's educational model is the university's main feature, which has distinguished it since its inception. It was created with the intention of responding appropriately to the educational needs of people committed to lifelong learning, and to make maximum use of the potential offered by the web to perform educational activity.
The learning activity is at the centre of the educational model (Gros, 2009). The students have three main elements with which to carry it out: (1) the resources, which include the content, spaces and tools necessary to performing the learning activities and their assessment; (2) collaboration, a set of communicative and participative dynamics that promote the building of knowledge among classmates and teachers, through teamwork, in order to solve problems and develop projects; and (3) accompaniment, the set of actions performed by teaching staff to monitor and support students.
UOC Library: a virtual library
The UOC Library has offered its services online since its creation in 1995 (March Mir et al., 2010). It has displayed a strong commitment to new technologies throughout this time. It is important to note that the UOC virtual library model implies that traditional library services (loan, reference, document supply, interlibrary loan, information competences, training) are offered at a distance.
The UOC Library also offers remote access from the virtual campus to its electronic resources, without the need for additional configuration on top of the campus access. Since its creation, the UOC Library has provided its services and content description in three languages: Catalan, Spanish and English.