(M234) From eLending to eTeaching – transitioning e-reading tools from the Library to the classroom

Mar 30, 2012 | 5/6/2012 (1050-1225), Technology & New Media | 1 comment

In 2003 Texas A&M University established an engineering campus in Qatar Foundation‘s Education City in Doha, Qatar. In addition to engineering, instruction is also provided in science, mathematics, liberal arts and humanities. From the beginning it was intended that the library at Qatar campus would have a small physical presence but have full access to all Texas A&M electronic resources. One of the by-products of this has been a concerted ongoing investigation into electronic alternatives to hard copy formats such as books. The library has been an ‘early adopter” of both eReaders and tablet computers. The library has also sought to make use of online video streaming services as an alternative to hard copy DVD collections. With the release of the iPad in April 2010, the library and the information technology departments bought and deployed three Apple iPads and made them available on a lending basis. Input was sought from faculty, researchers, students and staff and efforts made to understand the usage patterns of groups and to determine what, if any, benefit this particular device might bring to the learning environment. Devices were circulated for one week periods and input was requested via survey. Additional input from iPad owners was solicited and studied. This device added to the portfolio of digital readers (Sony, Kindle, iRex), streaming media services and flipcams deployed by the library in 2008, but also added a large diversity of applications in addition to reader and video capability. In the latest phase of this experiment the library is working with the I.T. department and two academic departments (Liberal Arts & Petroleum Engineering) to integrate the iPads in to the teaching programmes of two specific courses. The next phase is to seek feedback on the success of these initial trials whilst also beginning to look at alternatives to the iPad such as the Android-based Samsung Galaxy tablet. This paper seeks to provide a background to this experiment at Texas A&M at Qatar and discuss some of the issues involved.

Adam Eelke Cath
Adam Eelke Cath Texas A&M University

Based in Education City, Doha, Adam has spent nearly 20 years working in both information management and information technology with a particular focus on the discipline of engineering.

He has worked for the University of Canterbury in New Zealand and Texas A&M University in Qatar and in the private sector for Schlumberger (London) and MWH Global (New Zealand).

His professional interests include Libraries without books, Just-in-time Libraries, cross-cultural librarianship and the response of libraries to the current electronic publishing revolution.

He is a member of the ASEE and LIANZA. He meets regularly as a member of the Education City Library Directors Committee and meets less regularly as a member of the Texas Digital Library initiative.

He is currently Research Librarian and Interim Library Director at Texas A&M University at Qatar.

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1 Comment

  1. The Naked Librarian on June 5, 2012 at 12:10

    US$12 mill for e-resources? Man… Mrs Lee, are you drooling? 🙂

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