Paul Davis
Computing Services
University of Oxford
13 Banbury Road
Oxford
OX2 6NN
tel: 01865 283414
email: paul.davis@oucs.ox.ac.uk

Addressing the DiVLE Programme Theme B, "Learning and Teaching Implementation Pilots", which requires that projects will, "implement curriculum focussed pilots, based upon units of learning, linking VLEs to digital library systems", the INFORMS Project will build upon and extend the work of the 5/99 DNER INHALE project.

INHALE has been particularly successful in developing a database of flexible, customisable innovative information skills units and embedding these within different VLEs at Huddersfield and partner institutions for use in learning and teaching. Out of the collaboration, evaluation and technical aspects of the project's work templates, models and re-useable tools for use in integrating information skills within teaching and learning in VLEs have been created.

The INFORMS project will be part of the gradual iterative process of disseminating and scaling up the INHALE model for delivery in a wider range of institutions and will therefore enable the :-

• Replication, testing and refining of all the models, methodologies, tools and materials already developed by the INHALE Project, as suggested within this theme that...

  "Projects will mostly build on existing solutions, extending their application to a wider area that will produce generic outcomes which have a wide benefit for the JISC community".

It will do this by bringing together inclusive collaborative teams of academic, library, technical (and other identified) key staff in 3 HE institutions with contrasting cultures and infrastructures, and drawing upon the outputs, experience and knowledge of the INHALE project team.

The partner institutions of the INFORMS Project are the University of Huddersfield, Loughborough University and the University of Oxford. Each institution in the project has installed a different VLE. Huddersfield uses Blackboard©, Loughborough has its own in-house system, LEARN© and Oxford is in the process of installing Bodington©, although other VLEs are already in use within a number of the Oxford colleges. The institutions are substantially different in their cultural and organisational backgrounds. Oxford University has a worldwide historical reputation for academic excellence. Loughborough is a well established University and Huddersfield is one of the new universities which acquired university status in the 1990's, having previously been a polytechnic.

The INFORMS project will focus its aims and objectives, (within the context of the integration of the INHALE information skills units), on some of the key issues identified in the DiVLE call as requiring further investigation.

• To integrate VLE and Digital Library use into teaching practice
   
• To develop the information seeking skills of both academic staff and students
   
• To raise the awareness of the resources available through the Information Environment (IE)
   
• To involve staff who might not otherwise be involved
   
• To enable and provide support for re-using content and learning objects
   
• To develop the skills and knowledge of librarians (pedagogical and technical)

• The development of partnerships and collaborations within the context of the partner institutions to include all the different stakeholders in the support of student learning within VLEs. The range of staff involved will include those not necessarily currently involved in the teaching and learning aspects of curriculum development within the partner institutions e.g. computer staff or library staff.
   
• The creation of six new core units in the INHALE database using local and national information resources for identified modules at Loughborough and Oxford Universities. The subjects for the curriculum focussed pilots within the project will be :-
   
  1. Business, Engineering, Sport
     Loughborough University at undergraduate level
      
  2. English, Medicine and Social Sciences
     Oxford University at undergraduate level
      
  This will be undertaken with the support of the INHALE project team and will entail the use of the guidelines and tools already produced by the project.
   
• The building of sets of relevant information skills materials to address the different levels of learning needs of the particular students in the different partner institutions.
   
• The embedding of these new units within the different VLEs at each institution (LEARN at Loughborough and Bodington at Oxford) using the tools and methods developed by the INHALE project.
   
• The the INHALE evaluation model and toolkits to assess the impact of the information skills materials on the outcomes of student learning.

The INFORMS project addresses, on many levels, the needs of the key stakeholders (students, librarians, academics, other teaching staff, technical staff and the JISC) involved in creating, delivering and using teaching and learning materials for information literacy within VLEs; whether within FE or HE or other relevant educational settings

Not only will the information skills database be further populated and tested it is also envisaged that the project will be of benefit to the JISC community in the following areas :-

• Sharing and exchange of information skills objects
   
• Supporting cultural change within educational institutions and transforming the process of learning and teaching
   
• Practical experience of collaborating across the traditional professional boundaries within multidisciplinary teams is one way forward to developing a true "learning community" where experience and knowledge is shared
   
• Providing meaningful, rich and innovative methods of accessing electronic materials and developing the learning and research process
   
• Raising the awareness of the IE services and resources
   
• Providing opportunities to embed information literacy into VLEs and modules
   
• Raising awareness of the underlying complexities behind the joining up of the IE

• Six new subject focussed Information Skills Units (as detailed above) built around core Digital Information Resources and integrated into teaching practice - extending, developing and scaling up the INHALE database
   
• Evaluations of impacts and effectiveness on staff and students
   
• Case studies on the student experience of using the resources at Oxford and Loughborough
   
• Case Studies of joint course development & embedding in VLEs at Oxford and Loughborough
   
• Technical reports discussing any problems encountered in the use of the objects database and in the integration of the units generated by the database
   
• Five free consultation visits to other HE/FE institutions

The three partners within the project all have important roles in achieving the above outlined aims, objectives and deliverables of the project.

The University of Huddersfield has five main roles in the project :-

• The dissemination of all the models, methodologies, tools and materials already developed by the INHALE project to the two other partners in the project, Loughborough University and the University of Oxford
   
• The support of the partners to effectively use these within the context of their own institutional settings (which includes technical support)
   
• The evaluation of the data collected from the partners via the different evaluation instruments
   
• The writing of reports and dissemination of the experiences, learning and outcomes of the project
   
• The development of an exit strategy for the end of the project

The Universities of Loughborough and Oxford have five main roles :-

• the replication, testing and refining of the models, methodologies, tools and materials developed by the INHALE project (as outlined in more detail the objectives in section 2.2 and in the workpackages) which will result in :-
   
  1. The creation of six new units embedded within modules in the respective VLEs
      
  2. The collection of the evaluation data
      
  3. Support in the report writing and final dissemination of the experiences, learning and outcomes of the project
      
  4. Input to the development of the exit strategy

The project is divided into three distinct phases :-

• Phase 1: Start-up and development of resources

  The INFORMS web site will be created by the Huddersfield team and will include secure shared document and news input facilities for the project team.
  

  During this initial phase the project partners at the University of Loughborough and Oxford will identify key staff, modules and information resources for the project.

  With the support of the INHALE team at Huddersfield, presentations and training workshops will be devised and run for the staff in the new collaborative teams at Loughborough and Oxford, to pass on the methodologies used by the INHALE Project.

  Training will cover authoring to and re-using content already within the INHALE database, the use of the evaluation toolkit and on the integration of the information skills resources into the LEARN VLE at Loughborough and Bodington VLE at Oxford.

  New institutional portfolios for Loughborough and Oxford will be created within the INHALE database to enable these partners to create their own new and customised skills materials.

  The newly developed information skills materials will be embedded within the teaching and learning materials in the VLEs and tested by the teams. The key module information (metadata) and work required to reach this stage will be recorded on a start-up template.

  Iterative evaluations of the effectiveness of the above processes will be collected from the staff involved and will be used to assess the effectiveness of the INHALE models.

  A template will be created to record and ensure accurate reporting of any technical problems encountered in the use of the INHALE database. This will be used also in the embedding of the resources within the institutions VLEs. These will be investigated and solutions provided.

  The baseline survey will be administered to students within selected relevant departments at Loughborough and Oxford.
   

• Phase 2: Module delivery and evaluation

  The information skills materials will be delivered to the students via the selected modules within the partners' VLEs, using different methods to introduce them (e.g. introduced by librarians, by academic staff and through joint teaching sessions in face to face teaching sessions)

  Pre and post test evaluations will be administered for each pilot module. The data collected will be used to assess the effectiveness of the new information skills materials on student learning outcomes within the pilot modules.

  Feed back of any technical problems will continue to be recorded during this phase.
   

• Phase 3: Report writing, dissemination of project experiences and learning, exit strategy

  All the evidence will be gathered together and each institution will share in the writing of the reports and case studies from the project, which will be disseminated via the INFORMS web site, as well as through relevant journals and conferences.

  The exit strategy will be developed as the project progresses. This will include details of the future of the INHALE/INFORMS database of information skills units and will be discussed in the light of the overall developments of the DiVLE Programme and other key JISC IE resources, such as the RDN.

The three partners in the project Huddersfield, Loughborough and Oxford will set up a Steering Group and produce a Consortium Agreement to include key elements from section 3. Overall Approach above and 5. Project Management which follows.

Project Steering Group

The Project Steering Group will oversee the progress of the project and assist with troubleshooting, strategic direction and interoperability issues. The Chair of the group will be Margaret Weaver, curently the User Services Support Manager at the University of Central Lancashire (and previously the INHALE Project Director)

Other members of the Group are :-

• Jenny Brook - The INFORMS Project Director (Huddersfield)
• Ruth Stubbings - Project Manager (Loughborough)
• Peter Maunder - Assistant Dean for Teaching (Ruth Stubbings)
• Dr Paul Davis - Project Manager (Oxford)
• Stuart Lee - Head of E-Learning (Oxford)
• Frances Boyle - Electronic Services Manager (Oxford)
• David Pattern - Advanced Web Developer (Huddersfield)
• Sheila Anderson - Evaluation Officer (Huddersfield)

Project Director

The Project Director will :-

• Report to DiVLE Programme Manager
   
• Have overall responsibility for the project and resource management
   
• Lead the project teams across the partners in achieving all the project deliverables
   
• Liaise with and support the Project Managers at the partner sites
   
• Promote further links between other relevant JISC IE services or projects
   
• Ensure that the work of the project is appropriately disseminated to the rest of HE/FE
   
• Produce an exit strategy in collaboration with the partners to ensure that all the work of the project is either effectively archived or maintained

The Project Managers

The Project Managers at each partner site will :-

• Manage and co-ordinate the INFORMS Project at the partner sites
   
• Manage the allocated budget at the partner sites
   
• Manage the replication and testing of all the project tools, methods and templates which will include :-
   
  1. managing the delivery of the evaluation mechanisms at the partners sites and collection of the data
      
  2. identifying JISC IE elements and local subscription resources to use in the new information units
      
  3. supporting staff in writing new information skills units to the INHALE/INFORMS database
      
  4. collaborating with and supporting relevant staff in the embedding of the INHALE/INFORMS information skills units into the VLEs at Loughborough and Oxford
      
  5. report back to the Project Director on IT-related matters in relation to the INHALE/INFORMS software design, human computer interaction and of transferable models
      
• Assist in the testing and writing of documentation, publicity and help facilities produced for users
   
• Produce the necessary reports from the partner sites to be used by the Project Director in producing the progress reports for the DiVLE Programme Office writing
   
• Assist in the dissemination of the work of the INFORMS project via case studies, workshops, conferences etc.

The Project Advanced Web Developer

The Project's Advanced Web Developer will :-

• Continue with the design, creation and testing of all the web-based learning materials being produced for the INFORMS project including their specification, evaluation and documentation
   
• Create and manage the web pages for the INFORMS project and its products
   
• Continue to lead the partners on complex software and technical issues
   
• Liaise with Computing Services staff and external computing officers, in support of infrastructure for INFORMS, for example network, server and industry standards requirements

Project Evaluation Officer

• Implement the ongoing evaluation programme for the project including assisting the Project Director to develop impact factors which will establish the effectiveness of the INHALE materials
   
• Design evaluation instruments such as surveys, questionnaires, observations and interviews to measure the performance of the deliverables and implement the evaluation strategy
   
• Input user data using proven evaluation techniques and software such as SPSS, Nvivo and undertake preliminary analysis
   
• Produce reports for the Project Director, the Director of Library Services, JISC and other stakeholders
   
• Advise and communicate with other personnel such as students, academic staff, staff at partner institutions and members of the higher/further education community
   
• Assist the Project team in authoring and delivering presentations and papers on the work of the INHALE project

The Steering group, which includes the Managers and other key personnel from the Project Teams at each institution will meet at least twice during the lifetime of the project.

Collaboration with the project partners will be via e-mail, the use of the shared area for document sharing on the INFORMS web site, via the Steering Group meetings, DiVLE Programme meetings and planned workshops.

Project teams within the respective institutions will meet on a fortnightly basis to ensure the milestones are reached.

Any technical and other problems encountered will be reported back to the Huddersfield team. The Project Teams will attend the DiVLE programme meetings and will collaboratively produce the 3 Project reports for the DiVLE programme to be received by :-

31 January
30 April
31 July

A budget nominal has been created at Huddersfield and partner sites for the tracking of the project monies, which are to be credited to the University of Huddersfield in 10 equal instalments of £9,900. The partner sites will be credited with 3 instalments (2 of £9,000 and 1 of £10,000) :-

January
April
July

See attached Diagram 1

Phase 1 Workpackages

Phase 2 Workpackages

Phase 3 Workpackages

All 3 partner institutions will be involved in the dissemination of the project's outputs and experiences. These will be in the form of written reports, journal articles, workshops and conference papers during phase 3 of the project.

The project partners will also assist in publicising the project through the production and dissemination of fliers and posters.

The INFORMS web site will be a central focus for the dissemination of the work of the project.

All the evaluation reports will be published on the INFORMS web site, news of new developments and access to the revised tools and materials will be transferred from the INHALE Project web site to the INFORMS web site.

Links with the RDN, the new JISCInfonet project and the FE's RSCs will be established as channels for sharing and disseminating the output from the project.

See section 5. Project Management

The Project Steering Group, progress reports to the DiVLE Programme and DiVLE Programme meetings will all play a part in maintaining the integrity of the project.

The Project Steering Group meetings will be offset with the DiVLE Programme meetings. Any concerns may be highlighted through each of these channels and problems addressed, if they arise, at both the local and national levels.

The identified risks to the success of the project are :-

• the short lead in time to the start of the project
   
• the short time span for the work of the project to be completed
   
• key staff leaving the project
   
• infrastructure and technical obstacles

INFORMS Project