30th May 2014 9:00
By Blue Tutors
Any tutor working at the moment knows that the best way to make sure that their students read something is to put it online. This rule stands even for young children, right up to degree level, where students seem to rely extremely heavily on online sources. Many universities put ‘study packs’ online, with digitally accessible articles which cover at least the core readings for each course. Most universities make use of digital learning environments, creating accounts for students where they can access the sources they require, and keep track of their courses and timetables. However, the rate at which sources can be put online does not match the requirement of students, meaning that students who do not go to the library are missing out.
The British Library is becoming aware of this, and have noted that in particular older texts and historical sources are gathering dust where students are no longer prepared to seek them out. In an effort to modernise, they are putting digital scans of texts such as William Blake’s notebooks online in order to open up the world of research for students. Increasingly, even rare books and valuable historical sources are available to view online. Tutors too are getting on board with this, pointing students to online sources and academic search engines before suggesting the library. As private tutors, we have an opportunity to teach our students how to research, and I feel that we should not be encouraging them to abandon the paper copy.
The way students research has a direct impact on the way they learn and think about the project at hand. When sources are chosen by the university and made available in an online account for students, it is useful of course, but does not encourage them to delve further into their research. It exposes them to no other texts, and does not encourage them to think about what links broader topics in their subjects. Searching for core texts in libraries may take more time, but it encourages students to explore their topics in much greater detail. If making a visit to the library anyway, why not look for books from the suggested wider reading, or see what other books there are which relate to the topic. Naturally there are many rare sources which cannot be accessed by students except online, and the BL is engaged in a valuable project putting these online. But there is a considerable difference between this, and students who never go the library because they just read their core texts online. We should encourage a broader education than this.