Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
LLI colleagues celebrate Tallis award
Talis Aspire, the supplier of Leeds Beckett University’s reading list system, selected the university as the first recipient of its Talis Inclusivity Award. It recognises universities that show a dedication to improving access to resources for all students, and have stood out for their accessibility or diversity projects.
Colleagues across LLI collaborated to enable students registered with the alternative formats service to access all their reading from one place, using the same system as their peers. This was alongside direct access to RNIB Bookshare, allowing them to explore the whole collection and not just the books on their reading lists, enabling greater independence.
This combined with a streamlining of the acquisitions workflow has meant that alternative format resources were available for the first week of semesters one and two, delivering parity with the main student body. Previously, reliance upon publishers meant these resources were subject to delays.
Natalie Naik of Talis commended the team: “We felt you were the deserving winners due to your proactive approach towards accessibility guidelines since your implementation, with your alternative formats service. Not only have you achieved great things here within your own system, but you have been really generous in sharing this with the wider community.”
Pippa Wood, who received the award along with Natalia Gordon at a virtual ceremony on 21 May on behalf of the Library said: “Our Library has been running the alternative formats service for over ten years now, and the innovation and creativity of the staff involved from the outset has made it possible to continue to build on its success. And, although we have made significant progress in this area, we recognise that there is still lots more we can do!”
Staff involved have been nominated for Leeds Beckett’s Golden Robes for Contribution to Diversity and Inclusion and Pippa herself has been shortlisted for Outstanding Contribution to Innovation.
You can find out more about the work of the team in a blog published earlier this year.