Services for disabled readers

Introduction

Hello, my name is Teresa Pedroso and I am the Disability Librarian at the Bodleian Libraries. I would like to give you a warm welcome to Oxford and let you know about the levels of service and support you can expect from the Bodleian Libraries. Should you have any questions, you will find my contact details at the end of this presentation and I will be happy to assist during your time at Oxford.

The transcript of the presentation will include links to all the pages mentioned. Some of the slides contain screenshots of webpages, including text. All relevant images will be described during the presentation.

We will briefly look at: the different libraries you will find in Oxford; mainstream services available to readers; services for disabled readers; and a further information section where you will find my contact details.

Libraries in Oxford

You will find Oxford has a very large number of libraries, each with its own characteristics and specialisms. It is important to understand the differences between some groups. The image in this slide shows a map pinpointing libraries that are associated with the university and a list of those libraries. The font is too small to read but you can see there are 3 large groups: the Bodleian Libraries; College libraries; and Other Libraries.

The Bodleian Libraries are a network of 26 libraries. It holds over 13 million print items, 2.4 million e-books, and well over 200,000 e-journals. University members (students and staff) can visit any of the Bodleian Libraries and borrow from all its lending collections, e.g. a Medicine student is welcome to use and borrow books from the History Faculty Library. The Bodleian Libraries is a legal deposit library, which means we keep a copy of all books published in the UK for preservation purposes. As a result, we have very strong academic collections, but we must also collect other items, e.g. all travel guides or all cooking magazines published in the UK

College libraries: each college has its own library. These tend to be open only to members of the college. Their collections are selected to support the subjects taught by the college. 

Other university libraries: these often cater for specific post-graduate students and researchers, but a few also support undergraduate students such as the Earth Sciences Library or the Ruskin School of Art Library.

You will find the Bodleian Libraries offer a variety of settings from historical reading rooms, such as Duke Humfrey's or the Taylor, to modern libraries such as the Social Science Library or the Weston Library. 

Take some time to explore the libraries, to see the variety of study spaces. There are open plan reading rooms, group study areas, quiet study zones, areas with lots of natural lighting, secluded seating, etc. Take some time to find out what works best for you. 

A few libraries also have individual study carrels. These are fully enclosed rooms away from distractions, where people can use dictation software, etc. These spaces are open to all on a drop-in basis. Disabled students with a recommendation to book study carrels on their SSP are able to book the carrels in advance.

On the Find a Library page, you can see a list of all the Bodleian Libraries and use filters such as “silent atmosphere” or “large desks” to identify which library will work best for you. In this page you can also find maps of the libraries, including the map shown on slide 3.

Mainstream services

The Bodleian Libraries follow the social model of disability providing accessible services as a default to all readers as much as possible. Now, we are going to look at some of those services.

Getting started guides

There is a myriad of ways of learning about the libraries. A good starting point is our "Getting Started Guides" page, where you will find information on relevant topics such as borrowing, using SOLO (our resource discovery tool), copyright, training sessions, etc.

Welcome sessions

Undergraduate students are scheduled a library Welcome Session via Microsoft Teams – information on joining the webinars is available in the welcome pack provided by your college. Graduate students’ welcome sessions are organized separately by each subject librarian in coordination with the relevant department. On the Getting started: Undergraduates and taught postgraduates page you will find the video and slides of the presentation as well as a list of the libraries organising tours for students and links to book your place. 

Throughout the academic year, the libraries also offer 1-1 sessions with subject librarians. They can be particularly useful if you are researching a topic in-depth or would like to know specific aspects of the collections, such as the most suitable e-resources for a given topic. 

SOLO 

SOLO - Search Oxford Libraries Online – is the search and discovery tool for the vast majority of collections in the university libraries. It covers Bodleian Libraries, most college and departmental libraries. It is freely available online. It lists print and digital collections and also allows you to place reservations and manage your loans.

Scan and Deliver 

It is also through SOLO that you can place Scan & Deliver requests. Scan and Deliver is a digital document delivery service, which enables you to obtain scans of book chapters or journal articles from the Bodleian print collections when you are unable to go to the library, e.g. during a year abroad, or vacation. You can also place requests when in Oxford, but it will be faster to go to the library in person.

In the libraries, you can use PCAS - Print, Copy and Scan - the network system that connects all of the printers and scanners. It allows you to pay for any prints using an online account linked to your university card.

Equipment such as digital cameras and smartphones, i.e. personal Scanning equipment, is allowed in the reading rooms, subject to copyright and conservation regulations. No flash photography is allowed.

ORLO (Oxford Reading Lists Online)

ORLO - Oxford Reading Lists Online – is a reading list management system where you will find reading lists with links to SOLO and the relevant e-resources, digital scans of chapters, or  journal articles as well as the Study Skills Resources List. You will need your Single-Sign-On to access ORLO. If your course uses ORLO, you will most likely access it via Canvas, but through ORLO’s interface you can also access other lists such as the Self-help e-book collection, a collection of books created in partnership with Counselling Service, covering topics such as time management, dealing with stress and anxiety, etc.

Services available for disabled readers

In addition, we also have some services specifically aimed at supporting disabled readers.  

Disability Liaison Librarians

Each site has its own Disability Liaison Librarian, the person who will know the most about the support available in that library, and they implement disability support at local level, e.g. provide 1-1 inductions or put in place Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans. The contact details for the Disability Liaison Librarians in each library can be found in the Libraries’ Support for Disabled Readers page.

Extended loan periods

All students issued with an SSP are automatically registered for extended loans in the Bodleian Libraries. Details on the number of books and length of loan periods can be found in the Libraries’ Support for Disabled Readers page.

We can also arrange for proxy loans where a designated person can borrow books on your behalf, from your library account.

Equipment available

You will find a variety of ergonomic equipment such as chairs or height-adjustable desks, laptop stands, book rests, and computer monitors available in the vast majority of libraries. Ask for help if you can't easily find them.

SensusAccess

We also have SensusAccess, an automated service to create alternative formats such as editable text documents, audio files or Braille from an image document. The service is free of charge and the converted files are sent to your email address. You can also use it to OCR documents to then use with your assistive technology.

Extended access to digital materials

I mentioned at the start of the presentation that the Bodleian Libraries have extensive digital collections. In addition to the general digital collections, disabled students that qualify under the accessibility exception in copyright, may also have access to digital materials via: 

• RNIB Bookshare: a platform providing accessible formats of over 1.2 milion books;
• HathiTrust Accessible Downloads service: a service that allows downloads of accessible HathiTrust copies if the Bodleian Libraries own inaccessible copies. 

We are also able to download copies of eLD items (yellow dot materials only available from library workstations) for students who use assistive technology.

Need help? Get in touch

The Libraries are here to help you in your studies. If you need any help, do get in touch either in-person in a reading room, via our Live chat service (operated by real librarians that you may meet when visiting in-person), via email or phone call. Depending on your query, the Subject Librarians or Disability Liaison Librarians will be happy to help you. On the Services for Disabled Readers page you will find a link to book a Teams meeting with the Disability Librarian (that’s me!)

Further Information

Finally, if you need further information on disability support in the Bodleian Libraries, please visit our webpage. Alternatively, you can always contact me at disability.librarian@bodleian.ox.ac.uk with any queries you may have. I am also available on the telephone at 01865 283 861.

Thank you

Thank you very much for listening to this presentation and I hope you enjoy using the Bodleian Libraries.