Electronic Resources in the Virtual Learning

DiVLE Programme overview
By 2001 the benefits to learners of building links between digital libraries
and VLEs were clear; however, the practicalities of doing this and the
problems it might bring were less so. With this in mind, the JISC DiVLE
Programme aimed to explore the technical, pedagogical and
organisational issues of linking digital library systems and VLEs.
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The
programme provided:
… a vision for an ideal fully integrated online learning environment,
which included seamless, one-stop access, all library functions online,
and individualisation for the learner, flexibility for the teacher,
universal accessibility and ease of use. (JISC, 2001a) 
Its specific objectives were to:
■
explore the issues of linking VLEs with local institutional digital
library resources and services;
■
implement curriculum focused pilots, based upon units of learning,
linking VLEs to digital library systems;
■
provide models and guidelines for other institutions about the cultural
and organisational issues related to joining up these systems in an
institution.
Nine projects were funded that undertook short practical explorations of
linking digital libraries and VLEs and examined the impact on staff,
students and the organisation of learning and teaching issues. The tenth
project was funded to undertake an overall evaluation and review of the
projects in relation to the technical, pedagogical and organisational
issues. More information about each project is available on the JISC
DiVLE website or on the project’s own websites which are listed below;
however, the final evaluation project is perhaps of greatest significance
and this is examined in some detail. The ten projects funded under this
programme included the following.
DELIVER
Digital Electronic Library Integration within Virtual EnviRonments:
http://www.angel.ac.uk/DELIVER. Hosted jointly at the London School
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E-learning and the digital library
of Economics and De Montfort University, with partnerships from
WebCT, Blackboard, Talis and Sirsi, this project was particularly
concerned with designing and implementing practical software tools for
end-users and administrators of institutional VLEs and library
management systems to facilitate the consistent creation and easier use
of course-based resource (reading) lists.
DEVIL 
Dynamically Enhancing VLE Information from the Library:
http://srv1.mvm.ed.ac.uk/devilweb/index.asp. The University of
Edinburgh was the lead partner in this project along with the Open
University and Project Angel. The project examined the means for
identifying resources of interest to tutors in creating courses and built on
existing work to provide academic staff with tools to permit dynamic
data integration between library and other resources and VLE-based
courses for a variety of media.
EnCoRe
Enriching Courses with Resources: http://lib.derby.ac.uk/encore/
encore.html. EnCoRe was a partnership between librarians and learning
technologists at the University of Derby and Openly Informatics. Derby
has probably the largest collection of copyright-cleared locally digitised
readings in UK higher education to supplement an extensive range of
electronic information sources. Meanwhile, the in-house virtual learning
environment had almost 500 modules using technology support. Openly
Informatics’ commercial electronic linking package, 1Cate (one Click
Access to everything), was used to further develop and integrate
electronic resources within an educational context.
Evaluation of links between VLE and digital libraries in a
new medical school