March 23, 2022, by Emma

You Said, We Did – how we’ve responded to your feedback

We love feedback at University of Nottingham Libraries.

We love hearing what you love about our services and spaces also how we might be able to make changes to better support you during your time at Nottingham.

We regularly make changes based on feedback received through surveys, emails, social media, whiteboards in libraries, conversations with Library staff and more. However you share your feedback, it helps us to make continual improvements to our services, spaces, support and resources.

Here’s just some a handful of the changes we’ve made over the last couple of years based on student feedback.

Do you have feedback? Look out for the boards in Hallward and George Green libraries, visit the Have Your Say webpage or email UA-Libraries-Comms@nottingham.ac.uk. 

Access to the library

You said you wanted to be able to use the library even if you forget your University Card ​

Since December, we have been trialling a new process which allows students and staff to use the ‘Username‘ tile of the MyNottingham app for access to the library if they forget their card​.

Simply load up the MyNottingham app and show the Username tile to the member of staff at the gate for entrance.

It is still important to bring your card to borrow books but using the MyNottingham app means you will always be able to access the library to study, print or pick up a coffee from the cafe!

How to use the MyNottingham app for access to the library

More spaces to study

You told us you wanted more spaces to study ​ 

We introduced drop-in and bookable ‘Study here‘ spaces outside of libraries to provide additional, dedicated space during term-time and exams​. 

Alternative spaces include:

• Jubilee Campus – Exchange Building and Business School South
• Sutton Bonington – Dining Hall within The Barn

Find out more about our Study here spaces

Developing your digital skills

Only 23% of you said you had been given a chance to assess your digital skills​ ​

In September, we launched the Digital Student module on Moodle that helps you to assess your skills and develop the key digital competencies for your studies.  

More ebooks

You told us you wanted access to ​more ebooks​ for your studies and research. 

Last year we increased our spend ​on ebooks by over 40%! In addition to the almost one million print books, our collection contain: 

• 300,000 purchased ebooks
• 300,000 online historical books and texts 
• 180,000 journal titles 

Your module reading list is a great place to start for links to the recommended reading, alternatively search direct for titles and keywords on NUsearch.  

Do you need access to a title that isn’t in our collections? Let us know.  

Help with finding resources

You told us you find it difficult to navigate our online resources​ 

To make it easier for you to find online material for your course and wider reading, we created a range of digital learning ​resources to help you search for materials.  

These can be found from NUsearch and the Libraries website.

We also host a wide range of weekly webinars on topics such as using NUsearch, literature searching, using databases and more. Visit our events calendar for a full list. 

Opening times during Ramadan

Students told us that our term-time extended opening hours were too restrictive during Ramadan.

We extended opening hours (until 4am, Sunday – Thursday) at three libraries from 28 April to 12 May 2021 to support students observing Ramadan​. 

In 2022, six of our libraries will be open until 4am from 3 – 7 April. After term finishes on 8 April, all libraries will be in vacation opening hours. 

Find out more about our extended opening hours for 2022

High-demand loan periods

You told us our two-day loan period for high-demand items was too restrictive for students with specific learning differences​

Most books in our libraries are issued for seven days. These automatically renew every day (for another seven day period) and are only due back if they are requested by someone else.

If a book is requested by more than one person, it gets issued for two-days only to provide access to as many students as possible.

Feedback from students told us that this two day period was too restrictive for students with specific learning differences, so in September 2021, we extended the high-demand loan period to four days for students eligible for Enhanced Library Support​.

Find out more about borrowing books

Promoting our services for disabled students

You told us you didn’t know what support is available for disabled students from Libraries​

We offer a wide range of services and support including dedicated study spaces, assistive technology and hardware as well as our alternative formats service. Some services require a referral from the University’s Disability Support Service but many services are available on-demand to everyone.

During Disability History Month we promoted our Enhanced Library Support service and improved the webpage to better communicate these services year-round​.

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