Layout 2 - University of Central Lancashire

UCLan library
takes stock
University works with Capita to enhance student experience.
UCLan’s library has always been the academic
heartbeat of the University. Multi-million pound
investments to enhance the facilities have led to
impressive rankings in national student
satisfaction surveys. Indeed, in the Times Higher
Education’s Student Experience Survey of 2011,
UCLan was ranked in seventh place nationally for
the quality and access of its library.
And now an innovative new investment that adds
new functionality to the library’s existing booksorting
technology means UCLan students can
access the facility’s yearly supply of 15,000 new
books at record speed. The implementation is the
first of its kind.
The technology uses radio frequency
identification (RFID) - the next generation barcode
- to improve stock management, automate the
purchasing and receipt of stock and improve the
quality of data held within the library
management system.
The newly automated scanning process means
that new books can be available to students
within two hours of them being delivered to the
library. The previous process could take days
rather than hours.
The enhancement to the UCLan student
experience was recognised through the BIC/CILIP
RFID in Libraries Innovation Award 2011.
Commenting on the new system, UCLan’s Jeremy
Andrew, Head of Library Services, said: “Libraries
are a core part of the student experience, as they
provide the resources and support needed to
underpin teaching, learning and research across
all subjects.
“Based upon our ideas, Capita provided us with
an innovative solution that was sophisticated and
flexible enough to pull a number of components
together and replace manual processes with
automated ones. The software also captures
additional management information relating to
items that are returned after being used within
the library. Overall, this has enhanced our
students’ experience, as they now have timely
access to all our resources. An additional benefit
is the new system has saved us a lot of time and
money along the way."
He added: “UCLan has invested £100 million
during the last five years to enhance the campus
environment, infrastructure and technological
support. This latest development is further
improving the high levels of student satisfaction
we are now receiving from users of our library
facilities - a vital factor as the university
marketplace becomes even more competitive.”
Jon Peart, Associate Director (Libraries) Capita,
said: “The library market for universities is a
changing landscape and one that is more
competitive than ever. We are working closely
with our partners to ensure we are a step ahead
of demand and can provide solutions that are
innovative, while being robust and trustworthy.”
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