The makeup of a teaching and learning repository support network

Removing barriers to the contribution of digital teaching and learning materials to an Institutional Repository (IR) can be viewed as a way of encouraging and rewarding users. One way this can be achieved is by the provision of support to make the process as straightforward as possible. Interviews with academic teaching staff at Loughborough University have given an indication of the processes involved in creating digital teaching and learning materials and of making them available to others via Learn, the university’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). Support staff were consulted to provide an indication of the type of assistance that is available for the creation and dissemination of digital teaching and learning material. This network of support will be similar at other institutions but there may be local differences to take into consideration. This short report outlines support available at this institution for the creation of digital teaching materials. From this background information it is possible to suggest what assistance might be required for creating and depositing materials into a teaching and learning repository.