Libraries Supporting Transition: Developing a Pre-Arrival Open Educational Resource (OER) for Taught Master’s Students

Abstract

The establishment of the Cambridge Information Literacy Network at the University of Cambridge has provided opportunities to explore how libraries in Cambridge can contribute to institutional strategic goals. A key output of the Cambridge Information Literacy Network is CamGuides, an open educational resource (OER) for taught Master’s students regardless of discipline, background, or mode of study. CamGuides aims to support transition to postgraduate level study within a student’s specific discipline, focusing on the key academic, information, and digital practices with which Master’s students commonly engage. Influenced by sociocultural theories of learning and a practice-based approach to information and digital literacies, CamGuides represents an innovative attempt to provide pre-arrival support for a heterogeneous student population. This article will outline the key stages in the development of CamGuides, including its rationale, pedagogical approach, development, and the ongoing process of reviewing its content and method of delivery.

Keywords:

• Information literacy
• Master’s students
• open educational resources
• pre-arrival
• situated learning
• transition

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all the staff of the Cambridge Information Literacy Network for their support for CamGuides, and particularly Rose Giles and Amy Theobald for their work to review the resource.