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DBS Learning Resources
This document describes the learning resources available to Learners at DBS. Further details
can be obtained from the relevant departments or via the links embedded in this document.
Table of Contents
Library Services & Facilities ...2-6
Careers ...6-8
Employer Liaison ...8-9
Disabilities Services ...9
Student Services ...9-11
IT ...12-14
Facilities ...14-16
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Library Services & Facilities
Introduction
The role of DBS Library is to support the College’s programme of teaching and research by identifying and providing essential information services and learning resources to staff and students. The Library service comprises an Undergraduate Library at Aungier Street and a Postgraduate/Law Library at Dame Street. The Library collection includes 66,000 print and audio-visual items and 85 print journals. To ensure that students can access materials with ease, the Library acquires one core text for every ten students. Books are placed across a variety of lending periods, 3 day, 1 week and 2 week. A reference only copy of key textbooks is also acquired as well as an e-copy where available which provides access for 400 concurrent users.
DBS Library has evolved into a Library without walls, with a rapidly expanding e-book collection (1,200 titles), 45,000 full-text e-journals and an extensive portfolio of electronic databases. Off campus access to all of the Library’s electronic resources is available 24 hours a day from anywhere in the world. The Library Catalogue, e-books and EBSCO databases can also be searched via mobile devices.
Both Libraries are fully RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) enabled. Students issue and return books and other Library materials independently via three self-issue stations. 95% of circulation transactions are now performed by students leaving staff free to concentrate on complex research enquiries.
Key Features
‘Ask a Librarian’ Service
‘Ask a Librarian’ provides Library users with a virtual reference service via live chat on the Library website during opening hours. Over 3,000 conversations with Library staff were recorded in the 2010/2011 AY.
Athens Authentication
The Library subscribes to the Open Athens access management system. Open Athens provides students with one login to all of the Library’s electronic resources which enables seamless access to key Library resources.
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Current Awareness Activities
The Library has its own internal marketing group which engages in a number of activities to promote Library resources across all subject areas. Marketing initiatives include:
A monthly Library, Careers and Student Services Newsletter is circulated to all staff and students and is posted to the Library website.
The Library exploits a number of Web 2.0 applications including a staff blog, a student blog on the Library website and Facebook, Delicious and Twitter presence.
Many of the Library’s online databases facilitate the setting up of personalised journal and subject alerts.
Contents pages of all print journals are photocopied and circulated to staff bi-annually.
eSource - The DBS Institutional Repository
DBS Library has established eSource- the Institutional Repository which aims to digitally showcase some of the intellectual output of DBS staff and students. All dissertations of grade 2.1 and higher qualify for inclusion and a project to digitise all hard copy legacy dissertations is underway. Academic staff have submitted their work and it is also hoped that we can maintain an archive of first class coursework from previous years for student use and for benchmarking purposes.
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Information Skills
A programme of Information skills classes runs on a weekly basis throughout the academic year. These classes are open to all students, with separate classes for Arts, Business and Law students. The programme of classes includes:
Writing Assignments and Referencing
Preparing a Literature Review for Dissertation Finding Books, Articles and More
Zotero Workshop – Reference Management Software
Classes are delivered by the dedicated Information Skills Librarian in a classroom or computer room setting. The schedule of classes is available on the Library website and Moodle and students are advised to book a place in a class via the Library website.
The Information Skills Librarian has expanded and formally integrated information literacy activities across all academic programmes. In the 2011/2012, 74 embedded Information Skills sessions were delivered to both full-time and part-time students at the request of Faculty. 52 induction sessions for new students (varying from 10 minute short inductions to 1 hour inductions which included a tour and an interactive session) were also delivered.
Library Opening Hours
9am to 10pm Monday to Thursday 9am-9pm Friday evening
9.30am to 5pm Saturday
Opening hours increase to seven days per week including bank holidays for the two months prior to the examination period. Opening hours on Sundays and bank holidays are 11am to 5pm.
Opening hours remain extensive during the summer with Saturday opening at the two Library sites and late opening until 10pm four evenings per week alternating between the Aungier Street and Dame Street locations.
Library Resources for Students with Disabilities
Students may listen to e-books available on the Dawsonera platform as well as to html articles on EBSCO databases. The Library offers magnification software (Virtual Magnifier) and text to audio software (Readplease) and has produced a series of guides to this assistive technology. The loan
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period for students with disabilities has been doubled. The Information Skills Librarian offers a twice weekly drop-in session for students with disabilities.Quality Assurance
The Head Librarian sits on the Academic Board and the Schools Executive of DBS. The Library also undertakes a number of activities to ensure the on-going improvement of its services and resources. Library users’ feedback informs all of these initiatives.
The Library, Careers and Student Services Committee comprises student and academic representatives from Arts, Law and Business, the IT Manager and with key LCSS staff. The LCSS Committee is chaired by the Head of Library, Careers and Student Services.
The Library conducts an annual survey each year. The survey is completed online by Library users via the Library website. The Library also conducts periodic surveys to obtain feedback about recent developments, e.g. survey of users’ attitudes to RFID and self-issue technology, April 2011.
The Library’s Quality Manual which contains a student charter and a range of key performance indicators is published on the Library website.
DBS Library Service Overview
Number of staff 20 (12 full-time and 8 part-time). 10 staff members have professional library qualifications. The majority of staff members have personal membership of the Library Association of Ireland. The Law Librarians also have personal membership of the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians (BIALL).
Institutional Membership
Library Association of Ireland, The Acquisitions Group of Ireland; TCD Information Service; The Irish Institute of Taxation and the
ECCH Clearing House.
Seating 315 seats (additional external study rooms in Aungier Street and
Castle House are advertised daily in the lead up to exams).
Study Rooms There are two collaborative study rooms in each Library. These
may be booked on the Library website.
Computers 45 student PCs (all equipped with the latest version of Microsoft
Office and SPSS. There is also a wireless network for students wishing to use their laptops.
Print/Audio-visual Collection
66,000 items Print Journal Collection 85
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E-journal Collection 45,000 full-text e-journals available via A-Z journal softwareNewspapers (Print) 5 daily titles and 4 weekend titles.
Electronic Resources Academic Search Complete, Business Source Complete,
Computer and Applied Sciences Complete, Emerald, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Dawsonera, Greenfile, Firstlaw, FT.com, Film and Television Literature Index with Full Text, Hospitality and Tourism Complete, JSTOR, Justis, Lexis Nexis (Law; News and Business), LISTA Full Text, Marketline, Mintel, MTA MOAC e-books, Pep Archive, PsycArticles, PsycInfo, Regional Business News; SOCIndex, WARC, Westlaw IE.
Inter-Library Loans
Services
British Library and TCD
Photocopiers 5 photocopiers. Photocopiers are also networked for printing. They also offer high quality colour photocopying and printing
Print Management
System
Papercut (incl.wireless printing)
Library Management
System
Heritage
On-line catalogue available at
http://www.heritage.dbs.ie
Three self-issue stations
Library Website http://library.dbs.ie/
Federated Search EBSCO’s Integrated Search. Currently trialling the EBSCO
Discovery Service.
Web 2.0 applications The Library has a student blog
http://dbslibrary.blogspot.com/ as well as pages on Facebook and Twitter.
Careers Services
Careers Office
The DBS Careers Office aims to provide a service, which is both helpful and relevant to students in launching and/or developing their careers. It provides students with the opportunity to discuss career issues in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere, facilitating the meeting of educational and career goals.
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The following are some of the services provided by the Careers Office to all DBS students:Advice on general career development, job search, CV and cover letter preparation, and interview techniques
Careers seminars, employability skill workshops and company presentations (held on a weekly basis)
A user friendly intranet site providing careers information, advertising current vacancies and allowing online booking of careers appointments
A Job Hunters’ Facebook page (which provides alerts for new vacancies and for careers events both inside and outside DBS)
A comprehensive Careers Library
These services are outlined to new students during the induction week. They are also advertised throughout the year on the Careers website and by posters and flyers distributed throughout the College buildings.
The Careers Office is staffed by a full-time Careers Advisor and an Employer Liaison Officer, who is responsible for student placements and links with local employers. The Office is open to students during both the academic term and vacation periods, and the Careers Advisor is available two evenings a week to facilitate part-time/evening students who may not be able to access the service during the day. Opening hours for appointments are listed on the Careers website and in the student handbooks. Requests and queries are also dealt with by email and telephone.
The Careers Office communicates with staff and students at DBS, through a combination of formal meetings (presentations, class meetings and student appointments) and informal mechanisms (ad hoc meetings with students and staff and through e-mail/phone queries). Staff are informed of upcoming events via e-mail and through the Careers section of the Library, Careers and Student Services Newsletter, which is circulated to all staff and students each month. The Careers Department publishes its annual calendar of events on the Careers intranet. The Careers Office staff report to the Head Librarian, who is a member of the Schools Executive Board, and present routine updates to the Schools Executive Board directly as required.
The Careers Office is committed to on-going professional development and to staying current with developments within the higher education and employment sectors to support graduate
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employment. In order to effectively evaluate the quality of the services provided by the Careers Office, the following provisions have been made:careers staff document any issues discussed during individual student consultations first destination reports are used as another effective basis for evaluation
a Careers Service questionnaire is distributed in February of each year, as part of the overall implementation of the student support services questionnaire. Critical issues identified are addressed quickly where possible. For longer-term issues, relevant factors are examined during the summer months and action plans put in place before the commencement of the new academic year.
Employer Liaison
The responsibilities of the Employer Liaison Officer include:Developing long-term links with employers
Promoting the DBS brand within the employer community, at open evenings and marketing events
Assisting all students studying on these courses in securing a suitable internship
Securing student work placements with employers, during students’ academic studies, and thereby enhance the student’s employability
Building relationships with employers and develop business through company visits, cold calling and networking
Assisting employers with the advertisement of vacancies aimed at DBS students across all disciplines.
Producing a strategic/development plan for the employment liaison service.
The aim of the Employer Liaison Officer is facilitate the inclusion of a work placement module into more courses at DBS, since practical work experience is considered a key element in a graduate’s future employability. Work placements have been secured with companies across a number of business areas including finance, marketing, legal, IT, HR, business development, customer service etc. Recruitment Software has been installed to support this activity.
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Students on programmes that do not currently have a work placement module may also liaise with the Careers Advisor to seek advice and guidance regarding internships and graduate employment. Courses which include an embedded internship module include the BA (Hons) in Business Studies, BA in Retail Management, Higher Diploma in Business, and US Study abroad programmes. This has recently been extended to include Law internships for students on the LLB (Hons) in Irish Law. The Employer Liaison Officer organises interviews and does interview preparation with students for their internships, and also provides support for both the employer and the student intern throughout the internship programme.The Employer Liaison Officer also assists the Careers Officer to organise College Careers’ events such as career fairs and talks.
Disabilities Support
The Disabilities Coordinator carries out a needs assessment with all new students with disabilities and is the contact for all issues relating to disabilities in the college. Services and activities of the Disabilities office include:
Special arrangements for exam and assessment are available including extra time, use of a laptop, reader or scribe and a spelling & grammar waiver.
A weekly drop in academic support session is available for all students who have registered for Disabilities Support
All staff who will be teaching students with disabilities are notified at the start of the academic year and given information sheets on the specific disability and suggestions on how they might adapt their teaching methods to be inclusive.
Guides to using assistive technology in the Library are available within the Library both in print and on the Library Website. The Library offers magnification and text to speech software. A dedicated information literacy librarian is also available to provide additional one to one tuition to students with disabilities on how to search and evaluate information, essay writing and referencing
The Disabilities Website allows prospective and current students to get an understanding of the supports available as a student of DBS and how to access them. It also highlights the role of the Disabilities Coordinator as first point of contact for any queries.
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Introduction
The aim of the Student Services Department is to provide assistance to students across a broad range of academic and non-academic areas. The service endeavours to help students negotiate their way through college by providing tangible personal supports as well as a range of social and sporting opportunities. There are three staff members in the Student Services Team: the Education and Welfare Officer, the Sports and Societies Development Officer and the International Student Services Officer. The SS Department maintains offices in both Aungier Street and Castle House, which also has an adjacent student common room.
Functions of the Student Services Department
The type of advice and assistance provided by the office can be divided into four main areas:
Academic Representation
The Education and Welfare Officer represents student interests in academic forums such as the Academic Board, Boards of Studies and the Library, Careers and Student Services Committee. She also acts as a student representative in student complaint hearings and in Academic Impropriety hearings. The Education and Welfare Officer also organises the training programmes for the class representatives on their appointment by the relevant class at the beginning of the academic year. The DBS Student Council has an elected membership of nine representatives, including President and Vice-President, and a constitution by which it is governed. The Council meets with class representatives and the Education and Welfare Officer regularly, and lobbies on behalf of students.
Welfare Information
The Education and Welfare Officer has received training and is experienced in providing information to students about a range of non-academic concerns including accommodation queries, financial difficulties, family/relationship distress, crisis pregnancy support, sexual health awareness and positive mental health. The Education and Welfare Officer is available to meet with students on a drop-in basis from 2 – 5pm each day and until 8pm one evening per week in order to facilitate part-time students. Students make also make one-on-one appointments. The Education and Welfare Officer maintains links to a number of support services, both locally and nationally, to which students may be referred. The Student Services Department has produced some useful guides to assist students and staff with non-academic issues which are available in the SS offices and on the SS website. These include the DBS Accommodation Guides, the International Students’ Quick Guide and the Directory of Welfare Services.
Professional Advice and Support
The Student Services Department facilitates a referral service to the Elmwood Centre for Counselling and Psychotherapy in Baggot Street to support students experiencing personal difficulties. This service is confidential and is available throughout the year. DBS will cover the cost of an initial three emergency sessions at Elmwood and students in crisis may request an additional three sessions in any one academic year. Students may request a counselling referral letter from any member of the SS Team. Alternatively, a staff member may request a letter on behalf of a student.
Sports and Societies
Dublin Business School is committed to aspiring to the highest standards in sports while also accommodating those who just want to keep fit. To ensure that every student has the opportunity to participate, DBS provides students with access to a wide variety of sporting activities from soccer to surfing and badminton to basketball. Registration for all sports clubs is free of charge. Training sessions and competitions are organised so that they do not clash with students’ timetables. The Sports and Societies Development Officer represents DBS at CUSAI (Colleges and Universities Sports Association of Ireland) events and forums.
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Students are encouraged to join any of the many societies available in DBS. These societies are all student-led. The Sports and Societies Development Officer provides administrative assistance to the societies as well as training for committee members at the beginning of each academic year. Societies offered to students include: the Christian Union, the Drama Society, the Film Society, the Law Society, the LGBT Society, the Malaysian Society, the Muslim Society, the Poker Society, the Psychology Society, and Radio DBS. To mark the College’s commitment to student societies DBS is now a full member of the Board of Irish College Societies (BICS) which qualifies two successful societies to compete in the annual BICS Awards.Events
During the year the Student Services Department produced a calendar of social events including Freshers’ Week, the Halloween Ball, RAG Week, the Annual Formal Ball and the Chinese New Year. These events are particularly important for the socialisation and introduction of new students to College life as well as providing existing students with a welcome break from their study routine.
International Student Services
The International Student Service Officer provides information and assistance to non-EU/EEA students in the following areas:
Registration and Orientation Immigration Services and Advice International Student Letters Accommodation
Further information can be available at www.dbs-students.com/International
DBS is informed by the ‘Code of Practice and Guidelines for the Provision of Education to International Students’ which has been published by the Irish Higher Education Quality Network (IHEQN www.iheqn.ie). This Code of Practice is intended to guide Irish HEIs – Universities, Institutes of Technology, other publicly funded institutions and the leading private colleges - in setting their own education provision arrangements for international students against agreed sector wide benchmarks.
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IT Department
“Any time, any place, any device”
Our aim is to provide efficient and professional IT support for all technology based services
throughout our college. We provide support to students both on and off campus and to all devices. Our support hours are:
Monday to Thursday 8am to 8.30pm Friday 8am-7pm
Weekend support hours 8am to 4.30pm
To ensure students can access all applications and IT equipment with ease, we communicate and demo all our services through inductions and run regular on-demand workshops.
Our support services include: Online ticketing system Phone support
Onsite one to one support from the IT office Workshops for Moodle\Email\Printing
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Labs
IT facilities for students comprise twelve computer labs:
Lab Location Type Size
CH2.1 Castle House PC 30
CH2.2 Castle House PC 30
CH2.3 Castle House Mac 25
CH2.9 Castle House PC 30 CH3.1 Castle House PC 30 CH3.2 Castle House PC 20 CH3.3 Castle House PC 22 CH3.4 Castle House PC 20 CH4.5 Castle House PC 21 CH4.6 Castle House PC 21 BSA2.2 Balfe St PC 20
Media Lab Balfe St Mac 12
PCs for students are provided in the two DBS libraries: the undergraduate library located in Aungier and the postgraduate library in Dame Street.
All software required for teaching is installed on the PC’s and Mac’s in the student network. All Students are provided with individual logons which provides access to:
our internal DBS network
temporary personal storage of 100Mb Moodle (the DBS VLE)
Heritage (the library system)
Papercut (the print management system)
We also provide students with Microsoft Outlook 365 accounts, which includes: Outlook in the cloud mail with 10Gb of online storage
Office in the cloud, including Word, Excel, Powerpoint and OneNote
7Gb of file storage in the cloud called Skydrive, this allows students and lecturers to share files and collaborate
Messenger (instant chat) in the cloud
The IT department has a Computer Services area on the Student Intranet which provides IT-related information. For example, how to connect to the student wireless, accessing student email and general support questions and answers.
Our IT policy in relation to student computing facilities and services is one of continuous improvement to cater for emerging academic needs (e.g. additional software) and to capitalise on developments in technology.
The IT department has a Computer Services area on the Student Intranet which provides IT-related information and support. For example, how to connect to the student wireless, accessing student email and general support questions and answers are featured.
Our IT policy in relation to student computing facilities and services is one of continuous improvement to cater for emerging academic needs (e.g. additional software) and to capitalise on developments in technology.
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Moodle
Moodle is the Virtual Learning Environment in Dublin Business School. It is an online community of lecturers and students at DBS. The development of Moodle underpins the teaching, learning and assessment strategy at DBS. This strategy is aimed at fostering a supportive and flexible learning environment that accommodates a variety of learning styles and supports students to become independent, active learners.
DBS eLearning does not replace classroom activity but enhances and enables the provision of a rich multimedia learning environment. Lecture notes are made available on Moodle to students, in addition to a variety of resources such as website links and tools such as forums, quizzes and creating personal databases and glossaries. All students now submit assignments online and lecturers provide feedback through the Moodle platform.
DBS Premises and Facilities
The Facilities Department is responsible for managing all building and maintenance work in the institution, along with providing and maintaining all furniture and equipment, including but not limited to:
Teaching Aids Desks and Seating Electricity and Heating
The Facilities Department along with the Academic Operations Department is responsible for programme and module timetabling and classroom scheduling across the entire College. The primary objective of the Facilities Department is to provide and maintain a safe, well-resourced physical environment, with appropriate availability and accessibility to all the institution’s staff and students. The department attempts to cater, and provide adequate resources, for the many different learning and teaching requirements of the institution. The department is also responsible for ensuring that all current Irish Health and Safety Legislation is strictly adhered to.
To maintain quality in the physical environment, all materials and equipment are sourced from reputable suppliers based on satisfactory references or prior experience. Supplier contracts are reviewed on a bi-annual basis to ensure the College obtains quality products and services that represent good value for money. Equipment audits are periodically carried out on all teaching-related equipment to ensure optimum performance. Defective or poorly performing equipment is repaired or replaced.
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Communication with students is facilitated by a series of notice boards each of which is dedicated to particular student groups. All students are made aware of which notice board relates to their programme and are actively encouraged to check it regularly. Inductions are provided to all new students on all aspects of Facilities, Security and Health & Safety. Student email addresses and telephone numbers are recorded in the College database and, where urgent last minute changes occur, students are contacted by these methods.Feedback from both staff and students alike is necessary to ensure quality is maintained in the provision of physical teaching and learning facilities. Feedback from lecturers is obtained on an on-going basis by means of Facilities comment sheets that are attached to the printed attendance sheets used by lecturers to record student attendance. The IT Helpdesk system can be used also for fault/ issue reporting and tracking. Lecturers are thus enabled to provide regular feedback on the physical facilities in each lecture room. Administration staff collate the facilities sheets and forward specific comments, requests or complaints to the Facilities Department. 90% of such issues reported are dealt with within a 24-hour period. More onerous issues may take longer to address due to access or financial constraints. When an improvement request cannot be immediately met, staff are advised as to the reason for the delay and a timeframe in which the work can be reasonably expected to be completed is given.
Feedback from students is gathered via the student surveys carried out towards the end of the first term. As well as inviting comments on programme and module relate matters, the questionnaires specifically provide an opportunity for students to convey their opinions as to the quality of the physical teaching and learning environment. The survey results are tabulated by the administration staff and forwarded to the Facilities Manager. Issues raised are addressed as a matter of priority and where necessary budget approval is sought for any more extensive and costly improvements. On-going refurbishment and redecoration programmes are in place to ensure that the physical environment remains conducive to the learning and studying process.
In 2009 the signing of a new lease on our building on George’s Street was completed. With significant investment we completed the fit-out in the summer of 2010 and occupied in September of the same year. DBS remains committed to its policy of continuous improvement of the physical School environment and all associated teaching and learning facilities.
IT Laboratories
There are 11 IT Labs, incorporating open access and specialised multi-media facilities available.
Lecture Theatres
DBS utilises over 50 lecture rooms across five buildings, each equipped with the latest AV equipment. These vary in size from 30 to 150 pax.
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Study Facilities
There are dedicated study-rooms made available especially around examination time and both libraries provide dedicated study rooms on an appointment basis.
Common Rooms
Common rooms include student break out areas, student canteen/lounge and prayer-room.
Facilities for Disabled Students
The main buildings on Aungier Street and George’s Street are wheel-chair accessible and specific issues can be addressed to provide the same level of service and access as able-bodied students.
