Welcome to the December 2024 issue of our e-books for FE newsletter. Here’s a library-themed anagram quiz (with clues) to celebrate the end of term:
colleague nation (dunno, search me!)
ale pie quest (the golden instruction)
alien plebs (don’t get stuck on this)
medical weedy (different class)
Ebook Central Research Assistant
At the end of February 2025, Ebook Central will feature an AI tool ProQuest have branded Research Assistant, which summarizes key learning points at chapter level. We at Jisc will be working closely with ProQuest as a development partner, and will be providing updates in the coming months. It is important to note that it is within each institution’s control whether to turn on this feature in Ebook Central – this allows you to liaise with teaching staff to ensure you feel this feature is right for your institution at this time.
The ProQuest information summary is as follows:
Generative AI-powered tool coming soon to the Ebook Central platform
Enhance student learning and streamline research with the Ebook Central™ Research Assistant, a responsibly developed AI tool designed to support academic success. The assistant helps students quickly review, analyse, and explore ideas while building research and critical thinking skills. From summarizing key takeaways to diving into complex topics, it boosts confidence and efficiency at every stage of the research process. With insights generated exclusively from trusted, scholarly content on Ebook Central, you can rely on the academic integrity of its responses.
Designed to support research and learning, not replace it.
- Streamline research: complete assignments more efficiently and confidently by quickly evaluating the relevance of each chapter to research or assignment needs.
- Boost information literacy and research skills: gain a deeper understanding of complex topics, improving comprehension, retention, and the ability to analyse and apply ideas effectively.
- Increase engagement: get the most out of the library’s Ebook Central collection. The assistant encourages deeper reading and expands research by finding relevant books on key concepts.
Koha library system demo sites
If you are curious to see how the Koha library management system works from a library staff perspective, there are multiple demo sites available in which you can navigate around the whole system, add records, run reports, etc., and get a feel for all the functionality. The public online catalogues are also linked to each site. Go to https://koha-community.org/demo/ and log in with the usernames and passwords shown in the Login column.
Top 20 users in November 2024
Well done to all organisations who reached a spot in the top 20.
| Rank | Organisation | User sessions |
| 1 | Hills Road Sixth Form College | 5,913 |
| 2 | Brighton, Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College | 4,748 |
| 3 | New City College London | 4,146 |
| 4 | West Herts College | 2,973 |
| 5 | Varndean College | 2,852 |
| 6 | The Trafford College Group | 2,814 |
| 7 | The Sixth Form College Farnborough | 2,810 |
| 8 | Richard Huish College | 2,695 |
| 9 | Northampton College | 2,341 |
| 10 | Godalming College | 2,203 |
| 11 | Newcastle and Staffordshire College Group | 1,902 |
| 12 | The College of Richard Collyer in Horsham | 1,889 |
| 13 | South Thames College | 1,622 |
| 14 | East Kent College Group | 1,586 |
| 15 | West Nottinghamshire College | 1,517 |
| 16 | Activate Learning | 1,416 |
| 17 | Peter Symonds College | 1,386 |
| 18 | HRUC | 1,318 |
| 19 | South Eastern Regional College | 1,256 |
| 20 | Solihull College and University Centre | 1,255 |
Mergers / closing accounts: If your organisation has recently merged with another, ProQuest may not have the most current merger information and your merger may not be reflected in the usage data. You may also need to close an e-book account after a merger. Please email customerservice@proquest.com and Cc Jacqueline.Stringer@Clarivate.com with the relevant details.
Top 20 titles in November 2024
| Rank | Title | User sessions |
| 1 | NCFE CACHE Technical Level 3 Extended Diploma in Health and Social Care | 7,837 |
| 2 | AQA A-level Physics (Year 1 and Year 2) | 3,860 |
| 3 | BTEC Nationals Business Student Book 1: For the 2016 Specifications | 3,835 |
| 4 | AQA A-Level Geography (5th edition) | 3,530 |
| 5 | BTEC Nationals Health and Social Care Student Book 1 | 3,452 |
| 6 | BTEC Nationals Applied Science Student Book 1 | 3,376 |
| 7 | NCFE CACHE Level 2 Extended Diploma in Health and Social Care | 3,076 |
| 8 | OCR A-level Law Second Edition | 2,711 |
| 9 | WJEC Level 3 Applied Certificate and Diploma Criminology (revised edition) | 2,642 |
| 10 | AQA A-level Business | 2,578 |
| 11 | NCFE CACHE Level 2 Diploma for the Early Years Practitioner | 2,337 |
| 12 | BTEC Nationals Business Student Book 2: For the 2016 Specifications | 2,291 |
| 13 | BTEC National Construction Student Book: For the 2017 Specifications | 1,972 |
| 14 | Education and Early Years T-Level: Early Years Educator | 1,960 |
| 15 | Pearson Edexcel A-level UK Government and Politics (sixth edition) | 1,842 |
| 16 | BTEC Nationals Sport and Exercise Science Student Book | 1,824 |
| 17 | NCFE CACHE Level 3 Child Care and Education (Early Years Educator) | 1,744 |
| 18 | BTEC National Computing Student Book | 1,519 |
| 19 | AQA Psychology for A-level Year 1 and AS Student Book | 1,495 |
| 20 | Pearson Edexcel A-level Global Politics | 1,490 |