<div class="fr-view"><p><em>Without The Open University, there would be no OU Students Association; our histories are interwoven, and we have shared the goal of improving the educational journey of OU students for the past five decades. </em></p>
<p><em>That is why throughout April in the year of the Association&#8217;s<a href="https://www.oustudents.com/whats-on/50/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> 50th anniversary</a>, we will be celebrating the collaborative work we do with the OU. This crucial work is always for the benefit of our students. We want to talk about why, in 2022, our partnership is stronger than ever.</em></p>
<p><img class="fr-fic fr-dib wp-image-11410" src="https://thehootstudents.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/50th-collaboration-April-1.png" data-id="11410" /></p>
<p><span lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="none">The Open University has been providing world-class education to students in prison for over 40 years. As of March 2019, there were approximately 1,800 students on more than 130 courses in 150 prisons. Some students in secure environments (SiSE) have access to the OU’s Virtual Campus (intranet site) and printed materials, depending on the facilities available at their prison or health facility; however, independent study materials found through the Library are not available via these routes. Students were therefore reliant on their personal tutors or educational officers to obtain independent study material for them with varying results.</span><span data-ccp-props="{";201341983";:0,";335559739";:160,";335559740";:259}"> </span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="none">To overcome this obstacle, in late 2018 the OU Students Association suggested a student volunteer scheme whereby the OU student in a secure environment would send an anonymised request detailing what information resources they were looking for and a volunteer student would then carry out the research on their behalf. The student volunteers would all be experienced students studying at the OU who would receive training from the SiSE Team, the Association and the Library before they answered research enquiries. Ongoing library support would also be provided for the volunteers. All those involved managed to get the service up and running in just 3 months, being piloted back in January 2018 with students in prison studying at Level 3 and above. </span><span lang="EN-US" data-contrast="none">There was rapid take-up of the service, with 27 requests being received within the first 4 weeks! </span><span data-ccp-props="{";201341983";:0,";335559739";:160,";335559740";:259}"> </span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="none">Due to the huge success of the pilot, it was decided to provide the service as part of the Library’s business as usual and extend it to include SiSE studying atâ¯Levelâ¯2. </span><span lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="none">The service has now been in place for nearly 4 years and, in total, has received 300 requests!</span><span lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="none"> </span><span data-ccp-props="{";201341983";:0,";335559739";:160,";335559740";:259}"> </span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="none">Considering there was a prison-wide lockdown in 2020, this is an impressive number and is a huge testament to the collaborative effort of the teams involved, including the Association, SiSE Team, Library staff, Level 2 and above students, and Warehouse Team. </span><span data-ccp-props="{";201341983";:0,";335559739";:160,";335559740";:259}"> </span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="none">Feedback from the volunteerâ¯studentsâ¯andâ¯students in prisonâ¯indicatedâ¯how much the service is valued. </span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="none">One SiSE commented:</span><span data-ccp-props="{";201341983";:0,";335559739";:160,";335559740";:259}"> </span></p>
<blockquote><p><span lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="none"><span data-ccp-parastyle="Quote">“Thank you for sending out this new service for OU study research. I am very grateful that this is a viable support to my learning. I wish you the very best of health wealth, joy and spirit and look forward to receiving the response to my requests.”</span></span><span data-ccp-props="{";201341983";:0,";335551550";:2,";335551620";:2,";335559685";:864,";335559737";:864,";335559738";:200,";335559739";:160,";335559740";:259}"> </span></p></blockquote>
<p><span lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="none">Studentâ¯volunteersâ¯were particularly appreciative of the training sessions they received from the Library, commenting that they would have benefited from attending these to support their own studies as it improved their search skills.</span><span data-ccp-props="{";201341983";:0,";335559739";:160,";335559740";:259}"> </span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="none">Once a larger cohort of students have used the service, the Library plans to carry out further analysis to determine the true impact of the service. All teams involved are also involved in ongoing discussions around how they can help SiSE to develop their digital skills, which are essential to function effectively within the work and personal environment, without having open access to the internet.</span><span data-ccp-props="{";201341983";:0,";335559739";:160,";335559740";:259}"> </span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="none">If you’d like to learn more about how the OU is supporting students in secure environments, visit the </span><a href="https://www.open.ac.uk/secure-environments/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="none"><span data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink">SiSE Website</span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="none">.</span><span data-ccp-props="{";201341983";:0,";335559739";:160,";335559740";:259}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-ccp-props="{";201341983";:0,";335559739";:160,";335559740";:259}">If you&#8217;d like to get involved with the Association through volunteering, keep an eye on the opportunities available on the <a href="https://www.oustudents.com/get-involved/volunteer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">volunteering website. </a></span></p>
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<p><span lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="auto"><em>The Library Services website is your gateway to a wide range of online information resources. You can use it to find out more </em></span><em><a href="https://www.open.ac.uk/library/about" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="none"><span data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink">about the Library</span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="auto">, search our extensive </span><a href="https://www.open.ac.uk/library/library-resources" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="none"><span data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink">online collection of Library resources</span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="auto"> (including eBooks, journals, databases and more), and explore our </span><a href="https://www.open.ac.uk/library/training-and-events" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="none"><span data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink">programme of live online training sessions</span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="auto"> that are available to all OU students and staff. Or indeed, come and speak with us at the </span><a href="https://www.open.ac.uk/library/help-and-support/contacting-the-helpdesk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="none"><span data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink">Helpdesk</span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="auto">: we look forward to it.</span></em><span data-ccp-props="{";201341983";:0,";335559739";:160,";335559740";:259}"><em> </em></span></p>
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