Important Updates for the 25/26 Cycle

On January 12th 2026, a new bookmarking workflow was rolled out to all Talis users. This is the process by which users create new bookmarks (from the Library Catalogue or the web) to populate their reading lists. The Library Reading List Team has been testing this for several months and have found the new workflow to be very user friendly and a huge improvement on the previous method.

• This new workflow will overwrite the old one, meaningexisting users do not need to reinstall, update or install a new bookmarking extension.
• After pressing the bookmarking extension button, users are now shown a preview of what the bookmark will look like:

• Users can then Save in My Bookmarks or Edit resource (via the usual edit metadata view), if needed.

• The edit metadata view has also had a refurb with the option to use the Lookup feature now in a banner along the very top and with all the different fields users can add to the metadata appearing as buttons on the right-hand side of the screen.
• The different categories of fields within the metadata now appear grouped together nicely (for example “Contributors”, “Identifiers”, in the image below):

• Now when users press Save to My Bookmarks, they are then shown a confirmation that the bookmark has successfully been created, as well as the option to add the bookmark to one of their saved lists on the right side of the screen.

• Once a list has been selected onto which to add the bookmark, users are shown the usual options regarding reading importance and positioning on the list.

• As before, once the bookmark is saved, users still have the option of adding it to their lists manually in the desired location at a later time.

If you’d like to know more, Talis has written a useful support article about the new workflow. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Library Reading List Team.

Scans should now be requested directly via the bookmarks on your reading lists. Just click on the 'Request Digitisation' option, which will send your request directly to the team at the Library. Please note that this replaces the old practice of requesting scans via the Note for Library on the bookmarks.

You can submit a digitisation request at any time throughout the cycle, but please try to make your requests before publishing your reading list if possible.

Scans from the previous cycle's lists will rollover automatically and shouldn’t need to be re-requested. Please use this feature to request chapter/sections scans and not for e-book requests.

For more detail on this process, please see Request Digitisation (Scans). For more information on what the Library can legally scan under the University's higher education licence, please see the Course Extracts page.

For Further Reading items we are continuing with the ‘on demand’ approach. So, if a Further Reading item on your list is not already in stock, we will either link to a purchase-on-demand e-book, automatically providing access to the title or, if the book is not available in this way, we will link to the 'Get It For Me' request service in the Note for Student on the bookmark. This will trigger an urgent order for the item, reserving it for the student.

Instructors: please do not use this form to request materials for your reading lists. Instead leave a Note for Library against the item requesting that we acquire it and then re-publish your list so that the Library is notified of the note left against the item.

This was first piloted for the 2024/25 cycle and proved very efficient. It enables the Library to focus staff resource at peak times on delivering essential and recommended readings for the start of teaching. We closely monitors this and continues to welcome user feedback.

From May 2025, list owners will be required to set a reading importance for all bookmarks, either when the item is added to a list or at the time of publishing the list.

You will still be able to change the set importances at any time when republishing. If you attempt to publish a list which contains items with unset importances, Talis will remind you to add these in.

Setting importances improves the reading list experience for all users:

• Helps students plan their reading: importances guide students’ learning by identifying readings which may need to be discussed in class, studied for exams or consulted when researching for assessments
• Ensures the Library provides sufficient resources by understanding anticipated demand: item importances, along with other factors such as the anticipated student number, inform the Library‘s purchasing decisions.

The Library recommends that the different importances are applied on your reading lists in the following way:

Essential Reading:Material that is core to the subject matter. Multiple references to the text will be made throughout the term and the resource must be read by your students.

Recommended Reading:Supplementary reading material that is read in addition to the Essential texts. Resources that support learning, research and broaden your student's understanding of the subject matter. Less references made to the text throughout module

Further Reading:Wider reading material that students may choose to explore to develop their interest in a subject or to undertake research for an essay, assessment or dissertation. Not required as part of the core subject matter.

For more guidance on using the different reading importances, as well as how the Library interprets them from an acquisitions perspective, please see Setting Reading ImportanceLink opens in a new window.

Should your reading list contain items which are out of print, the Library will try to source these titles from approved suppliers, as well as second-hand suppliers and resellers. However, please note that due to the additional work and cost involved, should a large number of items on your reading list be very difficult to obtain, the Library will seek to work with you in collaboration with your Research & Academic Support Librarian to discuss which titles should be prioritized or to suggest alternative options.

The Library ontinues to use aut-upgrades for additional e-book licenses, now available on both the Proquest & Ebsco platforms. This means that in many cases extra access (if available) will be automatically triggered based on simultaneous usage.