Study material repository opens up new opportunities for students and lecturers

The project of creating a study material repository at Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) has been completed, and the structured accumulation of study materials in this digital database has started. The repository contains study materials developed at RSU for study purposes or obtained as a result of cooperation. These include presentations, video lectures, training videos, infographics, digital interactive scenarios, digital books, etc.

The repository enables lecturers to save resources by sharing materials, as well as to be inspired by and learn from colleagues' best practices. Students not only have access to the contents of their programme, but also have the opportunity to broaden their knowledge by learning in areas not directly related to their programme of study. 

The repository has been continuously improved, as the uploading of study materials is and will be continuous.

The number of materials will only increase and the collection will become more and more valuable. We asked Kristīne Kuzņecova, who is the study material repository administrator at RSU, how the repository is currently working and how much interest students and lecturers have in it.

‘The accumulation of materials is currently underway, as well as the refinement of various activities related to the maintenance of the repository. Since the project was completed and fully operational in the spring, I have granted the right to upload material to 13 RSU staff members. I have led three consultations on the use of the repository and the possibilities of uploading materials,’ Kuzņecova explains.

‘When working with the repository, it is important to be familiar with the details that are necessary to make the repository fully usable and easy to understand.

For example, in order to add an author to a study material, the system must have information about that author beforehand. So far, I have added information about around 140 authors, both Latvian and international.

Working with the repository requires detailed knowledge and experience, which I am currently accumulating. I have prepared a user manual so that students and lecturers know exactly how to describe the material, add a thumbnail and assign viewing rights for this material. It is up to the person uploading to decide who the target audience is for the material they are uploading.

Currently, 27 materials are visible to anyone who opens the repository website. However, 303 materials have already been available for those who log in with an RSU password. Uploaders are the ones to determine access rights. Among the uploaded materials are 192 video recordings, 84 simulation scenarios and clinical case descriptions, collections of photographs from 10 events organised by the Medical Education Technology Centre, eight questionnaires for psychology research, etc.’

Kuzņecova encourages students and lecturers to make active use of the repository and to ask questions if they arise. 

The materials in the repository are structured by topic and collection, so that the necessary information can be found quickly and easily. Filters allow you to search by author, year of creation, keywords, or format, e.g. video, book or presentation. Searching with filters allows you to narrow down the information and quickly find the study material you need.

The RSU study material repository is being developed within the ESF project Improvement of the management process and study content modernisation at Rīga Stradiņš University (No. 8.2.3.0/18/A/011).