Digital transition of teaching-learning resources at Spanish universities

Abstract

The objective of this study is to establish which document types are considered essential for learning at universities and, therefore, are recommended to students. Additionally, an analysis was conducted to determine if electronic resources are a part of the recommended reading lists for the various subjects across the curriculum and what exactly their weight is in relation to other document types. The current syllabi for the 2014-2015 academic year were accessed for each subject in ten majors offered at three Spanish universities: University Carlos III of Madrid, University of León, and University of Salamanca. The primary finding is the lack of homogeneity in the number of references by university and major which is due to the disparity observed as far as the number of references per subject. Books are the resources most frequently suggested in all of the curricula analyzed. The scarce use in course syllabi of journal articles and, particularly, conference papers, is significant. Links to institutional websites predominate, whereas the presence of electronic books is residual despite a proven inclination to prioritize recommendations for monographs and textbooks. The presence of electronic journals and electronic articles is also marginal. It is evident that traditional document types continue to be recommended despite the increase of electronic documents in academic libraries´ collections.