Staff Profile

  • Joanne is an Academic Librarian working with the Northampton Business School. She is based at Park Library and her key responsibilities include;

    • delivering integrated teaching and learning programmes in information skills for students and academic staff
    • day-to-day management of the materials budget for the Northampton Business School
    • building collections in support of learning, teaching and research activities of the Northampton Business School
    • liaising both formally (via School and Course Boards) and informally with staff of the Northampton Business School on learning support issues
    • promoting departmental services to students and staff
    • representing the department proactively in institutional meetings and liaising as appropriate with other departments on learning support issues.

    Background

    Joanne has worked in Librarianship and Information Management in Higher Education for ten years. Following completion of her first degree, she spent 5 years working as an Information Assistant, and then Information Researcher, in the Institute of Management’s (now Chartered Managers’ Institute) ‘Management Information Centre’. During this time, Joanne completed an MA Library and Information Studies on a part-time basis at University of Central England in Birmingham. After leaving the Institute of Management, she worked at the Chamber of Commerce Training and Enterprise (CCTE) advising individuals about local training opportunities through a free helpline. When the Training and Enterprise Councils were dissolved, Joanne’s role was transferred to the Learning and Skills Council, where she worked for a short time before joining the library team at the University of Northampton in 2001. Joanne has completed the Post Graduate Certificate in Teaching in Higher Education (PGCTHE) through the School of Education whilst working at the University.

  • Alongside academic staff and the library team, Joanne provides skills sessions to support students’ subject specific resource and information needs.

  • Joanne is interested in how libraries support international students and lead an ‘International and Distance Learners’ strategic team within Library and Learning Services. She is especially concerned with how academic librarians can promote resources and improve the support offered to international students on top-up and overseas programmes. Other research interests include the use of ebooks within libraries and, together with her colleague, Charlotte Heppell, Joanne is researching the student experience of patron-driven ebooks at the University.

  • For publications, projects, datasets, research interests and activities, view Joanne Farmer’s research profile on Pure, the University of Northampton’s Research Explorer.