SOme Results from The Survey of Library Services for Distance Learning Programs James Moses 27 Mar 2008 13:58 UTC
Primary Research Group Inc. has published The Survey of Library Services for Distance Learning Programs (ISBN: 1-57440-098-3). The Survey of Library Services for Distance Learning Programs presents benchmarking data from more than 100 college libraries concerning their programs for serving their distance learning students. This 145 page report gives extensive data, broken out by size and type of college, for public and private colleges, and for U.S. and Non-U.S. libraries. Among the more than 500 tables of data presented is information about: data on the provision of serials to distance learners, the cost of shipping such materials, use of eBook and databases by distance learners; percentage of libraries that offer special classes for distance learners; future plans to offer information literacy courses to distance learners; policies on providing web pages, blogs or listservs that specifically serve the needs of distance learners; number of interactive online tutorials provided to distance learners; state of relations between the library and distance learning instructors and data on many, many other facets of distance learning librarianship. Some of the report’s many findings are that: • Just over half of the sample, 53%, maintained agreements with other libraries to offer services to other college's distance learners. • Colleges with a smaller number of students enrolled in distance learning tended to be more likely to have reciprocal agreements to provide library services to the distance learning students of other colleges. Over 90% of colleges with fewer than 250 FTE distance learners offered their library access or services to students enrolled in other colleges' distance learning programs, but just 47% of colleges with between 250 and 999 FTE distance learners reported the same, as did 63% of colleges with between 1,000 and 2,000 FTE distance learners and over 55% of colleges with over 2,000 FTE distance learners. • 78% of colleges with over 2,000 FTE distance learners had a liaison to the distance learning program, compared with 68.4% of colleges with between 1,000 to 2,000 FTE distance learners and 71% of colleges with fewer than 250 FTE distance learners. • Just over 11% of the sample had a specific disbursement or line item in the library budget for distance learning programs. • Exactly half of survey respondents offered special classes or training programs for distance learners. Non-U.S. libraries were 20% more likely than U.S. libraries to offer such classes. • Just over a third of the sample, 37%, offered any kind of formal non- credit or credit course worth 1, 2, or 3 credits on the subject of information literacy for either distance learners or traditional students. • The majority of the sample, over 72%, had a Web page on the library Website dedicated to the needs of distance learners. • Private colleges reported almost 3 times the mean number of interactive online tutorials as public colleges, as well as 3 times the median. • Seven in 10 respondents did not keep track of distance learners' usage of library-sponsored, posted or directed tutorials and guides to the library's resources, compared to traditional students. Over 14% reported that distance learners and traditional students used these tutorials and guides to the same extent, while over 11% reported that distance learners actually used these resources more than traditional students. • Over a third of the sample had an equivalent to the traditional orientation program for new distance learners. Over 40% of U.S. libraries and 16% of non-U.S. libraries had an orientation program for distance learners. • The mean shipping costs accrued annually by sending physical books, magazines and other educational materials to distance learners was $2,048, with a median of $75 and maximum of $19,850. • Just over half of the sample, over 52%, reported that they had no restrictions on the delivery of books, articles and other paper versions of intellectual property to distance learners, meaning that they deliver such materials even if the students live close to campus, • The vast majority of the sample, close to 89%, reported that the cost of shipping library materials to distance learners was generally paid for by the library This 145 page reports presents a broad range of data about the relationship between college libraries and distance learning programs. Data is broken out for public and private colleges, by enrollment size and by Carnegie Class, and other criteria, to allow for easier benchmarking. For a complete table of contents, excerpts and other information, visit our website at www.primaryresearch.com.