Athabasca University Library:Services of a Global Proportion　

AthabascaUniversity(AU)isCanada’sOpenUniversity,specializingintheprovisionofdistanceeducationcoursesatthepost-secondarylevel.TheadmissionrequirementforundergraduatestudentsisthatapplicantstotheUniversitybe18yearsofage.Studentsmaytakecoursesleadingtoanumberofcertificatesanddegrees.AUoffers14universitycertificateprograms,2universitydiplomaprograms,13undergraduatedegreeprograms,and5graduateprograms.

Since1995theUniversityhaswitnesseddramaticgrowth.Courseenrolmentsoverthepast3-5yearshaveincreasedbymorethan50%.Undergraduateprogramregistrationshaveincreasedbymorethan41%;graduate-levelregistrationshaveincreasedbymorethan289%.Accessibilitytocourses,theabilitytoregisterincoursesyear-round,andfewerbarriertostudyingataconventionaluniversityarethemainreasonscitedbystudentsforstudyingatAthabascaUniversity.SurveysofAthabascaUniversitystudentsrevealthatthevastmajorityofstudentswouldrecommendAUtoafriendorcolleague.

Approximatelyone-halfofthestudentbodyiscomprisedofvisitingstudents–studentswhotakeanAUcoursewiththeintentoftransferringthecreditstoanotheruniversity.Reasonsfortransferringcreditsprimarilyarethatcoursesarenotalwaysofferedatthestudent'shomeinstitution,theremaybetimetablingdifficultiesatthestudent'shomeinstitution,orthatstudentschoosetotakeanindependentstudycourseinadditiontothecourseloadatthehomeinstitution,andwithouttheapparentrestrictionssurroundingattendanceinaclassroom.ThenumberofstudentswhoenrollinacourseatAUtotransferthecreditstotheirhomeinstitutionisalsoincreasingatasteadyrate.

ThenumberofAUgraduatesisincreasingyearbyyear–thenumberofcredentialsawardedin1999was38%higherthenthenumberofcredentialsawardedin1998.

Thegrowthrateincourseregistrationsisnowatanunprecedentedlevel,andislargelyattributedtothequalityofthelearningexperienceofferedtothestudent.High-qualitymaterialsarepreparedandprovidedinacompletepackagetostudentsuponenrolment.High-qualitysupportservicesareprovidedtoregisteredstudentandareincludedinthetuitionfee.AmongthevariousunitsintheUniversitythatprovidesupportservicestostudents,itisbelievedthatqualitylibraryservicescontributetothegrowthandsuccessofAthabascaUniversity.

Thefindingsin1997ofaseriesofteleconferencefocusgroupsconductedbyAULibrarysupportthenotionthatqualitylibraryservicesarevaluedandcontributetothesuccessfulcompletionofcourses.ParticipantsinthefocusgroupsreportedthattheywerehighlysatisfiedwithmaterialssuppliedfromtheLibraryandthatLibrarystaffareknowledgeableandhelpfuland“gotheextramile”tohelp.Studentsreportedthattheyappreciatedthatmaterialswere
senttothemcouldbereturnedtotheLibrarypostagepaidbytheUniversity.ParticipantsalsoconfirmedthenotionthatmoreAUstudentsareacquiringcomputerequipmentandobtainingconnectivitytotheInternet.MoreAUstudents,itisconcluded,wanttodomoreoftheirsearchingandresearching.AULibraryisworkingdiligentlyinthisregardbylicensingmoredatabasesforremoteaccessusingtheInternet.Moststudentsweresatisfiedwiththeavailableon-lineservicesandreportedthatsomestudentsmaybeunawareofsuchservices.Participantsalsoreportedthatthereisaneedformoreinstructionandexplanationoftechniquestoaccesstheavailableservices.

LibraryServices

AthabascaUniversityLibraryprovidesawiderangeoflibraryservicestostudentsregisteredinAUcourses.EveryregisteredstudentmaybenefitbythefollowingservicesprovidedtothembyAULibrary.

·StudentsmayborrowmaterialsfromAULibrary.

·StudentsmaysearchAUCAT(thelibrarycatalog)andotherinformationresourcesavailableontheAULibrary’swebpage.

·Studentsmayexpectlibraryinstructionandresearchassistance.

·Studentsmayrequestinterlibraryloan(ILL)forjournalarticles.

·AULibrarywillstrivetoprovidecomparableservicetostudentsoutsideofCanada.

Sincetheearly1970swhentheUniversitywasfoundedandtheLibrarywasoriginallydeveloped,theLibraryhasevolvedanddevelopedimmensely.AULibraryfirstoccupiedanareainthebasementoftheofficebuildinginEdmonton,Alberta.Thecollectionatthattimewasquitesmallandsupportedbutahandfulofcourses.In1984theUniversitywasrelocatedtotheTownofAthabasca,Alberta,andfunded(withaone-timegrant)todevelopacollectiontosupportcoursedevelopmentforundergraduatedegreeprograms.LibraryServicesnowoccupiesthelargestareainthecentralofficefacility.Thecollectionhasbeendevelopedtoabout130,000items;thesematerialsareusedbyfacultyinthepreparationanddevelopmentofcoursesandbyAUstudentswhoareregisteredinoneormoreofthemorethan400coursesofferedbytheUniversity.Mostrecently,whiledevelopmentoftheprintcollectioncontinues,theLibraryisaddingadditionalmaterialsinelectronicformat.Morethan40databasesaresubscribedto,andAUstudentsoncampusandoffcampus,acrossCanadaandaroundtheworld,cansearchandresearchthesematerialsontheirown.

In1999AULibrarypurchasedafullyintegratedandwebbasedlibrarysystem.Theimplementationisnearlycomplete,andnowmakesitpossibleforuserstosearchthecatalogandrequestmaterialsdirectlyfromthecatalog,toviewtheirpatronaccountandrenewtheirmaterials,andtosearchotherlibrarycatalogs,foruserstosearchonlinedatabasesfromthelibrary’swebpage.

Atthesametime,thenewsystemmakesitpossibleforAULibrarytocatalogInternetresources,tomounthelpsheetsanduserinformation,togathermoremeaningfulstatisticsregardinglibraryusage,andtoprovideameansforAUstudentstoconducttheirownresearchandretrievesomeinformationonline.

TheLibraryhasestablishedaservicebenchmarkofrespondingtoallrequeststotheLibraryInformationDeskwithin24hours,orthenextworkingday.Mostrecentdataindicatesthat,notonlyareresponsesmadetorequests,butthatabout85%ofthetimethematerialstofilltherequestaresentoutwithin24hoursorthenextworkingday.

Thetechnologiesandtheprocessesusedbylibrariesandinformationseekershaveevolvedovertheyearsandnowprovidenewandmoreefficientwaystoconductthecorebusinessofthelibrary.Manyoftheexpectationofouruser/students,howeverremainthesame.Studentscontinuetoexpecttoreceivehighqualityserviceandmaterialsinatimelymanner.Itmaybearguedthattheserviceexpectationsoflibraryusersarehigherthaneverbefore.

AtAthabascaUniversityLibrary,webelievethatwearekeepingpacewiththeexpectationsofourstudents.Atthesametimewearecognizantofthefactthatwe(theLibrary)mustcontinuetoprovideservicestothestudentwhoisnottechnologicallyadvancedandwhoforonereasonoranotherrequirelibraryservicesofamoretraditionalnature.ItisforthisreasonthattheAULibraryStrategicPlantotheYear2000articulatedfourpointsregardingthedevelopmentoflibrarysystemsandtheinformationgateway:

1.Userswhocannotconnecttoandsearchelectronicsourcesdirectlywillbenefitbylibrarystaffdoingsoontheirbehalf.

2.Userswhohavethefacilitytoconnectandsearch,butdonothavetheexpertise,willbenefitfromlibrarystaffteachingthemtodoso.

3.Userswhohavethefacilityandexpertisetoconnectandsearchwillbeguidedtoapplythistotheirsearchforscholarlyinformation.

4.UserswithahighlevelofexpertiseinelectronicsearchingwillbenefitfromsubscriptionsheldbyAUandlinkagestoelectronicresources.

ThedevelopmentoftheLibrary’swebpageasaninformationgatewaynowmakesitpossiblefortheonlinecatalog,onlinedatabases,selectedInternetresources,anduserhelpsheetstoallbebroughttogetherandaccessedfromonepoint.Thelibraryusermayinitiatethisaccesseitheron-oroff-campus.Thisaccessmayalsobeconductedonamediatedbasis.Awebproxyserverprovidesforautomaticpatronverificationandauthenticationandmakesitpossibleforuserswhohavecommercialinternetserviceproviderstoaccessthesystem.Thistechnologynowmakesitpossibleforusers,regardlessoftheirgeographiclocationtoaccessinformationwhenandwhereitismostconvenientforthemtodoso.Inthisregard,theLibraryisopen24X7,365daysayear.

Thissaid,andwhiletheLibraryisopenatalltimesandtoallauthenticatedusers,itisourexperiencethatusersmorethaneverrequirehelp--helpconnecting,helpselectinganappropriatedatabase,helprefiningasearchtopic,helppreparingasearchstrategy,helpconductingasearch,helpselectingappropriatesearchresults,helpslocatingresources,andhelpcitingtheirsources.

Inthisregard,thephilosophybehindtheservicesprovidedattheAULibraryInformationDeskremainquitesimilartothoseprovidedintheearly1970s.Now,however,morerequeststotheLibraryInformationDeskarriveviaanelectronicmeans,atafasterpace.Ifanything,theexpectationsofusersarehigher.Itisnotuncommonforuserstoconcludetheirrequestwithastatementsuchas“Ineeditasquicklyaspossible—willyoufaxittome?"

AULibrarynowmakesmoreinformationavailabletousersattheirworkspacethaneverbefore.Morethan40onlinejournaldatabasesareaccessiblethroughtheLibrary’sinformationgateway.Onlinedatabasesprovidebibliographiccitationsandsomeabstracts.Inadditionsomeofthesedatabasesprovidethefulltextofjournalarticles.Arecentanalysisofjournaldatabasesthatincludefulltextrevealsarticlesfrommorethan3000uniquejournalsareavailableonline.Thisprovidesforaone-stop-shop,thatisupdatedfrequently,issearchable,andthatprovidesthefulltextonline.

TheLibraryhasanumberofmechanismsinplaceonitslibrarysystemtocapturedataregardingconnectiontothelibrarysystemanduseoftheelectronicdatabases.Recentanalysisofuserconnectionstodatabasesonthelibraryserverclearlyindicatesthatthedatabasesthatprovidefulltextonlineareaccessedthemost.

RecentanalysisofserviceusageoftheAU’slibraryproxyserverrevealsthatthesystemisaccessedtwenty-fourhoursaday.Whilethemajorityofusehappensduringtheworkinghoursoflocaltime,thereareconnectionsoccurringintheweehoursofthemorning--indeed,“aroundtheclock”.

WhileintheearlydaysofAthabascaUniversitythemajorityofstudentsservedbytheUniversityresidedin
Alberta,morestudentsnowcometoAUfromacrossCanada,andoverseas.Recentanalysisconfirmsthat
themajorityofuserscontinuetocometotheAULibraryinformationgatewayfromCanadaandNorthAmerica.However,usagedataconfirmthatusersofAULibrary’sinformationgateway/webpagescomefromallcontinentsoftheworld.Datacollectedalsoindicatesthatusersareconnectingwithhigh-endgraphicalbrowsersandareusingcomputerswithhigh-endoperatingsystems.ThisisnoparticularsurpriseasthecostofcomputerequipmentandInternetconnectivityiscomingdowndramatically(inNorthAmericaforsure).



AnIncreaseinGlobalActivity

OvertherecentyearsithasinterestingtoobserveandtrackdatasurroundingtheenrolmenttrendsintheUniversityandtomonitorusagestatisticsofLibraryServices.WhileenrolmentsbystudentswithinAlbertaandacrossCanadaremainverystrong,thepotentialforincreasesincourseenrolmentsbystudentsoutsideCanadaandNorthAmericaisespeciallystrong.

MostrecentlytheUniversityhasengagedincollaborativeagreementsandallianceswithinstitutionsoutsideNorthAmerica.Regardingtheprovisionoflibraryservices,thechallengetodeliverprintmaterialstostudentsoutsideCanadaremains.Howevertheprovisionoflibraryservicesusingelectronicmeansbecomesmoreorlessanon-issue.

Onlineresourcessuchasdatabasesthatincludefulltextreducethechallengeofdeliveringsometypesofmaterialsoff-shore.AUstudentswhohaveanactivestatusneedonlyhavesufficientcomputerhardwareandskillsandareasonableInternetserviceproviderinordertodoextensivesearchingandresearchingofresources.Studentswhoconductasuccessfulsearchmayevaluatetheirsearchresultsandfinallyread,print,ordownloadthespecificsearchresultstotheirPCworkspace.

Whileonlineutilitiesandresourceshavebecomeincreasinglymoreubiquitous,andwhiletheeducationalenvironmenthasbecomeincreasinglymoreelectronic,manyoftheunderlyingprinciplesoflibraryuseandthequestforinformationremainthesame.Thesaying“themorethingschangethemorethingsremainthesame”remainstrue.Forexample:

·UsersofAULibraryservicesandmaterialscontinuetobeabletocontacttheLibraryInformationDeskonaninspanidualbasis.Anotedincreasehasoccurredinthenumberofelectronic(e-mail)requests.TheuseofthetelephoneremainsaprimarymeansforcontactingtheDesk.Thisisevidentintheincreasednumberofmessagesthatareleftonthevoice-mailansweringsystem.ThetelephonealsoremainsasaprimarymodeofcommunicationasnotedbythenumberoftelephonecalledactuallytakenattheLibraryInformationDesk.

·UsersofAULibrarycontinuetocontacttheLibraryInformationDeskforhelp.UsershaveknownthattheLibraryphonesareopenandthattheDeskisstaffedatalltimestheUniversityisopen.Justasuserscontactedthedeskforhelpwiththeirlibrary-relatedquestions,usersnowcontinuetocontacttheLibrarywiththeirquestionsconcerningtechnologyandelectronicissues.

·UserswhohavebeensatisfiedwiththeLibrary’sservicescontinuetousetheLibrary’sinformationgateway.Inthisregard,staffmemberswhoserveontheLibraryInformationDeskareavailabletoassistusersinthetransitionfromholdingstoaccess,andfromprint-basedtoelectronicresources.

·UserswhohavebenefitedbytheLibrary’scommitmenttorespondtorequestswithin24hoursorthenextworkingdaycontinuetoexpectthishighlevelofresponsetoquestionsintheelectronicenvironment.

·Userswhohaverequestedbooksandarticlesonaninspanidual(title)basismustcontinuetosearchandrequestmaterialsonaninspanidualbasis.Whiletheformathaschangedandthecapacitytodelivermaterialshaschanged--theitemprimarilyremainsasadistinctone.

·Usersmustcontinuetocitetheirsources.Scholarlycommunicationandactivitycontinuestorequireuserstogivecreditwherecreditisdue.Inanenvironmentinwhichstudentshavethetechnologyandskilltodownloadand“cutandpaste”itismoredifficulttoidentifyacademicmisconduct.


SummaryandConclusion

AthabascaUniversityLibrarycontinuestobecommittedtoprovidinghighqualityandexpedientservicetoAUstudents.ThetoolsavailabletotheLibraryforittocarryoutitscorebusinessarenowmoreadvancedandmoreaccessible,yetcontinuetorequirestrategyandclarityrespectingtheirapplication.Theamountofavailableinformationcontinuestoincreaseataphenomenalrateandconsumers(students)whohavebusyliveswithmultipleresponsibilitiescontinuetorequireassistancewithrespecttotheirinformationneeds.

Withadvancesandchangesintechnologyandwithinformationavailableinevenmoredifferentformats,theunderlyingacademicresearchprocessremainsasophisticatedonewhichrequiresaccountability,criticalanalysis,responsibility,andskillandstrategy.

Analysisofonlinedatabasesthatincludethefulltextofarticlesrevealsthatreasonableavailabilityandaccesstomorethan3,000uniquejournalsisavailableonline.Thisprovidesforaone-stop-shop:onethatisupdatedfrequently,issearchable,andthatprovidestheactualcontentbyprovidingthefulltextonline.

TheLibraryhasanumberofmechanismsinplaceonitslibrarysystemtocapturedataregardingconnectiontothelibrarysystemanduseoftheelectronicdatabases.Recentanalysisofuserconnectionstodatabasesonthelibraryserverclearlyindicatesthatthedatabasesthatprovidefulltextonlineareaccessedthemost.

AnalysisofserviceusageoftheAU’slibraryproxyserverrevealsthatthesystemisaccessedtwenty-fourhoursaday.Whilethemajorityofusehappensduringtheworkinghoursoflocaltime,thereareconnectionsoccurringintheweehoursofthemorning--indeed,“aroundtheclock”.

WhileintheearlydaysofAthabascaUniversitythemajorityofstudentsservedbytheUniversityresidedin
Alberta,morestudentsnowcometoAUfromacrossCanada,andoverseas.Recentanalysisconfirmsthat
themajorityofuserscontinuetocometotheAULibraryinformationgatewayCanadaandNorthAmerica.
However,acounterthatrecordsthecountryoftheuseraccount’stopdomainconfirmthatusersofAU
Library’sinformationgateway/webpagescomefromallcontinentsoftheworld.

Collecteddataalsoindicatesthatusersareconnectingwithhigh-endgraphicalbrowsersandareusingcomputerswithhigh-endoperatingsystems.ThisisnoparticularsurpriseasthecostofcomputerequipmentandInternet
connectivityiscomingdowndramatically(inNorthAmericaforsure).

Itisanticipatedthattheprovisionofdistanceeducationwillremainstrongintheforeseeablefuture.Itwillbeessentialthatqualitylibraryservicesbelinkedtothecurriculu

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