Library resources, student success and the distance-learning university

Abstract

Purpose

Research at the Open University Library Services has been investigating the relationship between access to online library resources and student success. The purpose of this study/paper is to help to understand whether there is a similar relationship at a distance-learning university to that found in other institutions.

Design/methodology/approach

A small library data project was established to investigate this area. The study analysed online library resource data from access logs from the EZproxy and OpenAthens systems. A data set of 1.7 million online resource accesses was combined with student success data for around 90,000 undergraduate students and a series of analyses undertaken.

Findings

The study found a pattern where students who are more successful are accessing more library resources. A chi-square test indicated a statistically significant association between library resource accesses and module result, while an ANOVA test suggests a medium-sized effect. The study also found that 152 (76 per cent) of the 199 modules had a small, medium or large positive correlation between student success, measured by the overall assessment score, and online library resource accesses.

Originality/value

This study builds on evidence that there is a relationship between library use and student success by showing that this relationship extends to the setting of a non-traditional, innovative library service supporting part-time distance learners.

Citation

Nurse, R., Baker, K. and Gambles, A. (2018), "Library resources, student success and the distance-learning university", Information and Learning Sciences, Vol. 119 No. 1/2, pp. 77-86. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILS-03-2017-0022