Libraries without Walls – the Delivery of Library Services to Distance Users

Citation

Barker, P. (2000), "Libraries without Walls – the Delivery of Library Services to Distance Users", The Electronic Library, Vol. 18 No. 6, pp. 448-469. https://doi.org/10.1108/el.2000.18.6.448.22

Many new trends are currently taking place in education. One of the more noticeable of these is the growing importance of “distance learning”. Three major change agents have instigated the recent increasing popularity of this approach to studying. First, the availability of technology to support its realisation (for example, the Internet, the World Wide Web and low‐cost personal computers). Second, the rapid changes that are taking place in society – resulting in the need for people to acquire new skills in a continuous ongoing fashion. Third, the growing demand for post‐compulsory education brought about by various “lifelong learning” initiatives. Of course, learning and studying each require access to relevant sources of information. This implies that libraries, in their many different forms, have a significant role to play in contributing to the successful realisation of distance learning activities.

Given the growing demand for distance education opportunities, it is necessary to consider how libraries can best provide appropriate facilities for the support of those who wish to become involved in it. This is the main issue addressed in this book – which has been produced from the papers that were presented at the 3rd “Libraries without Walls” Conference which was held in September 1999 on the Greek island of Lesvos. The conference proceedings contains 23 contributions from an international set of authors who are involved in various aspects of library research and the provision of support services for library users. By far the majority of papers (15 in all) are from UK authors. There are three papers from Australia, two from Denmark and one each from Canada, Spain and The Netherlands.

The book opens with an introductory chapter by the editors. This serves very well both as a scene‐setting device and as a useful overview of the papers that are contained in the rest of the book. The editors use this opening chapter to outline the background to the previous two “Libraries without Walls” conferences and to explain the relevance and scope of the third in this series. They then go on to provide a “spring‐board” into the various contributions that make up the proceedings of this 3rd Conference.

Undoubtedly, by far the largest individual contribution to the proceedings is the “write‐up” of the keynote address to the conference delegates. This was presented by Alexander Slade from the University of Victoria in Canada. His basic theme was “International Trends in Library Services for Distance Learning – Present and Future”. His chapter covers a very wide range of issues relating to the role of libraries for supporting distance education – such as organisation and planning, electronic resources and services, library instruction and the need for research on library services for the support of distance learning. Although there is likely to be an increasing future demand for and use of electronic materials that are accessed via networks, like many other people working in this area, Slade believes that “hybrid libraries” (that provide access to both traditional and digital resources) are likely to be the optimal way forward.

The remaining 21 chapters in the book are substantially shorter than the keynote and, taken together, they cover a wide range of themes and topics related to the provision of library services for distance learners. Sadly, the space available for this review does not allow a detailed treatment of each individual paper. The following paragraphs therefore attempt to summarise groups of papers that have some themes in common. For the purpose of the discussion that is presented below, I have organised the contributions to the proceedings into three “notional” categories – each one containing seven papers.

As might be expected in a book that deals with distance learning and distant users, one of the most popular themes to be covered is that of “accessibility”. The scope of the seven papers that address this theme varies from designing library “home pages” (in order to improve access) through to the provision of appropriate support for visually impaired users. The importance of this latter topic is discussed in two of the papers in this section. The first of these describes the “SEDODEL” system – a facility for providing secure document delivery (using HTML) for blind and partially sighted people. The second paper outlines the “REVIEL” project; this provides various mechanisms for allowing visually impaired users to access the resources held in an electronic library facility. Three other interesting projects that are described in this section are: the “Libraries Across Sunderland scheme” (the LASh project); the creation of ISTAR networks to provide access to information in European regions that are currently poorly serviced (ISTAR is an acronym for “Information Society Training and Awareness Raising”); and a scheme to create “distance learning zones”. The final paper in this section discusses the question of “open access” for distance learners; this discussion is set within the context of the work of the UK’s SCONUL (“Standing Conference on National and University Libraries”) task force on accessibility.

Another very popular theme area within the proceedings is that which deals with the various types of “electronic system” that are now starting to become more widely available. The papers in this category therefore cover such issues as electronic document delivery; the use of virtual catalogues; electronic/virtual library systems; and virtual collections. Embedded within this section there is an interesting paper describing the role of a virtual library within the electronic campus that has been created by the Open University of Catalonia. Another paper, from the UK’s Open University library, describes how the ROADS software has been used to generate its ROUTES database for the support of a virtual collection of resources for students’ use. This is followed by a paper describing the aims and objectives of Denmark’s Electronic Research Library – an attempt to create one large coherent electronic library structure that provides integrated services for all Danish research libraries (both large and small). This work is based on the Z39.50 standard. This standard also forms the basis for some of the other Web‐based projects described in the book, for example, the “RIDING” and the “UNIverse” projects – both of which are based on the use of a virtual union catalogue to facilitate searching and retrieval of information by distance learners. The other two papers in this section deal with the development of a “Personal Information Environment” (PIE) for users of the HEADLINE hybrid library, and a discussion of some of the issues involved in electronic document delivery within home and workplace environments.

The remaining seven papers in the proceedings are devoted to a variety of other significant issues that relate, in one way or another, to the overall theme of the conference. For example, within the context of the integration of library services, there is an interesting paper on the derivation of “models for working together”. This is followed by papers devoted to staff training in distributed libraries and the use of inter‐library loan management software to integrate services to distance students (using the LIDDAS document delivery system within the University of Southern Queensland). Another very inspiring paper in this section is the one that describes the “Deakin Learning Toolkit”; this is a CD‐ROM that is distributed to students/staff for use on their own computers. In addition to providing a range of learning support software, the toolkit acts as a “portal” into the Deakin University Web and to external Internet sites. Two of the papers in this section are specifically devoted to public library initiatives. The first of these describes how the Rotterdam Public Library is “redefining its position” as a result of changes in the demands placed upon it by Dutch society. The second paper describes the “VITAL” project and outlines the development of a set of methodological tools to enable an assessment to be made of the value and impact of IT facilities for lifelong learning in UK public libraries. The final paper in this section describes a project whose intent is to develop a set of internationally agreed metrics that might be used for quality management and performance measurement within electronic libraries. It then goes on to consider the incorporation of these performance indicators within a management information system called EQUINOX.

Overall, the papers in this collection provide a useful summary of “current” trends with respect to library provision for distance users. However, having said this, it is important to remember that much of the work described in this book is now almost one or two years old – so much is likely to have happened since the conference took place. Nevertheless, the material presented in this conference proceedings serves as a valuable record of what has been happening in this important area of library service provision for the support of lifelong learning and distance education.