The study looks closely at how 37 academic libraries are serving students in MOOCS, blended and distance learning programs and how they plan to serve them in the future. The report helps its readers to answer questions such as: What role is the library playing in the development of online courses? Does the library assist in content development and if so to what extent? Does the library play a role in the licensing of copyright videos and other content and what role exactly? How much is being spent on these resources?
What resources in terms of manpower and budgets are libraries committing to distance/blended learning students? How are colleges serving students in MOOCS? What kind of information literacy requirements exist for students in distance and blended learning? How are these students taught? What is the role of video and online tutorials?
The study looks at a range of many other issues such as marketing library services to distance learning students, the uses of social media, the library presence on the course management system, the uses of eBooks, and many other issues.
Data in the report is broken out by college size, type, tuition level, public/private status and geographic scope of the distance learning program.
Just a few of the report’s many findings are that:
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22.22% of MA or PHD granting schools, 25% of research universities, 37.50% of 4-Year degree granting colleges, and 43.75% of community colleges in the sample offer some kind of distance education course in information literacy.
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40.54% of those sampled had at least on full time position devoted exclusively to distance learning students. For colleges that had at least one full time staffer, the mean numbers of FTE library positions largely devoted to the needs of distance learning students were: 1.06 for MA/PHD granting institutions, 1.33 for 4-Year degree granting colleges, 1.75 for community colleges, and 2 for research libraries.
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45.95% said their distance learners’ use of eBooks was “about the same as that of traditional students,” 32.43% said it was “more than that of traditional students,” and 8.11% said it was “less than that of traditional students.”
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Mean spending on licensing video content for distance/blended learning students in the past year was $9,101.00.