Background

During the past few years the terms "flexible learning" and "flexible delivery" have gained currency in Australian higher education. They have not been well defined and are often used as synonyms for "distance education," "open learning," "web-based learning," and "resource based learning". They are also used to suggest certain characteristics including the following: placing the student and learning at the centre of the educational paradigm; giving students more autonomy, choice and control by allowing them to study when they choose and in whatever mode suits them; and allowing flexible starting, finishing and examination times. The approach can be briefly summarised as "what they want, where they want it, when they want it" using, where possible, available network technologies. The Working Party on Flexible Delivery at the University of Queensland have defined flexible delivery as "the provision of learning and assessment opportunities in modes which serve to increase the degree of student control over when, where, how and at what pace they learn." (Chalmers, 1997, p.1)

Very few organisations offer flexible learning as described above, but many do offer courses in different modes, thereby offering some flexibility of choice and taking into account different learning styles. Some of these modes include:

• teaching a course at off-campus sites such as study centres located in other educational organisations and using the facilities provided, or at workplaces;

• offering a course in fully external/distance education mode using paper-based forms of delivery, or various electronic forms of delivery such as CD-ROM or Web-based courses as well as other technologies such as video/telephone/electronic conferences. Any subject offered may use a combination of these forms;

• an on-campus segment plus off-campus component; and

• various combinations of the above.

Any of these modes of instruction may be offered by the "home" institution. The ways in which they are delivered may also involve brokering with other institutions to offer part of a course or, indeed, buying the right to use or adapt materials. Sometimes special "twinning" arrangements are arranged in order to facilitate the offering. The modes described above may be offered to "internal" as well as "external" students. Flexible learning blurs the distinction between the two forms of enrolment.

In fact, many universities are seeking to offer courses in some form of "place independent" teaching mode. Many cherish the hope that courses will be able to be offered using the Web, thus allowing easy enrolments of students from anywhere. The reality is that there are no "best solutions" to the way courses are delivered. The mode will depend on the student group and its needs, individual learning styles as well as the nature of the course content and associated learning objectives. The delivery mediums need also to meet the geographical and contextual needs of the client groups (for example, many students still do not have easy access to the Internet) and then have the added flexibility to be able to be targeted to a broader market.

Equity issues also need to be addressed. How will the Library seek to provide the "same level of service" to off-campus students as is provided to on-campus students? What steps can be taken to ensure that all students experience services of a similar quality and cost? How can the Library seek to ensure that access is both available to and appropriate for individual students with widely differing needs?

At James Cook University (JCU) situated in north Queensland, Australia, the establishment of a new position, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic Support), has led to a re-examination of the Library's role in relation to flexible delivery. The long-term challenge for JCU is to offer a distinctive product in a rapidly developing marketplace: the immediate challenge for the Library is to provide a service to students which is responsive and innovative and which will assist the University to attract and retain students.

The Library's changing role

For many years, the Library at JCU has attempted to meet the particular needs of off-campus students. The Off-Campus Support Unit provides a contact point for remote students and assists them to utilise almost the full range of services available to on-campus students. Special services include: book loans, catalogue searches and title recommendations or printed bibliographies, a photocopy delivery service, and access to resources at remote study centres. The service is described in detail at URL http://www.jcu.edu.au/gen/Library/offcamp.html

The Library also has a long history of addressing the special needs of students undertaking intensive on-campus programs. It has offered extended hours of opening and special orientation programs tailored to the requirements of the students. Faculty librarians have worked closely with the staff of schools offering these programs to maximise the availability of resources for those students who may have very limited opportunity to use the Library because of work and study commitments.

JCU offers courses at uniquely remote locations: on some of the outer islands in the Torres Strait, in isolated communities on Cape York, and in two regional prisons. Where possible, the Library has sought to establish basic reserve-type collections and electronic access for remote students. The Library has considerable experience in managing study centre collections.

Course development teams are ideally made up of staff from different parts of the organisation working towards a common goal, each member contributing his or her particular expertise. The literature suggests that when librarians are included in such teams they are able to make a significant contribution. Clifford Lynch (1997) commented on this at the recent Online Ondisc Conference.

... information resource and library support for distance education don't seem to be very high on anybody's agenda ...if we are going to construct effective Internet-based distance education programs, libraries need to be partnered into planning at a very early stage ... it may well prove to be more difficult - economically, legally and technically, as well as logistically - to deliver library support than to deliver curriculum proper over the next decade. (p. 29)

In order for a real partnership to succeed, librarians need to see themselves as part of the teaching and research endeavour, and participate as an active and integral member of the education team. A fundamental tenet of a partnership or collaboration is one of peers working and communicating together. This requires that those involved -- librarians, instructional designers and faculty -- be equal within the activities and life of the partnership. And this occurs when there is mutual respect for what each person contributes to the relationship. Peter Drucker (1992, p.95), in his article "The New Society of Organisations", states that the "modern organisation . . . has to be an organisation of equals, of colleagues and associates. No knowledge ranks higher than another, each is judged by its contribution to the common task rather than by an inherent superiority or inferiority."

Where course teams are not the norm, the librarians need to approach schools and faculties to convince them of the value of cooperation.

Librarians can make the following types of contributions in course teams:

• assisting the course writer(s) in identifying appropriate literature and network resources to support the preparation of the course;

• providing advice about networked electronic resources and internet materials to which students can have access ;

• providing information literacy components of the course;

• providing advice about the variety of learning resources that may be employed in relation to the place, mode and pace of delivery;

• ensuring that staff in the Library know about new products and modes of delivery before student support issues arise;

• negotiating cost-effective online access for students to licensed electronic resources including bibliographic databases as well as full-text databases; and

• information on access to other learner support services provided by the University or available in the community.

Information literacy

During the past few years there has been a strong focus on the need for flexible learning students to develop information literacy skills. Information literacy is generally understood to include...the ability to locate, evaluate, manage and use information from a range of sources for problem solving, decision making and research. (Bruce & Candy, 1995, p.245)

• preparation and dissemination of printed guides, help sheets and handbooks adapted, where appropriate, for flexible learning students;

• provision of electronic tutorials (CD-ROM, Web-based or floppy discs) using either material prepared for internal students or material specially adapted for flexible learning students;

• special information literacy workshops held during on-campus schools/workshops, at study centres and/or by videoconferencing;

• offering for credit a special information literacy unit designed as an integral part of a particular course; and,

• constantly promoting the essential links between flexible delivery modes and the need for information literacy skills.

The Library can easily extend the range of assistance it gives to flexible learning students by adapting the material it makes available to internal students, keeping in mind always the field of study, the assessment requirements and the background of the student cohort.

Electronic resources

Flexible learning students often claim they cannot afford the time necessary to request a book from the Library and then wait for it to be delivered through the mail. Libraries have responded by acquiring multiple copies of books at significant cost to meet the demand from students. Many instructors prepare books of journal and monograph readings and provide these as part of the materials sent to students. This may result in an expectation that students do not need to read or consult resources beyond the materials provided.

The electronic environment provides opportunities to overcome these problems. If students have network access, then they are able to tap informational resources which are available on the Internet, and can potentially access licensed electronic resources made available from the Library. Library staff are working to improve the menu options provided on the JCU web interface so that inexperienced users are guided to appropriate resources.

Access to bibliographic and fulltext databases requires the databases to be licensed so that they are not limited by physical site and are secure enough to prevent unauthorised users. Clearly, there are additional costs involved both for the library and the student. These costs may be minimised if the organisation is able to negotiate a special pricing arrangement with an ISP for enrolled students, and if the library is able to make special arrangements relating to licensing fees. The university may establish cost-effective arrangements for lease or purchase of equipment for either individuals or groups.

The Library needs to monitor the infrastructure requirements involved in the shift to flexible delivery and seek involvement in infrastructure development projects, both within the University and within the wider information and telecommunications sector.

Availability of electronic reserve collections depends on the resolution of copyright matters between the AVCC and the Australian copyright agency (Copyright Agency Ltd). Material such as examination papers are now available in the JCU Library's electronic reserve.

As reliable and useful Web sites become available, the Library encourages the use of appropriate Web materials to support courses. The selection skills required build on faculty librarians' traditional collection development techniques. Continuity of liaison is important to maintain validity of URLs.

The Library has also begun to experiment with the use of email, listservs, and "chat sessions" to enhance resource delivery and availability. A successful example is the Study Skills electronic discussion list. Students who have expressed a need for help with their academic skills development are encouraged to take part in this list, which aims to build peer support networks and disseminate timely advice and assistance.

Conclusion

This paper has explored in brief form some of the broad implications for the Library as the University seeks to increase the range of flexible learning courses which it offers. The flexible learning environment is essentially an interactive one, and libraries need to develop new ways of interacting with students to ensure that their needs continue to be met.

References

Bruce, C.S. & Candy, P.C. (1995). Developing information literate graduates: prompts for good practice. In D. Booker (Ed.). The learning link: Information literacy in practice (pp.245-253)). Adelaide: Auslib Press.

Chalmers, D. (1997). Flexible delivery at the University of Queensland. Teaching and Learning News, 7(2), 1-2.

Creth, S. (1996). The electronic library: slouching toward the future or creating the new information environment. (Follett Lecture Series) URL http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/follett/creth/paper.html

Lynch, C. (1997). Global networking. Australian Library Journal, 96(1), 25-39.

Judith Clark
James Cook University, Qld, Australia
E-mail: Judith.Clark@jcu.edu.au

Ron Store
James Cook University, Qld, Australia
E-mail: Ron.Store@jcu.edu.au