READING FOR A DEGREE: A STUDY OF THE INFORMATION SEEKING BEHAVIOUR OF THE EXTERNAL UNDERGRADUATE LAWS PROGRAMME (EULP) STUDENTS.

Transcription

1 CENTRE FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION TEACHING AND RESEARCH AWARDS ROUND 2 END OF PROJECT REPORT READING FOR A DEGREE: A STUDY OF THE INFORMATION SEEKING BEHAVIOUR OF THE EXTERNAL UNDERGRADUATE LAWS PROGRAMME (EULP) STUDENTS. By Sandra Tury (Head of Electronic Resources and Distance Learning Library Services) On behalf of the research team: Carolyn Malsher (Law Librarian) Angela Boots (Assistant Librarian) Julie Arnot (Assistant Librarian) Address 1 Address 2 Address 3 POSTCODE Tel: August 2008

2 PROPOSAL The Reading for a Degree Project investigates the information seeking behaviour of the University of London s Distance Learning undergraduate law students. The main objectives of the study are to: provide evidence for assessing the effectiveness of the Online Library s support efforts inform pedagogical policy, guide planning and decision making Contribute to the development of the best practice guidelines for distance learning law libraries and legal research skills programmes. SECTION 1: ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS WHAT WERE THE MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE PROJECT? Publication of a final literature review in the areas of distance undergraduate law degree provision in the UK, Information Seeking Behaviour and Library services provision for distance learners in the UK (a separate more detailed report outlining the methodology and containing the literature review is available separately). An analysis of the information needs of the University of London s External Laws students An evaluation of the effectiveness of the online library service by reference to students information needs Recommendations: the need for a new set of guidelines for the provision of Law information resources at degree level to be produced with a view to informing the use of electronic resources and appropriate information skills training for both campus based and distancelearning students. Contribution to informing the future development of a library service that meets the information needs of the University s distance learning students. IN WHAT WAY(S) WAS THE PROJECT INNOVATIVE? a. Evidence based practice: This is the first research project that has attempted to address the information needs of a particular group of the University of London s External System students as a basis for assessing the effectiveness of the Online library service (established in 2000). (In fact this is the first piece of research on the effectiveness of the UoL s Online Library.) b. Identifying gaps and current centres of excellence in the research: The research undertaken on this project has enabled us to identify previous and present research in the fields in which our research is embedded, and has identified gaps in current research. It has clearly confirmed that very little research has focused on the information seeking behaviours of undergraduate law students in the UK. It has also identified the work currently being undertaken in Higher Education libraries with distance learners and specifically, undergraduate law students as well as providing an overview of distance undergraduate law provision in the UK. 2

3 c. Contribution to literature in the area: This research makes a contribution to the very limited literature specifically focused on understanding of the library and information seeking needs and problems of distance law students. WERE THE OBJECTIVES/OUTPUTS/PRODUCTS YOU SET OUT TO ACHIEVE MET? The key objectives of understanding better our distance learning undergraduate law students information needs and the barriers they face when using the online Library have been met. In addition, our study findings are going to be used to inform the future development of the online library, and to contribute to a debate on the formulation of best practice guidelines for distance learning law libraries in the electronic age. WHAT OBSTACLES HAVE YOU ENCOUNTERED IN YOUR PROJECT (PARTICULARLY THOSE THAT MIGHT BE OF VALUE TO CURRENT AND FUTURE CDE AWARD HOLDERS) The limited funding only allowed for a small scale pilot project involving a limited sample of students. It also meant that we could not afford to employ a project assistant to carry on the work while the project manager was on maternity leave. This also meant that the project team had to undertake the project alongside their demanding duties. Researching in a distance education context set up various challenges: we were unable to establish a method of paying for postal questionnaires to ensure their return, resulting in a very poor response rate; it was difficult to reach out to law students in remote areas with limited access to technology; only one institution responded to our request for student participation in the observation study. As a result, many students were unable to take part in the study. SECTION 2: RESEARCH RESULTS WHAT EDUCATIONAL ISSUES DID THE PROJECT ADDRESS AND WHICH STUDENT OR OTHER GROUPS BENEFITED FROM THE PROJECT? WHICH STUDENT OR OTHER GROUPS COULD BENEFIT FROM THE PROJECT? The project addresses distance learning law students inability to use the online library resources effectively. Law students and faculty, including those on the External System Laws Programmes, will immediately benefit from the study. Other researchers and librarians who wish to undertake research into the information seeking behaviour of their users may well draw practical lessons from the research methodology we used. 3

4 Given the small amount of funding, this research was necessarily restricted to a small study. Given more substantial funding, however, it is clear that we could undertake a larger scale piece of research which would have been of much wider benefit: we would ideally like to undertake a wider scale study involving larger sample of student and different programmes as well as making a comparison with oncampus students who have access to a physical library and receive information skills training. HOW HAS THE PROJECT BUILT UPON CURRENT WORK IN THE FIELD OF DISTANCE EDUCATION? A thorough literature review has identified the lack of research focusing on the information seeking behaviours of undergraduate law students and the lack of current national guidelines that take into account the digital environment in the UK. HOW DID YOU EVALUATE THE PROJECT? Team meetings were held on a weekly basis Writing and giving a presentation at the 2006 CDE Conference gave us some valuable feedback Also consultation with specialist colleagues in the field (Prof. Bawden, Peter Clinch, Marie Pierre Detraz, Colin Homiski, Howard Senter and Jules Winterton) gave us valuable feedback. ARE THERE ANY GENERAL IMPLICATIONS FROM YOUR RESEARCH WHICH COULD BENEFIT OTHER PROGRAMME DIRECTORS WORKING IN DIFFERENT DISCIPLINES? This pilot has highlighted the unique information needs of Undergraduate Distance learning law students and the importance of studying their Information seeking behaviour in order to develop an effective library service. The methodology employed in this pilot could be extended to include a larger number of law students studying on both undergraduate and post graduate courses, on campus and by distance learning, as well as other disciplines (This is partly being addressed by Sandra Tury s PhD. project ( as well as the Society of Legal Scholars revised guidelines. HOW HAVE YOU AND/OR HOW DO YOU PLAN TO DISSEMINATE THE RESULTS OF THE PROJECT THROUGHOUT THE EXTERNAL SYSTEM, THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON AND MORE WIDELY? By giving a presentation at the 2007 CDE conference and one at the 2009 conference We are sending the report via to all the relevant stake holders including the Dean, External System Law faculty and the ULRLS Senior Management Team We also hope to publish a report based on the study in relevant journals By devising, with CDE, a plan of dissemination activities 4

5 By creating a conference leaflet summarising the project SECTION 3: A NON TECHNICAL SUMMARY This project was designed to study the information seeking behaviour of the University of London External Undergraduate Laws Programme (EULP) students. The purpose of this small pilot project is to investigate the information needs of law undergraduate students registered on the University of London External Programme with a view to making recommendations that will contribute to informing the future development of a library service that meets the information needs of the University s distancelearning community as a whole. SECTION 4: SUPPORT FROM THE CENTRE FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION We had invaluable support and encouragement from the CDE team and particularly from Brian Sayer, Gwyneth Price, Charlotte Creed and Tom Inkelaar. HOW THE CENTRE MIGHT FURTHER SUPPORT AWARD HOLDERS Continuous feedback would very useful and would ensure that the resources are adequate. 5