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Smart or Smarting: Student-library engagement in online distance education

Abstract
This small-scale mixed methods study used surveys and focus groups to investigate the challenges faced by a cohort of online learners at the University of Waikato when seeking and referencing information for course assessments. The research also investigated the type of library support students value, as well as the barriers to their engagement with library information services. Findings revealed half the cohort reported they seldom used the library or library services during their degree; nearly three quarters of the cohort reported problems finding information; and over three quarters of the cohort did not seek help from the library. However, over three quarters of students reported they engaged with library referencing resources. This chapter makes observations about what it means to be ‘digitally smart’ in an academic library context, and suggests ways that library information services can be better provided and promoted to an information-saturated and time poor student audience.
Type
Chapter in Book
Type of thesis
Series
Citation
Ferrier-Watson, A. (2015). Smart or Smarting: Student-library engagement in online distance education. In N. Wright & D. L. Forbes (Eds.), Digital Smarts: Enhancing Learning and Teaching (pp. 123–145). Hamilton, New Zealand: Wilf Malcolm Institute of Educational Research, The University of Waikato.
Date
2015
Publisher
Wilf Malcolm Institute of Educational Research, The University of Waikato
Degree
Supervisors
Rights
Published under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International Licence.