Libraries Without Walls 3 Conference
Delivering library services to remote users: The Deakin Learning Toolkit
Sue McKnight
University Librarian and
Senior Associate Assisting the Deputy Vice-Chancellor
Deakin University
Abstract
Technology has enhanced the capacity of library services to be delivered to remote
users. In addition to traditional print-based services, the Deakin University Library
has partnered with other service providers within the University to deliver a
comprehensive resource kit to off-campus (and on-campus) students. The Deakin
Learning Toolkit, a CD-ROM provided free of charge to all students and staff of the
University, provides a wealth of information, programs and tutorials on an easy to
install and use disk. The Library's contribution to the Toolkit is described in detail.
Introduction
Deakin University is a metropolitan and regionally based university with six
campuses in the Australian State of Victoria. Its 1999 student population totaled
28,000 people, with 16,000 studying on-campus and 12,000 studying off-campus. In
addition, a further 40,000 students study through the University’s commercial arm,
Deakin Australia, which provides training and higher education opportunities to staff
of corporations and government departments and to members of professional
associations. Since its inception, Deakin University has been renowned for its
excellent distance education programs, providing higher education opportunities to
people who, for reasons of remoteness or inability to attend traditional on-campus
universities, chose to study remotely. The student population is drawn principally
from Victoria, but also from other parts of Australia and overseas. In recent years,
Deakin University, along with many others in Australia, the United States and the
United Kingdom, has increased its enrolment of overseas-resident students.
Deakin University is committed to providing students with a quality education that is
delivered to them when, where and how the student desires. This has meant a
significant movement towards offering what Deakin calls “flexible learning”. This
involves a greater degree of choice for students, who may elect to enroll in units that
are taught face-to-face, via a video-link, through computer mediated instruction,
through print, audio and video learning resources, or a combination of technologies
and styles. The University’s Flexible Learning site (http://www2.deakin.edu.au/dotr/)
provides an excellent overview of what is happening at Deakin in this regard.
Within Deakin, the Library is regarded as the benchmark for best practice in
providing academic services to students and staff, topping Internal Customer
Satisfaction and student surveys. 1 Externally, Deakin University Library is the
The following sites provide information on the Library’s services to both on and off-campus students:
http://www.deakin.edu.au/library/ (Library home page)
http://www.deakin.edu.au/library/libservices.html
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Australian leader in providing library and information services to support remote
students. It has always enthusiastically embraced technology to improve access to
information and services to both on- and off-campus students and staff. When the
University’s Information Technology Services Division (ITSD) suggested a CD-ROM
to deliver software to off-campus students, the Library seized the opportunity to
include a wealth of information on library services and resources. Together with
other student support areas, the University created the Deakin Learning Toolkit. This
product became a vehicle to make Library services even more accessible to those
students who chose not, or could not, come to a campus library in person.
What is the Deakin Learning Toolkit?
The Toolkit, first produced in 1998 with a 2nd edition in 1999, is a CD-ROM that is
distributed to Deakin University students (and staff) for use on their private
computers. It its first version, over 25,000 copies were distributed via direct mailouts
to off-campus students, and from distribution points on campus including libraries,
ITSD offices and student union offices. The original idea was for it to contain a set of
computer software programs that would assist students with their study whilst at
Deakin. However, it has become much more than that.
From a technical perspective, the Toolkit may be used on both Windows and
Macintosh computers. Users access the contents of the Toolkit through a browser
either from one already installed on the personal computer or, if no web browser is
detected on loading the CD-ROM, from Netscape Communicator on the Toolkit itself.
The Toolkit is divided into seven sections: Welcome, Connect, Software, Faculties,
Library, Services and Courses. With the browser interface, it is easy to navigate and,
if the user is connected to a computer network, provides the added bonus of linking to
live Internet resources, either within the Deakin domain or elsewhere, that have been
listed in the Toolkit. “The Toolkit also acts as a portal into the Deakin and external
Internet web sites with links to relevant web pages if the student is using the Toolkit
whilst connected to the Internet.”2
Non-Library Resources on the Toolkit
Software and Connect Sections
As indicated, the original purpose of the Deakin Learning Toolkit was to deliver a
suite of software to students to facilitate their study at Deakin. It contains Netscape
Communicator and browser plug-ins and Internet utilities, Eudora for e-mail, library
search software and bibliographic software, anti-viral programs, decompression
software, Adobe Acrobat Reader, and some commercial computer-based training
modules. Also included are specific software licensed as part of the University
flexible learning and teaching programs such as the Firstclass conferencing software.
With this type of software only students who are studying particular courses can load
the software, having been separately provided with special user accounts. In total,
http://www.deakin.edu.au/library/studinfo.html (services for on-campus students)
http://www.deakin.edu.au/library/ocserv.html (services to off-campus students)
Addie, Jenny and Hellyer, Margo, “Taking IT to the Streets: the Deakin Learning Toolkit”, in
EduCAUSE in Australasia Conference Proceedings, Sydney, 18-21 April 1999.
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there are 24 software programs for Windows, and 20 for Macintosh packaged on the
Toolkit for students and staff to install and use. Manuals and guides are provided in
pdf format.
Information and software is also included that enables students to connect to the
Internet. Undergraduate students require a commercial Internet Service Provider
(ISP), and advice on selecting an ISP is provided on the Toolkit. An installation kit
for the University’s preferred ISP is supplied as part of the Deakin Learning Toolkit.
There is even information on the “Year 2000 Bug”. Users can access information on
computer skills training and are provided with live links to the University’s Software
Library so that they can gain upgrades of software throughout the year.
Faculties and Courses Sections
Information on all the Faculties, Schools and Research Centres of Deakin University
is provided. In addition, the Deakin University Undergraduate and Postgraduate
Course Handbooks are included on the CD-ROM and accessible through the web
browser.
Also included is information on enrolments, examinations, results and graduations, as
well as important dates throughout the academic calendar.
Services Section
Under this button on the Toolkit, is a wealth of information about the myriad of
University services provided for student welfare. General information on student
associations, parking and security, campus maps, bookshops, academic dress
standards and equity and equal opportunity policies, is included as well as details on
accessing child care, chaplains, health and medical services, careers advisors, and
counsellors. International students are specifically catered for and there is
information on study and language skills.
Library Resources on the Deakin Learning Toolkit
Initially, in the haste to produce the first version of the Toolkit (there was only three
months from concept approval to commencement of the mailout for 1st semester 1998
students), the Library included information that it already hand to hand, either as web
pages or printed guides. This provided students with information on how to search
the Library catalogue, opening hours, conditions of loan, subject resource guides, as
well as software used to enhance access to Library facilities such as Web/Win/Mac
Spirs and EndNote software.
The Library’s objective to reduce barriers to accessing its resources and services has
been achieved with the dual focus of developing resources for the Toolkit and for the
Library’s web pages. Now there are many more options for accessing the full range
of Library resources and services, and this benefits all students, both on- and offcampus.
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In the 2nd edition of the Deakin Learning Toolkit, the range of information and
resources included has greatly increased. There is a general introduction to the
Library and a list of contact names, addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail
addresses as well as the opening hours for all campus libraries. (See Figure 1)
As with all other pages on the Toolkit, live links are provided to the corresponding
information on the Internet so that the most up-to-date details are always accessible.
The Library Catalogue (with either a www or telnet interface) and Title and Subject
Lists of Databases buttons link to the actual electronic resources provided by the
Library. In the case of databases, some, such at the Silverplatter ERL suite of
resources, are locally mounted at Deakin, while other electronic resources maybe
located anywhere in the world. End user authentication is invoked when access is
requested to licensed resources. Users of the Toolkit, if connected to the Internet, can
also access the catalogues of libraries in Australia and worldwide from live links on
the Library’s home page.
The Library’s “Services for Students” button on the Toolkit provides a wealth of
information. In addition to opening hours and campus addresses and phone numbers,
there is general information on services available for any student. Included here are
Frequently Asked Questions relating to borrowing privileges, as well as specific
details on how to renew a book, how to reserve an item on loan, how to request a
book or journal article from another campus library, and what happens when items
become overdue or lost. The Interlibrary Loan service is described as well as inlibrary photocopying facilities. There are separate sections providing information on
library services for off-campus students and those who have a disability. (See Figure
2)
The “Research Skills” button provides the user with a rich selection of tools and
actual electronic resources. In addition to providing links to some of the topics
already described, there is information on how to evaluate information resources and
descriptions of numerous citation styles. There are tips on scientific and research
writing and how to write a thesis, as well as how to locate and borrow theses. There
are guides to using the Internet and other searching tools such as Gopher, FTP and
Telnet. Details on how to locate periodical articles in print and electronic resources
are provided as well as information on electronic journals, citation indexes and
newspapers. There are links to electronic reference resources such as atlases and
maps, dictionaries, encyclopaedias, books of quotations, directories of telephone
numbers, post codes, e-mail and Internet addresses and electronic reference sites. As
well, there are style guides, handbooks and yearbooks, almanacs, and explanations of
acronyms. There is also help on searching for standards, statistics and Australian and
State government information.
For the 1999 edition of the Toolkit, the Library created three specialist tutorials,
Internet Searching, EndNote and Web/Mac/WinSpirs, to further enhance access to
resources and services. These tutorials are available on the Toolkit or from the
Library’s Home Page.
The Electronic Forms section enables the user to either link to the Library Home Page
to make electronic submissions for off-campus subject requests, off-campus journal
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article requests, and interlibrary loan requests or to print off the form for manual
completion and mailing or faxing to the Library. (See Figure 3)
Overall, the Library’s section on the Toolkit contains approximately 160 “pages” of
information and over 260 live links to resources held beyond the Deakin domain.
Conclusion
A huge benefit of the Deakin Learning Toolkit is that it provides a wealth of resources
and information for remote learners without the cost of telecommunications. Students
(and staff) can explore the contents of the Toolkit at their leisure, and only make the
communication connections when they are ready to access information via the
Internet. The Library ‘s tutorials enable users to gain the necessary skills to explore
the Internet, research topics in the Library’s electronic databases and e-journals, and
to manage their bibliographic citations before they use the live resources, thus saving
them time and money in inefficient and ineffective search practices.
With each version of the Toolkit, the content and interface has improved. Also, the
distribution mechanisms have increased and the Toolkit is now promoted at
Information and Technology Skills Workshops conducted by students for students at
the beginning of each semester. The student trainers are given tuition by Library and
ITSD staff and are paid for their teaching activities. By increasing access to the
Toolkit, and promoting its use, there are fewer calls to the ITSD Help Desk for
assistance in accessing or loading software, thus reducing the cost of these services.
From the Library’s perspective, there has been very positive feedback about the
resources on the Toolkit and the ease of accessing services. There is a degree of
certainty that the majority of students, who have computers at home or work, will be
able to use the electronic resources of the Library. This is an important factor when
considering the cost of licensing e-resources and the proportion of Deakin students
who are unlikely to come on-campus to use the Library’s collections in person. There
are also significant advantages in being able to deliver tutorials to users when they
need the training, rather than when Library staff are conducting classes. As a result,
off-campus students are more empowered to take control of their own learning and
research. By delivering to the desktop the standard software to interface with the
Library’s catalogue, all the functionality of Innopac, the Library’s integrated
management system, aimed at servicing remote users, such as requesting items,
renewing loans and asking for information, can be accessed. The improved
communications environment also means that students can have more interaction,
albeit electronically, with Library staff and many useful suggestions for change and
improvement are received, as well as compliments for providing such a responsive
service.
It is said that copying is the sincerest form of flattery. After showcasing the Deakin
Learning Toolkit at the Australian EduCAUSE ’99 Conference, Edith Cowan
University requested and was granted permission to use the content on the Toolkit
produced by Deakin University, with due acknowledgement of course, and is
preparing a similar CD-ROM for their students. Queensland University of
Technology and University of South Australia are also interested in the concept and
have been provided with a copy of the Toolkit for demonstration purposes. It is
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understood that a number of other Australian universities are going to produce a CDROM, similar to the Toolkit concept.
While everyone else is catching up with the Toolkit, Deakin University is exploring
new options for delivering information and services to its student population to ensure
that it remains a leader in distance education and flexible learning. The Library will
remain a key player in differentiating Deakin University from the others in this field.
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Figure 1: Introductory Library Page on the Deakin Learning Toolkit
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Figure 2: Services for Students Page on the Deakin Learning Toolkit
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Figure 3: Electronic Forms Page on Deakin Learning Toolkit
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