Did you know what to expect from the OU Library at the start of your studies?

[[[image-0 medium right]]] “I thought it would be more like a postal library service, not the amount of information you’ve got online I thought I’d would be like going to the Library”

Said Alan in a Library Services interview.

Alan Spence is a new OU postgraduate student studying for an MA in Online Distance Education.  We were talking to him and other students across a range of different subject areas and levels about their perceptions and expectations of the online library at the start of their studies.

Alan thought that books would be delivered to him by post and he’d send them back and he’s concerned that students who haven’t studied online before might not know how to use an online library.  He doesn’t remember receiving any information about the online library at study start.  He's not alone feeling uncertain what to expect.  Amy Norton, a level 2 student studying for an Open Degree was also new to OU study at the start of her module.  Although she had studied previously at a traditional university it was back in the late nineties:

[[[image-1 medium left]]] “I wasn’t particularly aware that there was an OU Library when I started” said Amy.  “I suspect that if you come in at level one or if you do an Access course, a lot of that stuff is explained to you a bit more. Whereas it feels like when you come in at level two, there’s an expectation that you already know it or that you’ll just go and find it yourself”.

Do you what to expect from an online library or do you relate to Amy or Alan’s experience?  If you were you introduced to the online library at the start of your studies, in what way(s) did it benefit you?   We’d love to hear your experiences and suggestions of how we can introduce new students to the online library.  Contact us via the feedback webform or email library-services@open.ac.uk