British Open University and Libraries

Abstract

　The British Open University was set up to serve the Open University faculty only, it did not serve students directly. Students, however, were asked to use their local public libraries. This paper tries to find out its effects on students.
　Initially, research reports on the relationships between students and library use are reviewed, and their library use patterns are analyzed. The patterns that I found are (1) students make little use of the library and, (2) they find it difficult to do library research especially in conjunction with upper levels courses that demand individual research. Therefore, the Open University Library has produced library and literature guides which aim to give the students skills necessary to enable library use.