ACRL Standards for Distance Learning Library Services

Abstract

Every student, faculty member, administrator, employee, or other member of an institution of higher education is entitled to the library services and resources of that institution, including direct contact with appropriate library personnel, regardless of his or her place of enrollment or affiliated location with the institution. Therefore, academic libraries must meet the information and research needs of all of them, wherever they are. This principle of access, as applied to individuals at a distance, is a firm pillar and conviction of the standards for library services for distance learning, hereinafter called the Standards.

The principle of equal access applies to individuals on the main campus, off campus, in distance learning or regional campus programs, or in the absence of any physical campus. The principle applies to all public, private, for-profit, and not-for-profit academic institutions. The principle also applies to courses taken for accreditation, for non-accreditation, and through continuing education programs, as well as courses taught face-to-face in classrooms, in distance settings, or via any medium - or through any other means of distance learning. . The standards identify the elements needed to achieve this and other closely related principles available in the Philosophy section of the standards.