FRANCHISE - Library Support for Franchised Courses in Higher Education
A British Library Funded Project
NOTE: This project was completed while the Centre for Research in Library and Information Management (CERLIM) was based at the University of Central Lancashire during 1993-98. On 1 April 1998, CERLIM moved to a new base at Manchester Metropolitan University.
The aim of the project was to develop an understanding of how library services were being provided to support franchised courses, how students met their library and information needs, and what might improve the nature and level of library support. The project was funded by the British Library Research & Innovation Centre (formerly known as the British Library Research and Development Department) from June 1993 to July 1995.
The work was inspired by the need to examine the problems faced by small and scattered college libraries when attempting to provide resources to support higher education courses run from further education institutions. They are often far less well-stocked than the university sector, have fewer staff (sometimes only one), and a much lower level of funding. This restricts the range and quantity of materials and other services.
The methods included surveys of basic provision for such students in colleges and universities across the UK, interviews with students and academic staff to explore their experiences in depth, and interviews with providing librarians to examine their grasp of the issues and how they are tackling the challenges of providing support for franchised courses.
Participating students kept diaries to record their everyday experiences of using libraries and were engaged in group discussions and interviews with the researcher. Academic staff were interviewed about their teaching methods and how these affect library provision. Current work involved assessing the impact of the transition of students from college to university, and later the project identified gaps and weaknesses in provision, how these might be handled, and how progression might be improved between the franchise partners.
A seminar was held in May 1994 to promote early results and to share the experiences of both students and academic staff among librarians, lecturers and other researchers. A weekend conference to disseminate the work took place in June 1995, and a final report is now available.
Final Report available in Microsoft Word format (1.07mb)
For further information about the project, please contact:
The Centre for Research in Library and Information Management (CERLIM)
Manchester Metropolitan University
Department of Information and Communications
Geoffrey Manton Building
Rosamond Street West
Manchester
M15 6LL UK
Telephone:+44 (0)161 247 6142
Fax:+44 (0)161 247 6979
cerlim@mmu.ac.uk