A Guide to Off-Campus Library Services

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction

2. Administration of OCLS

3. Specific Library Services

4. Faculty

5. Students

6. Community Representatives/Course Monitors

7. Community Co-ordinators

Introduction

Off-Campus Library Services (OCLS), Brandon University, provides library service to the following organizations: (1) Inter-Universities Services (IUS) (2) Campus Manitoba (3) Brandon University Extension Students.

Off-Campus Library Services emerged as a result of a need to provide library service to students residing in  remote communities. Because of their distance from an academic library collection, these students rely on OCLS to supply necessary resources.

OCLS operates according to the philosophy that students should become independent researchers and library users. As the provider of library services for off-campus students, Brandon University is responsible for the effective deployment of available resources in such a way that assistance to students receives top priority.

Administration of Off-Campus Library Services

Brandon University Library undertakes to provide library services to off-campus courses on the basis of the following principles:

1. Wherever appropriate, a course-specific library collection consisting of a variety of materials (e.g. monographs, reference works) will be placed at the off-campus site. The collection will be made up of materials found in the OCLS library collection. Faculty are responsible for submitting a bibliography of additional materials, at least two weeks in advance of need, to OCLS.
2. Library staff responsible for off-campus library services will research student essay topics only in cases in which access to the Internet is unavailable. (NOTE: Please note our Community Access Points which list sites that provide Internet Access to students.)
3. Instructional materials will be distributed to all students in a given course through (i) the instructor (ii) the IUS office in Thompson or (iii) Campus Manitoba offices. This material will be prepared by Brandon University library and made available for distribution. The library is responsible only for distribution of library materials on loan to off-campus students/faculty.
4. In communities where there is a centre co-ordinator or community representative, it is expected that they will be familiar with the operation of the library catalog, any relevant databases,  and be able to provide on-site instruction.
5. On-site visits by a Brandon University librarian are to be arranged well in advance, in co-operation with the University Librarian, and are to be suitably advertised to the student population.
6. Brandon University library extends its co-operation to all agencies and faculty members involved in off-campus education. Reciprocal courtesies are expected, i.e. by observing the library policies and procedures.

The administration of Off-Campus Library Services at Brandon University will be carried out by the librarian responsible for the service, in consultation with the organizations served by OCLS. Library staff will organize and manage the day-to-day operation of OCLS. Specific duties are:

1. accurate and precise records-keeping,
2. preparing packages of research materials for students,
3. making certain that packages are delivered to the bus depot or the mail as appropriate,
4. accepting library materials upon their return to ensure that they get back to the shelves as quickly as possible,
5. sending fine notices to students for library materials which are overdue (fines are charged at 50 cents a day per book),
6. sending course-specific library collections to communities in which courses are underway or about to begin,
7. maintaining and updating when appropriate the OCLS World Wide Web pages,
8. handling any and all correspondence.

Library staff will deal with any administrative problems such as delinquent borrowers or overdue collections. Reminders will be sent on three separate occasions in the form of fine notices or letters requesting that material be returned. After three reminders have been dispatched, the IUS administrative offices in Thompson, the Campus Manitoba office in Brandon,   or the University Department offering a distance education course at Brandon University, may be notified and asked to pursue matters.

N.B: Inquiries from Community Co-ordinators and Community Representatives concerning routine business must be directed to the library. Communication with the organizations served by OCLS occurs after the library has established delinquency on the part of specific borrowers.

Specific Library Services

1. Off-Campus Library Services staff interact with students to ensure that required library material is located and procured. 
2. Off-Campus Library Services staff administer the library acquisitions budget through IUS and Campus Manitoba. This includes soliciting orders from teaching faculty.
3. All teaching faculty are contacted with respect to the library service: What they can expect from it, what is expected from them and how they may use the service.
4. Once course offerings have been determined, a small, course-specific library collection may be sent to each community (from the OCLS collection)
5. A librarian travels to off-campus centres periodically to offer instruction in library research techniques. Such instruction is most effective when offered in the context of a particular course which requires submission of a research paper. It is therefore expected that faculty will co-operate by devoting some of their class time to bibliographic instruction offered by a librarian.
6. OCLS staff continue to be in contact with volunteer libraries and their personnel in off-campus centres. This is especially important since these libraries house and care for portions of the off-campus collection.
7. OCLS also offers Distance Education Students living near any university in Canada, the ability to request a Reciprocal Borrowers Card from us provided that you are registered in a course through  Brandon University (if you are not, please contact the library from the university you are enrolled in and they will provide you with this card.)  This card will allow you to borrow library materials from an academic library near where you live. 

Faculty

All faculty will be contacted to inform/remind them about Off-Campus Library Services. Communication will follow upon notification from the organizations served by OCLS that a faculty member will be teaching a certain course in a specified community or communities. Face-to-face meetings may then occur, at the request of the faculty member, in which details of the library service are explained and the specific requirements of the course are discussed. A collection of course-specific library materials may include a selection of photocopied journal articles when requested by the faculty member.

In order to have appropriate library materials available to the students, faculty members are asked to take note of the following:

1. Please submit lists of library materials at least two weeks in advance so that readings can be on-site when required.  Time is of the essence in this matter.
2. Once the lists are submitted, the library is responsible for collecting materials and sending them to the off-campus location. Faculty are asked to leave this work entirely to the library and not to undertake it on their own.
3. Students requiring library support are to communicate directly with the person responsible for Off-Campus Library Services. Students who live in communities where a computer link is available must conduct their own bibliographic research using the Brandon University library catalog or any number of databases online. Searching information is available to off-campus students via our finding information page. Packages will be provided to each registered students.
4. Faculty who are teaching off-campus courses are asked to communicate directly with the librarian responsible for OCLS:  Carmen Kazakoff, or the OCLS Library Assistant ( Randy Patton ) who will either answer or direct any questions you might have.
5. In the case of  Brandon University instructors giving courses via Extension, there is a need to inform the OCLS Library Assistant, Mr. Randy Patton,  of students taking courses at a distance, if you require them to use electronic resources from their homes. 

N.B: OCLS does not distribute course materials for faculty, who are responsible for making their own arrangements in this regard.

Students

Students enrolled in courses offered by Campus Manitoba, IUS, and B.U. Extension are encouraged to make effective use of library resources. Each community in which a course is functioning will receive a modest collection of reference material for background reading, term paper preparation, and assignments. Students also are encouraged to make use of local public and school libraries.

Where a computer link exists in a community, students are expected to conduct their own library research using the   library catalog , and any available Databases.  Once they have prepared a bibliography of library materials they wish to obtain, a telephone call, fax, letter, e-mail message, or online request,   will initiate the process by which a package is prepared and sent. Students are urged to describe their research topic concisely, in a brief paragraph, so that library staff can be certain that appropriate material is being provided.

Students are reminded that books should be returned on time. Failure to do so will incur library fines. Library fines are charged at 50 cents a day per item. Photocopied material becomes the property of the students to whom it is sent. A pre-paid mailing label is included with each package so that library materials may be returned to Brandon University at no charge to the student.

Community Representatives/Course Monitors

In communities where there is no public library to house the off-campus collection, community representatives or course monitors are asked to assume responsibility with regard to these library materials. When a collection is prepared and sent to a specific site, a letter is enclosed (copied to the organizations served by OCLS) requesting that the community representative undertake the following:

1. upon receipt of the package of materials by mail or bus, check that everything listed did in fact arrive;
2. inform the students in the class that these materials are available for them to use.
3. endeavor to make certain that everyone who wishes access to the library materials has the opportunity;
4. encourage students to use the library service as outlined in this guide;
5. at the end of the course, return the library materials to Brandon University using the enclosed pre-paid mailing label(s). This allows the materials to be sent to other communities in which the same course may be offered in a subsequent term.

Community / Campus Manitoba Co-ordinators

Community / Campus Manitoba Co-ordinators, who are familiar with the operation of the library catalog,  and any number of relevant databases, are responsible for on-site instruction. All Community / Campus Manitoba  Co-ordinators will have the opportunity to participate in a workshop give by Brandon University library staff. Each workshop will focus on Library Research   techniques, the function of OCLS, what is expected of students and what the students can expect in return. During the academic year, then, Campus Manitoba and IUS Co-ordinators can assist students in their efforts to conduct library research at a distance, and thus ensure that the effects of isolation and distance are minimized.

Linda Burridge; University Librarian, Brandon University Library

Revised by Carmen Kazakoff, Extension Librarian, Brandon University Library  (July 1996 - Present)

rev. 12 January 1993

rev. 25 March 1993

rev. 08 August 1994

rev. 08 September 1994

rev. 09 February 1995

rev. 16 July 1996

rev.  26 August 1998

rev 1 August 2001

rev 20 August 2003

rev 23 August 2007