Document Delivery

Abstract

Document delivery is a service offered by academic libraries that allows distance education students to access or obtain the research materials required for their studies. These services find the document and send a copy of it to the student (Calvert, 2001). Document delivery services aim to provide the same level of service to on-campus students and to off-campus students. They provide access to library materials at the student’s home institution as well as from other libraries. Document delivery services for distance students are generally part of a library’s Interlibrary Loan Department but document delivery can be a separate department. Some libraries have a division or department dedicated to serving distance students and document delivery is handled there when they exist. In the United States, regional accreditation agencies consider document delivery services to be a vital part of a distance education program. For example, the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools’ Guidelines for Distance Education emphasize that students should have access to the appropriate library resources for the field of study (2000).