Abstract

This chapter describes a case study of two courses on information literacy presented by distance-teaching institutions from opposite sides of the world. The courses are ‘Mining Information in the Internet Age’, from the Open University of Hong Kong, and ‘Mosaic: Making Sense of Information in the Connected Age’, from the UK Open University, both of which are taught online. Designed and developed entirely independently, the courses have distinct similarities and differences, which will be explored in the chapter.

Introduction

In July 2002 the authors of this chapter, two course developers, one from the Open University Hong Kong (OUHK) and one from the UK Open University (UKOU), met for the first time in Hong Kong and began to discuss a mutual interest in information literacy. Information literacy is an important topic, particularly in the context of an online environment, but not one that at that time featured in stand-alone course offerings, particularly outside the USA and Australia. In the conversation, it transpired that both authors had been proactive in developing and delivering short courses in information literacy in their respective countries.

Both courses were developed in response to similar circumstances. Both institutions are distance-teaching universities. The UKOU was founded more than 30 years ago and was the first university of its kind; the OUHK followed 20 years later using the same model of ‘supported open learning’. Before near-universal internet access enabled the use of digital library resources, students of these institutions were not required to use libraries as part of their studies. The philosophy of equi- table access meant that students had to be able to complete their studies without visiting a library. Instead they were provided with a rich array of multimedia course materials – now referred to as ‘the course in the box’.

Both institutions have invested heavily in developing their digital library collections over the last eight to ten years, but had to wait until the majority of students had internet access before their use could be integrated into courses. As students were introduced to the use of digital library resources, it became evident that many lacked the most basic information literacy skills. Many students who had studied for several years with the UKOU had never learned to use libraries, databases or other tools. They had no experience equivalent to the library induction mandatory in most traditional universities.