Introduction

This story begins in 1998 at a time of tremendous change and challenge in the provision of library services to distance education students. At the Open University Library we were embarking on a journey which at the outset appeared to have a relatively clear route and destination. Universities are, however, large and complex organizations and operate in a volatile and increasingly political context. The journey had more than a few twists and turns along the way and we are taking the opportunity of writing this chapter to reflect on our progress and some of the challenges we have encountered. This is particularly appropriate in a volume dedicated to Peter Brophy, who has been such an inspiration to all of us working in this field.

A tale of two Alices

In the beginning it was all about equity and access for distance learning students. This was both an ethical issue – the rights of these learners to have an equivalent service to that enjoyed by campus students – and an issue about academic standards and ‘graduateness’. The challenge was to abolish, or at least minimize, distance for those learners. It was characterized at the time by a tale of two Alices.

The Follett Report of 1993 (the Joint Funding Councils’ Libraries Review Group, 1993) reviewed the provision of library services in UK higher education and made some important recommendations about investment, particularly regarding information technology, with the plan to set up the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC). The report predicted the importance of the virtual library and presented a series of scenarios in this context, one of which introduces Alice, an undergraduate student of the future: Alice has just received feedback, online, from her tutor on her latest assignment: