THE DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF A CD-ROM RESOURCE LIBRARY FOR AN OPEN-UNIVERSITY COURSE

A CD-ROM containing a resource library for students of a course on ''I nformation Technology and Society'' has been produced by a multidiscip linary team at the Open University. This inter-faculty course adopts a resource-based approach to its subject, and students are encouraged t o search the contents of the CD-ROM to find material relevant to the t opics they are studying, To facilitate this searching, the articles in the library are electronically indexed using a set of course-related themes. The development of the CD-ROM gave rise to a number of issues: the content, which was based on printed publications, had to be adapt ed to suit the electronic medium; methods had to be devised to ensure the quality of the delivered product; and the roles of staff had to be adapted to accommodate electronic production methods, Feedback from s tudents, via the course's conferencing system and a course survey, sho ws that the CD-ROM was well received, and that students adapted succes sfully to the resource-based approach.