Resources for Online and Distance Students

You are not alone! Each year, more than 6.3 million U.S. college students take at least one online class—that amounts to 31.6% of all college students nationwide. In fact, distance education enrollment has increased for the fourteenth straight year, meaning that more and more students are taking advantage of the flexibility and opportunities that online and distance education can offer. Here at Syracuse University, the numbers of courses, programs, and degrees offered online is also on the rise. 

Taking online classes is not without its challenges. Distance students, for example, are often unable to visit Bird Library in person to check out needed resources. This guide, then, gathers a wide variety of resources that might be helpful for Syracuse University online and distance students, particularly with accessing library resources, services, and support. Additionally, because online learning sometimes requires different learning strategies compared to in-person learning, this guide also offers some tips and strategies for making the most out of your online and distance learning experiences. In addition to this research guide, librarians at Syracuse University Libraries have also created additional guides for specific groups of students who might also be studying online or at a distance:

• Project Advance (SUPA) students
• Syracuse Abroad students based in Florence, London, or Madrid
• Veterans & military families
• Dissertation & thesis writers
• Newhouse School Communications Management and Communications@Syracuse students 

If you have any questions related to accessing resources and services at Syracuse University Libraries, please visit the Finding Help tab of this guide. 

In 2008 the Association of College & Research Libraries adopted a set of standards designed to help academic libraries to better support online and distance students. The Standards for Distance Learning Library Services are a response to several critical factors, including:

• the rapid growth of higher education learning opportunities that take place outside the traditional classroom;
• greater recognition of the need for library resources and services at locations other than main campuses;
• growing concern and demand for equitable services for all students in higher education, no matter where the "classroom" may be, or in the absence of a classroom at all;
• a greater demand for library resources and services by faculty and staff at distance learning sites;
• and the expansion and advancement in technological innovations in the transmittal of information and the delivery of courses.

A key section of the Standards, the "Access Entitlement Principle," communicates the rights that college and university students, faculty, and staff have in accessing library services and resources:

"All students, faculty members, administrators, staff members, or any other members of an institution of higher education are entitled to the library services and resources of that institution, including direct communication with the appropriate library personnel, regardless of where they are physically located in relation to the campus; where they attend class in relation to the institution’s main campus; or the modality by which they take courses. Academic libraries must, therefore, meet the information and research needs of all these constituents, wherever they may be. This principle of access entitlement, as applied to individuals at a distance, is the undergirding and uncompromising conviction of the Standards for Distance Learning Library Services."

Syracuse University Libraries defines online and distance as anyone who falls into one of these four categories: 

• Anyone currently taking at least one online course at Syracuse University, whether as a full-time student or as a part-time student;
• Anyone currently enrolled in a course through University College or Project Advance;
• SU students who live more than 30 miles away; and
• SU students who are away from campus for any reason, including internships.