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 "Information Technology and Society" has been produced by a multidisciplinary team at the Open University. This inter-faculty course adopts a resource-based approach to its subject, and students are encouraged to search the contents of the CD-ROM to find material relevant to the topics 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 adapted 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 students, via the course's conferencing system and a course survey, shows that the CD-ROM was well received, and that students adapted successfully to the resource-based approach.