College and Research Libraries


Nontraditional Students 
and the Library: Opinions, 
Preferences, and Behaviors 
Carol Hammond 

The population of nontraditional students in higher education is increasing 
rapidly, and academic libraries should examine whether additional or alternate 
services are needed to accommodate this growing user group. To gather data 
about nontraditional students for program planning and evaluation, a survey 
was designed that considered age, gender, and status as a full-time or part-time 
student as factors that defined nontraditional students, and which gathered 
student opinion in four areas: how these students used the library, when they 
wanted to use the library, which library services they felt were important, and 
how they evaluated some present library services. Group comparisons were then 
made for each question on the survey. The differences suggest possible market-
ing strategies, including matching some programs with particular groups of 
nontraditional students, and some service adjustments that libraries could 
consider to better accommodate all nontraditional students. 

D 
t has been projected that within 
the next ten years the student 
population at colleges and 

- universities will change pro-
foundly. Enrollments will increase dra-
matically, but the majority of students will 
not be the eighteen- to twenty-four-year-
olds who come to higher education di-
rectly from high schools. Instead, the 
largest group will be students who are 
older and attend school on a part-time 
rather than full-time basis. Recent studies 
show that not only is there a shrinking 
pool of students between the ages of eight-
een to twenty-one years and a rapid ex-
pansion of the older population but also 
that part-time students are the fastest 
growing population in higher education.1 
Many of these students will be returning 
to school after an interruption of some 

years. More students will be seeking ad-
vanced degrees that will afford them 
greater opportunity for career advance-
ment and a wider range of life choices. 
Higher education will be recruiting stu-
dents not just from secondary schools but 
from community colleges, local businesses, 
and the community at large. The student 
population will include more women and 
more minorities. The change in the kind of 
student that higher education seeks to 
serve will make new and different de-
mands on academic libraries and the serv-
ices they provide.2 

Definitions of nontraditional students 
are elusive, since they comprise so di-
verse a group. Brian Nordstrom de-
scribes them as "adults in transition" 
who "differ from traditional students in 
significant ways, including their stages 

Carol Hammond is Head of LibrnnJ Research, Deoelopment and External Relations, Arizona State University 
West, Phoenix, Arizona 85069-7100. The author wishes to acknowledge the funding for this project prol.tided 
btJ a grant from ASUW Academic Affairs. 

323 



324 College & Research Libraries 

of development in life, their value sys-
tems, their outside responsibilities, and 
their learning characteristics."3 Jeanie 
Roundtree-Wylie defines them as "indi-
viduals who have attained the age of 25 
and have not completed his or her educa-
tional goals."4 The factors singularly or in 
combination that define nontraditional 
students for educators, including librari-
ans, are: gender, age, enrollment status as 
full-time or part-time, race, marital status, 
the presence of dependents, and employ-
ment status, which may be full-time or 
part-time. While nonresidential students, 
married students, minority students, and 
women students may be" different," they 
are not "new'' groups on most cam-
puses. The presence of older students, 
working adults, and women with chil-
dren is, however, a change in the 
makeup of the student population, and 
the proportion of the total they comprise 
is increasing rapidly. 

Questions arise about this group of 
users, their characteristics, and what 
special needs they may have. In general, 
the learning activities of nontraditional 
students are secondary to other social or 
economic roles.5 These students are pres-
sured because the demands of home, 
work, and school are often in conflict. Job 
and employment responsibilities, child 
care arrangements, and transportation 
considerations are problems for this group 
of students; these problems are rare 
among younger residential students. 
Anxiety created by these pressures, along 
with the changes brought about by tech-
nology, the desire to succeed, and compe-
tition from younger students are cited as 
problems for nontraditional students.6 
There are also factors that contribute to the 
potential for academic success. Nontra-
ditional students are described as self-
directed, resourceful, responsive, and 
motiva ted.7 This study was developed to 
determine which attitudes nontradi-
tional students have about using the li-
brary, which behaviors they exhibit in 
library use, and what some of their opin-
ions are about the library. The informa-
tion could be applied to developing a 
range of services appropriate to the 
needs of this user group. 

July 1994 

Arizona State University West (ASUW) 
is a new campus in the Phoenix metropoli-

. tan area. With a high percentage of non-
traditional students and a library with 
alternative and innovative programs, it 
serves as an. excellent laboratory to in-
vestigate the library use patterns and 
behaviors of nontraditional students. 
At the same time, opinions from those 
users on how well some of the existing 
library service programs are meeting 
their needs could be collected as addi-
tional data. The study provided an op-
portunity to test some assumptions 
librarians have made about the priori-
ties, needs, and habits of this group of 
users. It would giv,_e some indication of 
student preferences, and provide data to 
help the library in planning and devel-
oping effective programs or changing 
existing programs to accommodate this 
large group of students. 

LITERATURE REVIEW 

By far the majority of what has been 
published about nontraditional stu-
dents and libraries has to do with adult 
students, bibliographic instruction, and 
learning styles. Virtually all of it has 
been published in the last ten years, 
when the growth in this population be-
gan to have a noticeable impact. Mal-
·9olm Knowles, who began writing on 
adult education in the 1960s, discusses 
the concept of andragogy, or the art of 
teaching adults.8 Knowles' work on the 
learning styles of adults is the most often 
cited study by librarians who teach non-
traditional students. Jean Sheridan pre-
sented Knowles' ideas as "a new concept 
for librarians," and her 1986 article pre-
sents a review of the debate on teaching 
styles and adult students, and the impli-
cations for librarians who teach classes 
for this population.9 Mary Ellen Ken-
nedy, in her study of adult students and 
bibliographic instruction, also looked to 
Knowles for teaching strategies and of-
fers practical suggestions for librarians 
to apply in structuring library instruc-
tion sessions for ad ults.10 Susan Swords 
Steffens reports on a program developed 
at the Chicago Campus of Northwestern 
University, which ~nrolls adult students 



almost exclusively and has experi-
mented with library services for the 
adult learner. She identifies five princi-
ples for planning effective instruction 
for adult students.11 Sheila Howard has 
also linked the characteristics of adult 
students with Bibliographic Instruction, 
as has Jacquelyn Coughlan.12·13 Andrea 
Wyman, Jean Sheridan, and Nicholas 
Tomaiuolo have also written about as-
pects of library instruction and the adult 
student and offer practical advice for 
librarians who teach.14-16 Betsey Hine 
looks not only at instruction for adult 
students, but briefly considers other li-
brary services, such as hours of opera-
tion.17 Colette Wagner and Augusta 
Kapper provide one of the few studies 
that looks at a variety of academic li-
brary services and how the programs 
affect the nontraditional student. 18 

The typical student is a part-time, 
degree-seeking undergraduate 
female, twenty-seven years of age, 
who transferred from a community 
college and who resides on the west 
side of the metropolitan area. 

In addition to librarians, academics 
from other disciplines have also contrib-
uted extensively to the education litera-
ture on nontraditional students. VIrtually 
none of the work, even a lengthy bibliog-
raphy such as the one by Cheryl Polson on 
the adult learner, appears to address li-
brary use or needs.19 1t also differs from 
the library literature in the number of 
actual studies it includes. These studies 
can be useful in identifying student 
needs and expectations, and as such can 
be helpful in developing library pro-
grams. These works often define the 
nontraditional student more broadly, 
considering more than just age as factors 
that define this group, and look at some 
of the issues beyond learning styles. Eric 
Iovacchini gathered data to look at four 
aspects that differentiate adult and tra-
ditional students: demographics, moti-
vation, academic characteristics, and 
perceptions of various aspects of the 

Nontraditional Students 325 

university. This study provides some in-
teresting facts based on survey data that 
may be helpful in planning library pro-
grams, and that were not reported else-
where; for example, traditional and 
older students both report they average 
the same amount of study time per 
week, about fifteen hours.20 Donna 
Queeney examines marketing aimed at 
the adult learner as well as some of the 
problems adult learners face, includ-
ing time-management and inflexible 
policies of colleges and universities 
that create particular difficulties for 
nontraditional students.21 Michael Hu 
conducted a study in 1985 to determine 
the needs and attitudes of nontradi-
tional students, primarily for marketing 
purposes, but also for designing pro-
grams to meet the requirements and ex-
pectations of these potential enrollees. 
His study identifies career change/ ca-
reer advancement as the major reason 
why these prospective students seek to 
return to school. His study also docu-
ments the "lack of time" problem iden-
tified as a common characteristic of the 
nontraditional popwation.22 Nordstrom's 
work, previously mentioned, addresses a 
number of issues related to the under-
graduate education of adults, and urges 
college faculty, administrators and stu-
dent services staff to reevaluate how they 
relate to the increasing numbers of non-
traditional students on campus.23 

. INSTITUTIONAL 
CHARACTERISTICS 

Phoenix, the location of Arizona State 
University West, is the ninth largest city 
in the United States; the population of 
Maricopa County, which includes the 
city of Phoenix, exceeds two million. The 
Census Bureau projects that Arizona 
will be the fastest growing state in the 
1990s.24 ASUW is just ten years old; as an 
upper-level institution it offers courses 
at the junior, senior, and master's level 
in four academic degree programs: Busi-
ness, Education, Arts and Sciences, and 
Human Services. 

The student population at ASUW can 
be defined as primarily nontraditional, 
and includes a large number of working 



326 College & Research Libraries 

adults who attend classes on a part-time 
basis. The typical student is a part-time, 
degree-seeking undergraduate, female, 
twenty-seven years of age, who trans-
ferred from a community college and who 
resides on the west side of the metropoli-
tan area. Of the students at ASUW, 67 
percent are over twenty-five years of age; 
7 4 percent are enrolled part-time; more 
than 50 percent are married, and 63 per-
cent are women.25 Total enrollment is ap-
proaching five thousand. Most courses are 
scheduled during late afternoon and 
evening hours, or on weekends. 

The library is also nontraditional in a 
number of ways. The concept of access 
has been exploited in the most positive 
sense of the word to provide both infor-
mation and resources. A rapid document 
delivery system provides approximately 
fifteen thousand items a year from the 
collections of the University Ubraries at 
ASU Main. The reference collection was 
built around sources in CD-ROM format, 
and the ASU Online Catalog also provides 
access to a variety of databases. Journals 
are primarily on fiche, and a substantial 
media collection, including interactive 
products, is available. 

A number of programs have already 
been designed with the nontraditional 
student in mind. For example, a photo-
copy service that will pull and copy ar-
ticles and documents for students for a 
nominal fee was set up in order to help 
students save time. Research assistance 
by appointment has been widely pro-
moted and encouraged so that students 
would be assured of individual consult-
ation with a librarian at the time most 
convenient for them. One-hour sessions 
on using electronic sources are offered at 
a wide range of different times, includ-
ing evenings, weekends, and usual meal 
times, to accommodate students who are 
on campus at less conventional hours. 
The library maintains its regularly 
scheduled hours, including nights and 
·weekends, during spring break, many 
holidays, and other times when libraries 
traditionally reduce hours because of 
low use. While some of these services 
designed for nontraditional students 
have been very successful, other have re-

July1994 

ceived low use. Most were set up in re-
sponse to what we assumed was needed. 

THE SURVEY 

The survey method was selected as 
the best way to gather information from 
students. In defining who would be con-
sidered nontraditional for the purposes 
of the survey, three categories were se-
lected: age, gender, and status as a full-
time or part-time student. So that a 
comparison could be made between the 
traditional and nontraditional student 
by all three categories, three age groups 
were established for the study: 18-25 
years of age, 26-33 years, and 34-41. 
years. 

Six hundred surveys were sent by 
mail, with the sample evenly divided 
among the three age groups. Students 
were also asked to identify their major, 
gender, and status as part time or full 
time. The respondents were also asked 
to indicate how often they used the li-
brary. Two hundred ninety-nine sur-
veys, or 49.8 percent of the sample were 
returned. These were almost exactly di-
vided between full-time and part-time 
students, with 150 and 149 in each re-
spective group. The sample included 
101 Business majors, 75 Education ma-
jors, 52 Arts and Sciences majors, and 39 
who were undeclared or undecided. 
This roughly reflects the enrollment dis-
tribution among the academic units at 
ASUW. Almost half, or 141 of the respon-
dents, indicated that they used the li-
brary occasionally; 83 said they used it 
often, while 75 said they used it rarely. 
The students who used the library at 
least occasionally far outnumbered 
those who used it rarely or not at all. 
Women students in the survey outnum-
bered men by two to one. This reflected 
the general makeup of the student popu-
lation at ASUW. A summary of there-
spondents in this sample is shown in 
figure 1. 

A survey instrument was designed to 
gather information about student be-
havior and opinion in four areas: The 
behaviors and use patterns exhibited in 
using the library; preferences in library 
hours; the library services and kinds of 



Nontraditional Students 327 

STATUS / 

Full-time 150 
./ Part-time 149 

0 40 80 120 160 200 

GENDER 

Male 100 
Female 199 

0 40 80 120 160 200 

AGE 

18-25 yrs. 81 
26-33 yrs. 101 
34-41 yrs. 117 

0 40 80 120 160 200 

MAJOR 
Business 101 

Education 75 
Arts & Sciences 52 

Human Services 32 
Undeclared/other 39 

0 40 80 120 160 200 

FREQUENCY OF 
LffiRARYUSE 

often 83 
occasionally 141 

rarely 75 

0 40 80 120 160 200 

FIGURE I 
Summary of Survey Sample by Status, Gender, Age, Major, and Frequency of Library Use 

support identified as important; and an 
evaluation of how well some selected 
library services were meeting their 
needs. Ubrary instruction was included 
but not emphasized in the survey be-
cause it is already evaluated by students 
in a number of different ways.26 The sur-
veys returned were anonymous, and the 
project was conducted with approval 
from the university for research involving 
human subjects. The twenty-eight ques-

tions were formatted using a Uckert-
type scale ranging from 1 to 5, with "1" 
representing ''least" and "5" repre-
senting "most."27 

SECTION 1: STUDENT 
LffiRARY USE BEHAVIORS 

The first section of the survey was 
designed to gather information on how 
students used the library. Respondents 
were asked to rate ten questions on a 



328 College & Research Libraries 

TABLEl 
LIBRARY USE BEHAVIORS 

Significant Interactions Found with 
Overall Mean and Standard Deviation (S.D.) for Each. Item 

Interactions Mean 

1. When I use the library, I have very No significant 3.97 
little time and need to complete my interactions. 
work as fast as I can. 

2. When I have to go to the library, I Significant main 2.69 
put it off as long as possible. effect for gender. 

3. I prefer to collect materials in the Significant main 3.87 
library and take them home to use. effect for gender. 

4. Learning how to find information Significant main 3.96 
will help me in my career. effects for gender 

and status. 
5. I can pretty much find on my own No significant 3.29 

whatever I need in the library. interactions. 
6. Using the computers instead of Significant main 4.08 

paper indexes or a card catalog effects for 
saves me time. gender and status. 

7. I would pay for some library Significant main 3.12 
services if they really saved effect for gender. 
me time. 

8. I own a computer, and I use the Significant main 1.56 
libary catalog at home to do my effect for gender. 
research. 

9. My schedule makes it difficult to Significant main 3.37 
find time to come to the library. effect for status. 

10. I would rather have something I Significant main effect for 3.03 
could check out and use at home to status. 
learn how to use the library, such as 
a video, instead of a lecture during 
class. 

July 1994 

S.D. 

(1.10) 

(1.21) 

(1.23) 

(1.14) 

(1.13) 

(1 .17) 

(1.40) 

(1 .18) 

(1.31) 

(1.54) 

five-point scale ranging from 1 = "Does 
not apply to me" to 5 = "Applies to 
me." An examination of group differ-
ences on each question was conducted 
using an Analysis of Variance procedure 
(ANOVA). The dependent variable was 
the score from the question scale. The 
independent variables were status (full-
time or part-time student) gender (male 
or female) and age (18-25 years, 26-33 
years, or 34-41 years). The level of sig-
nificance was set at alpha = .05. 

the items. Table 1 shows the questions, 
the overall mean response for all . stu-
dents, and the significant interactions 
found. 

No significant three-way interactions 
were found in any section of this survey. 
No two-way interactions were found in 
the first section on student library use be-
haviors. Significant main effects were 
found for eight of the ten items. There 
were no significant interactions for two of 

Items 1 and 5 showed no significant in-
teractions among age, gender, and status, 
indicating there was no significant differ-
ence between the responses from tradi-
tional and nontraditional students. 

Responses to item 1 indicate that all 
students, regardless of circumstances, 
feel pressed for time when they come to 
the library. The supposition that nontra-
ditional students with family and work 
obligations feel they are under greater 
stress from lack of time than traditional 
students was not supported. The overall 
mean response to this item from all stu-
dents was among the strongest in this 



section at 3. 97 on a scale of 5. The reasons 
for this sense of pressure from not hav-
ing enough time are not clear from the 
survey. Library staff almost always indi-
cate that procrastination makes using 
the library for research more stressful for 
students. However, item 2, which poses 
the situation of putting off going to the 
library for a project as long as possible, 
showed a score of 2.69 out of a possible 
5. This moderately low response indi-
cates that procrastination is not a strong 
pattern that most students felt described 
them or that most identified as typical. 
This may have been seen as a value judg-
ment, and although the responses were 
anonymous, students may have been 
unwilling to admit to what is probably 
perceived as "bad" behavior, or at least 
a poor study habit. A partial answer may 
be provided by item 9, where a signifi-
cant main effect for status as a full-time 
or part-time student exists, and a mean 
score of 3.37 was given for "My schedule 
makes it difficult to find time to come to 
the library." The response to item 1 sug-
gests that library programs, systems, 
and services designed to facilitate effi-
cient, time-saving use of the library are 
likely to be viewed as enhancements and 
ad vantages by all students. 

The support for Information Literacy 
from all students shown by responses to 
item 4, "Learning how to find informa-
tion will help me in my career," is encour-
aging, and may indicate a change from 
past attitudes about the value of library 
skills. An overall mean score of 3.96 may 
be viewed as moderately strong recogni-
tion of the fact that "In the information 
age, adults find they must know how to 
locate and use knowledge."28 This re-
sponse is evidence that students do indeed 
see a link between information-finding 
skills and career success. This item also 
showed significant differences between 
groups for gender and status, which is 
discussed later in this section. 

Item 5, "I can pretty much find on my 
own whatever I need in the library," also 
had no significant interactions. This 
would indicate an equal level of confi-
dence among both traditional and non-
traditional students in using the library 

Nontraditional Students 329 

for finding information and materials. 
Students at ASUW use a highly elec-
tronic library and are accustomed to us-
ing a document delivery system as a 
routine way of obtaining materials. This 
response stands in contrast to what 
other authors, especially librarians, have 
indicated about nontraditional stu-
dents.29 Those who have looked at non-
traditional students have found a lack of 
confidence in their abilities and fear of 
technology among the most commonly 
identified problems for this group of us-
ers.30 With an overall mean score of 3.29, 
respondents, while not claiming to have 
exceptional skills in using the library and 
locating what they needed, did not think 
they had serious deficiencies. This may 
indicate the success of the bibliographic 
instruction and information services pro-
grams, or may reflect library skills gained 
somewhere else in the students' academic 
experience before reaching ASUW. It 
does raise the question, however, about 
the ever-increasing numbers of ques-
tions answered and the amount of assis-
tance provided at the reference desk 
when students demonstrate this level of 
self-sufficiency in using the library. 

The supposition that nontraditional 
students with family and work 
obligations feel they are under 
greater stress from lack of time than 
traditional students was not 
supported. 

Two items, numbers 6 and 8, also 
stand out as the strongest responses in the 
section. Both concern technology and 
computers, two areas that have been iden-
tified as potential problem areas for non-
traditional students, and the responses 
are, curiously, at opposite ends of the scale. 
Item six, ''Using computers instead of pa-
per indexes or a card catalog saves me 
time," was given a 4.08 overall mean score, 
which was the highest score for any item 
in this section. This strong approval and 
enthusiasm for electronic resources also 
implies a level of expertise in library skills, 
since students would not identify library 



330 College & Research Libraries 

computer catalogs and electronic in-
dexes as time savers if they found them 
to be harder to use than the paper ver-
sions. It is also noteworthy that signifi-
cant main effects for gender and status 
exist for this item, but not for age. Gen-
erally most nontraditional students, de-
fined by age, would be more familiar 
and comfortable with paper sources and 
not as familiar with recent innovations 
in electronic tools. 

The very low use made of home 
computers for library research 
shown in this survey, in spite of the 
available access, indicates that much 
more needs to be done in marketing 
and teaching the electronic library if 
the virtual library concept is to be 
realized. 

Item 8 received the lowest score for 
any item in this section and in fact, in the 
whole survey. "I own a computer and I 
use the library catalog at home to do my 
research" earned only a 1.56 overall 
mean score. This stands in conflict with 
assumptions about the availability and 
use of home computers among the gen-
eral student population and has implica-
tions for marketing the library as well. 
The ASU Online Catalog prov~des dial-
in access at no cost for any registered 
user with a computer, a modem, a tele-
phone line, and communications soft-
ware. It . provides access to the 
2.8-million-volume collections of both li-
braries, a full-text encyclopedia, six dif-
ferent journal indexes, and a range of 
ASU-specific databases. Given the pref-
erence that was indicated in item 3 for 
doing work at home rather than in the 
library when possible, and the relatively 
strong belief that electronic sources are 
time savers (item 6) it is curious that so 
few students take advantage of the op-
portunity to do their research in the con-
venience of their own homes. It is even 
more puzzling, considering that all stu-
dents are highly motivated to save time. 
In a recent editorial, a librarian noted, 
"Acc~s to personal computers by stu-

July 1994 

dents and faculty have encouraged the 
assumption that information-based ac-
tivity can happen any place at any time 
with the use of telephone lines." 31 The 
response to this item from library users 
may serve as a cautionary note in assum-
ing that significant numbers of students 
have access to a home computer and/or 
the necessary equipment and support 
for communications, or if they do, that 
they are aware of the availability of re-
mote access to library resources. It may 
show that they do not perceive any ad-
vantage in identifying materials before 
attempting to obtain the actual items. 
The very low use made of home comput-
ers for library research shown in this 
survey, in spite of the available access, 
indicates that much more needs to be 
done in marketing and teaching the elec-
tronic library if the virtual library con-
cept is to be realized. 

A final observation about the re-
sponses to this section of the survey, 
before analyzing the variables and differ-
ences betw~n traditional and nontradi-
tional students in greater depth, is the 
willingness to pay for services as shown in 
item 7. The main effect for gender, indi-
cating a significant difference between 
the responses from men and women, is 
interesting and will be discussed later. 

As previously noted, there were no 
three-way interactions produced in this 
study. To look more closely at the inter-
actions of gender and status, see table 2. 

· This shows the overall mean, factor 
mean, standard deviation (S.D.), n, F val-
ues, and homogeneity of variance p val-· 
ues for the items that had significant 
main effects for gender or status, or for 
both gender and status. All F values in 
the F column are at p < .05. The numbers 
in the left-hand column correspond to 
the numbers of the survey items as listed 
in table 1. Since all groups had an un-
equal n, a homogeneity of variance test 
for groups was performed, using a Co-
chrans C test. The Cp column shows the 
p value for the Cochrans C test; all values 
of p > .05 indicate equivalent variance 
for the comparison groups. 

From this analysis, we can see a sig-
nificant main effect for gender between 



Nontraditional Students 331 

TABLE2 
LIBRARY USE BEHAVIORS 

Significant Interactions for Gender and Status 
Gender Status 

Male Female Full Part 
Mean F F 

Item (overall N = 299) (S.D.) N=lOO N=199 <e> <ce> N= 150 N=149 <e> ce 
2. When I go to the 2.69 2.48 2.80 4.93 .123 No effect 

library, I put it off as (1.21) (1.11) (1.25) (.027) 
long as possible. 

3. I prefer to collect 3.87 3.48 4.07 15.20 .344 No effect 
materials in the (3.87) (1.27) (1.17) (.000) 
library and take 
them home to use. 

4. Learning how to 3.96 3.65 4.11 8.25 .015 4.19 3.72 10.68 .018 
find information will (1.14) (1.27) (1.04) (.004) (1.00) (1.23) (.001) 
help me in my career. 

6. Using computers 4.09 4.27 3.99 4.54 .035 4.27 3.90 5.69 .025 
instead of paper (1.17) (1.03) (1.23) (.034) (1.05) (1.26) (.018) 
indexes or a card 
catalog saves me 
time. 

7. I would pay for 3.12 2.72 3.32 13.75 .881 No effect 
some library services (1.40) (1.39) (1.37) (.000) 
if they really saved 
me time. 

8. I own a computer 1.56 1.82 1.43 7.12 .001 No effect 
and I use the library (1.18) (1.37) (1.06) (.008) 
catalog at home to 
do my research. 

9. My schedule makes 3.37 No effect 3.14 3.59 10.23 .112 
it difficult to find (1.31) (1.37) (1.21) (.002) 
time to come to the 
library. 

10. I would rather have 3.03 No effect 2.89 3.17 4.46 .673 
something I could (1.55) 
check out and use at 
home to learn how 
to use the library, 
such as a video, 
instead of a lecture 
during class. 

Mean, S.D., N, F values, (p), and Cochrans Cp values 

the male and female responses on six of 
the ten questions from Section I of the 
survey. Female students indicated a 
stronger response and felt more strongly 
inclined toward the behavior as one that 
"applies to me" for items 2, 3, 4, and 7. 
Females, then, indicated a stronger incli-
nation than males to put off going to the 
library for as long as possible, a stronger 
preference than males for collecting ma-
terials in the library and taking them 

(1.57) (1.51) (.036) 

home to use, a stronger sense than males 
that learning how to find information 
would help them in their careers, and a 
stronger willingness than males to pay 
for library services if they would. really 
save time. Males, on the other hand, had 
a stronger response than females to 
items 6 and 8, which are the items that 
relate to computers and technology. 
Males felt more strongly than females 
that using computers instead of paper 



332 College & Research Libraries 

indexes or a card catalog would save 
time, and a stronger indication than fe-
males to own a computer and conduct 
library research at home. 

Status as a part-time or full-time stu-
dent yielded significant main effects in 
four of the ten items: 4, 6, 9 and 10. 
Full-time students felt more strongly 
than part-time students that learning 
how to find information would help 
them in their careers (item 4), and that 
using computers instead of paper 
sources would save them time (item 6). 
Not surprisingly, part-time students in-
dicated more strongly than full-time stu-
dents that their schedules made it 
difficult to find time to come to the li-
brary (item 9-note that there was no 
effect for gender for this item), and that 
they had a stronger preference for hav-
ing something they could check out and 
use at home for learning how to use the 
library, such as a video, instead of a lec-
ture during class (item 10). 

Again, the survey does not provide 
specific data on why the different 
groups responded differently, although 
assumptions might be made about the 
reasons. The implications these data 
suggest for library services are various 
and depend on creativity for identifying 
possible programmatic solutions to bet-
ter meet the needs of these students. For 
example, women and part-time students 
show a significantly stronger difference 
than other students in their preference to 
work at home, as shown by responses to 
items 2 and 10. Library instruction of-
fered via educational TV and home de-
livery of materials might be appropriate 
services for institutions with large num-
bers of students in these categories. 
Women and full-time students believe 
more strongly than men and part-time 
students that finding information will be 
helpful to them in their careers. Perhaps 
better marketing to the latter two groups 
on the benefits of information literacy 
would be both a recruitment tool for an 
institution and an aid in bringing those 
users to library instruction classes more 
often. In ASUW programs, such as the 
MBA, which have a high enrollment of 
male students, selling this group on tak-

July 1994 

ing a course in using the library for find-
ing business information as a good ca-
reer move is a strategy that might be 
utilized. Women, who have less earning 
power and are traditionally viewed as 
having less discretionary funds to 
spend, are more willing than men to pay 
for library services that would save them 
time. The willingness of this particular 
set of nontraditional students, who are 
usually perceived as under financial 
constraint, to pay for services in order to 
save time may strike some librarians as 
unexpected and a typical. Such an as-
sumption may indicate that we have 
been guilty of stereotyping, and that we 
might do well to change how we market 
and pay for services such as copying, 
document delivery, and online search-
ing, especially for women students·. The 
willingness of women to pay for services 
that save time may also be a truer indi-
cation of which group of students most 
genuinely needs to solve that problem. 

SECfiON II: LIBRARY HOURS 

An often noted library issue especially 
important to nontraditional students is 
the hours of service. Market studies 
which surveyed prospective students as 
well as data on current students at 
ASUW showed a strong preference for 
evening classes.32 Given this indication 
of when they prefer to attend classes, can 

· we infer anything about when they 
wanted to use the library? Would it be near 
the same times as they indicated for 
classes, or different times? Section II of the 
survey was designed to find out when it is 
most convenient for students to come to 
the library. Choices ranged from a low of 
1 = 11least convenient" to a high of 5 = 
11most convenient." Table 3 shows the 
results of the survey for section II. 

In keeping with what we already 
know about library use patterns from 
statistics collected at library service 
points at ASUW, Saturdays, Sundays, 
and evenings after 5 p.m. are identified 
as the most convenient hours for stu-
dents to come to the library. Table 4 
shows the significant interactions by 
gender and status. Table 5 shows the 



Nontraditional Students 333 

TABLE3 
LIBRARY HOURS 

Significant Interactions Found with Overall Mean and S.D. for Each Item 
Interactions · Mean S.D. 

11. It is most convenient for me to come to the Significant main effect 3.82 (1.40) 
library on Saturday. for status. 

12. It is most convenient for me to come to the Significant two-way 3.81 (1.48) 
library on Sunday. interaction for 

gender by age. 
13. It is most convenient for me to come to Significant two-way 3.86 (1.29) 

the library on evenings after 5 p.m. interaction for 
gender by age. 

14. It is most convenient for me to come to the Significant main for 2.09 (1.44) 
library on weekdays before noon. gender and status. 

15. It is most convenient for me to come to the Significant main 2.35 (1.54) 
library on weekdays between noon and 5 p.m. effects for status. 

TABLE4 
LffiRARY HOURS 

Significant Interactions by Gender and Status 
Gender Status 

Male Female Full Part 
Mean F F 

Item (overall N = 299) (S.D. N=lOO N=199 <e> ce N= 150 N= 149 <e> ce 
11. It is most convenient for 3.82 No effect 3.52 4.13 11.72 .035 

me to come to the (1.41) (1.49) (1.25) (.001) 
library on Saturday. 

14. It is most convenient 2.09 1.77 2.24 4.70 .009 2.52 1.66 23.75 .004 
for me to come to the (1.44) (1.22) (1.51) (.031) (1.53) (1.21) (.000) 
library on weekdays 
before noon. 

15. It is most convenient 2.35 No effect 2.93 1.67 43.40 .002 
for me to come to the (1.54) (1.60) (1.23) (.000) 
library on weekdays 
between noon and 
5 p.m. 

Mean, S.D. , N, F values, (p), and Cochrans Cp values 

data for responses in which age had a 
significant main effect. 

Item5 11 and 14, on Saturday and 
weekday morning preferences, showed 
a main effect for status only, with part-
time students indicating a significantly 
stronger convenience preference for 
Saturdays than full-time students, and 
full-time students indicating a stronger 
convenience preference for weekday 
mornings than part-time students. If, for 
example, employment is the reason for 

part-time status, most likely these stu-
dents are at work during weekday 
hours. A programmatic response for in-
stitutions with a large enrollment of part-
time students might be to preserve and 
perhaps even expand Saturday hours. A 
possible trade-off could be to reduce tradi-
tional weekday daytime hours. 

Items 12 and 13, on Sunday hours and 
evening hours, are among the few items 
on the survey that had significant two-
way interaction, in this case by both 



334 College & Research Libraries July 1994 

TABLES 
LlliRARY HOURS 

Significant Interactions by Gender and Age 

Item 

12. It is most convenient 
for me to come to 
the hbnuy on Sunday. 

M(S.D.) 

3.81 
(1.48) 

F (p) 

3.74 
(.025) 

Male 

N=26 N=38 
18-25 26-33 
years years 

3.61 4.18 
(1.44) (1.20) 

Female 

N=36 N=55 N=63 N=81 
34-41 18-25 26-33 34-41 
years years years years 

4.05 3.96 3.37 3.84 
(1.17) (1.40) (1.73) (1.53) 

13. It is most convenient 3.86 4.39 3.38 4.47 4.17 3.73 3.68 3.81 
for me to come to the (1.29) (.013) (1.44) (0.73) (1.08) (1.34) (1.34) (1.35) 
library on evenings 
after 5 p.m. 

Means, S.D., F values, p, N 

gender and age. Males in the 26-33-year-
old age group and females in the tradi-
tional student age group of 18-25 years 
both indicate a stronger convenience 
preference for Sunday than other stu-
dents of the same gender but in different 
age groups. Females in the 34-41-year-
old age group and again males aged 26-
33 years showed a stronger convenience 
preference for evening hours than did 
other students of the same gender but of 
different ages. 

Complaints about library hours, while 
not great in number, appear with regu-
larity in the ASUW suggestion box. 
However, the survey data on library 
hours showed that the hours are not a 
serious problem for most students. Item 
22 (table 8), which asks if the library 
hours are a problem, earned an overall 
mean score of 2.69, which is moderately 
low, with no interactions to indicate a 
difference in opinion between the tradi-
tional and nontraditional students. The 
survey confirmed what was already 
known about use patterns and library 
hours, and did not provide any new in-
sights or information in this area. In fact, 
the analysis showed no consistent pat-
tern based on student age, status, or gen-
der that would be of help in determining 
library hours. Questions that would de-
termine how early or late the library 
should be open and who would be ac-
commodated by such a schedule, and 
those which might identify such pat-
terns as the tendency to come to the 

library before or after class rather than 
on a different day than the class meets, 
might have been more useful. Making 
effective program changes to match user 
needs in this area remains problematic 
because the individual circumstances, 
needs, and preferences of students are 
inconsistent and highly variable, and 
there appear to be no discernible group 
tendencies to consider in planning and 
scheduling hours. The library already 
provides hours of service during the 
days and times identified as most con-
venient for students.33 Adjusting staffing 
to accommodate demand during these 
known time periods has already been 
done, and this study failed to produce 
information that would indicate what 
changes, if any, are needed. 

SECTION III: PERCEIVED 
IMPORTANCE OF SELECTED 

LIBRARY PROGRAMS 
AND SERVICES 

Table 6 shows responses to survey 
items 16-21, which asked students to 
identify how important various services 
were to them. The responses range from 
a low of 1 = "not important" to a high of 
5 = "very important." 

Of the six items in this section, there 
were no significant interactions for two 
items, numbers 18 and 19, indicating no 
significant difference in the student re-
sponses based on gender, age, or status. 
Item 18 additionally received the highest 



Nontraditional Students 335 

TABLE6 
IMPORTANCE OF DIFFERENT LIBRARY SERVICES 

Significant Interactions Found with Overall Mean and S.d. for Each Item 

16. A quiet place in the library to study 
is important to me. 

17. It is important to me to have a space 
in the library for groups to meet 
and work on class projects. 

18. It is important to me to have access 
in the library to books and magazines. 

19. It is important to me for the library 
to have classes in how to use elec-
tronic sources. 

20. It is important to me to have library 
assistance with using specific sources. 

21. It is important to me for someone 
in the library to provide advice 
on how to do research. 

overall mean score, at 4.34, of any item 
in the whole survey. This strong re-
sponse to "how important to you is ac-
cess to books and magazines" may 
indicate that libraries are perceived as 
filling a very traditional role, that of 
warehouse, for traditional library mate-
rials, and that it is the most important 
service that the library provides. ASUW, 
however, has made a commitment to ac-
cess as a viable alternative to ownership, 
and has developed a delivery system 
from the main campus that makes this 
an attractive alternative that students 
have used since the library opened. An-
other interpretation of this response 
may be that students see the library as 
the agency that will get the material 
they need, regardless of where it is, and 
having it on the shelf just in case some-
one needs it may not be as important as 
getting it only when someone needs it. 
Because of the established tradition in 
the ASUW library of relying on remote 
resources, the latter case may be most 
significant. 

The next strongest response in Section 
III was an overall mean score of 4.02, also 
among the highest scores in the survey, 
for item 16, "How important is the li-

Interactions Mean S.D. 

Significant main 4.02 (1.30) 
effect for status. 

Significant main 3.68 (1.34) 
effect for status. 

No significant 4.34 (0.93) 
interaction. 

No significant 2.84 (1.30) 
interaction. 

Significant main 3.85 (1.07) 
effect for gender. 

Significant main 3.52 (1.30) 
effect for gender. 

brary as a quiet place to study." Students 
again selected a very traditional library 
role, that of study hall, as important. 
This response disproved one of our as-
sumptions, that adult students would 
prefer to study at home rather than on 
campus. The assumption was based on 
the fact that ASUW is a nonresidential 
campus, with just over half (55 percent) 
of the students in the sample indicating 
they were on campus two to four times 
a week and about half (49.8 percent) of 
the respondents indicating they attend 
part-time, presumably with work and 
family responsibilities taking major 
parts of their available time. A possible 
consideration is that it may be precisely 
these factors that motivate so many stu-
dents to seek quiet space in the library. 
However, the data show no main effect 
for gender, and the effect for status indi-
cates it is the full-time students who ex-
pressed a stronger need for quiet study 
space in the library (see table 7). The 
noise level, primarily from students 
talking in all areas of the building, is a 
problem in the library at ASUW. Because 
of the strong rating this item received, 
quiet study areas were established and 
enforced. This accommodation, how-



336 College & Research Libraries July 1994 

TABLE7 
IMPORTANCE OF SELECTED LIBRARY SERVICES 

Significant Interactions by Gender and Status 

Gender Status 

Male Female Full Part 

Mean F F 
Item (overall N = 299) (S.D.) N=lOO N=199 (p) Cp N=ISO N=149 (p) Cp 

16. A quiet place in the 
library to study is 
important to me. 

17. It is important to me 
to have a space in the 
library for groups to 
meet and work on · 
class projects. 

4.02 No effect 
(1.30) 

3.68 No effect 
(3.96) 

4.25 3.79 5.67 .001 
(1.09) (1.45) (.018) 

3.97 3.40 10.89 .124 
(1.23) (1.40) (.001) 

20. It is important to me to 3.85 3.54 4.00 11.01 .468 No interaction 
have library assistance (1.07) (1.10) (1.03) (.001) 
with using specific 
sources. 

21. It is important to me 3.52 3.16 3.70 10.26 .325 No interaction 
for someone in the (1.29) (1.34) (1.23) (.002) 
library to provide 
advice on how to do 
research. 

Mean, S.D., N, F values, p, and Cochrans Cp values 

ever, was not strongly demanded by 
nontraditional students. 

Responses from Section III also show 
a moderately strong, or overall mean of 
3.68, response to item 17 indicating a 
need for space in the library for groups 
to meet was important, and significantly 
so for full-time students. Classes in how 
to use electronic sources earned an over-
all mean score of2.84, or a moderately 
low response. Again, the assumption 
that part-time students would have a 
greater need for the group study rooms, 
because of conflicts with schedules and 
supposedly more limited time options to 
meet classmates, was not supported. 
Neither was the need, from the student 
perspective, for instruction in using elec-
tronic resources. It may be that students 
prefer to get help at the Reference Desk 
at the time they need it, since it is readily 
available and they would not have to 
commit additional time to attend a class. 
This conclusion appears to be supported 
by the response to item 20. Or, they have 
more confidence, comfort, and ability with 

computers than we assume. The perva-
sive presence of computers in so many 

· aspects of life may be making them much 
more familiar to everyone, including 
adults, and the notion that computers are 
a continuing source of anxiety to nontra-
ditional students may be changing. 

Other differences in this section are 
gender-based and evident in the analy-
sis of items 20 and 21 (table 7). Female 
students indicated that assistance, bOth 
in using specific sources and in doing 
research, was important to them, more 
so that it was to male students. This dif-
ference may be due either to weaker li-
brary skills or to a stronger tendency 
among women to ask for help. 

In the budget-conscious environment 
of higher education today, it would have 
been useful to have expanded this sec-
tion of the survey to include a wider range 
of services. The ones selected relate pri-
marily to space, reference and research 
support services, and access. While the 
data gathered in these areas were both 
interesting and useful, a wider range of 



Nontraditional Students 337 

TABLES 
EVALUATION OF SELECfED LIBRARY PROGRAMS AND SERVICES 

Significant Interactions Found with Overall Mean and S.d. for Each Item 

Interactions Mean S.D. 

22. A problem for me is that library No significant interactions. 2.69 (1.38) 
hours are not long enough. 

23. A problem for me is that research Significant two-way inter- 2.83 (1.18) 
takes too much time. action for gender by age. 

24. A problem for me is that there are No significant interaction. 3.04 (1.34) 
not enough books and periodicals. 

25. A problem for me is that there are Significant two-way inter- 3.10 (1.34) 
too few terminals. action for status by gender. 

26. A problem for me is that there is Significant main effects for 2.48 (1.14) 
not enough assistance available. gender and status. 

27. A problem for me is that I am Significant main effects 2.53 (1.28) 
unfamiliar with this library. for status and gender. 

28. A problem for me is that it takes Significant main effects 2.90 (1.37) 
too long to get materials from for age. 
Tempe. 

programs and services which students 
could evaluate and rate to indicate those 
of lesser importance would be of great 
help in budget planning, particularly in 
times of retrenchment. 

SECTION IV: EVALUATION 
OF SELECTED LIBRARY 

PROGRAMS AND SERVICES 

The final section of the survey, items 
22 to 28, asked students to rate which of 
seven library programs and services 
were perceived to be problems, or not 
problems in using the library. For this 
section, a low score of 1 = "not a serious 
problem" and a high of 5 = "very serious 
problem." Results are shown in table 8. 

Item 22, the question of hours, has 
been addressed earlier in Section II. 
The question in this section, "A problem 
for me is that library hours are not long 
enough," ha~. no significant interactions. 
Collections, reflected by item 24, at an over-
all mean of 3.04 received a moderate score, 
with no significant differences shown be-
tween responses from traditional and 
nontraditional students. 

For interactions by gender and status 
to items 26 and 27, see table 9. Item 26, 
''There is not enough assistance avail-
able," cmd item 27 "I am unfamiliar with 

this library," both had moderately low 
scores at an overall mean of 2.48 and 
2.53. Significant interactions for status 
and gender are present for both items. 
Women and part-time students were sig-
nificantly different in responding to 
both of these items. Both groups indicated 
that a lack of assistance and less familiarity 
with this library were stronger problems 
for them than for men and full-time stu-
dents. This inay underscore the need for 
targeting these two groups for more orien-
tation and instruction, or to bring to their 
attention some of the services available to 
assist them, such as the consultation by 
appointment the librarians provide. 

The only item in the survey for which 
a significant main effect was found 
solely for age was number 28, "It takes 
too long to get materials from Tempe," 
although with a mean score of 2.90 this 
could be seen as only a moderate prob-
lem, or only a serious problem to a few 
and not to many. However, it is interest-
ing to note that the group expressing 
the stronger concern that this is a prob-
lem is the traditional 18-25-year-old 
group rather than the older students 
(see table 10). Since item 28 had three 
levels, a Tukey procedure was per-
formed to determine which age group 



~------------------------------------------------------------------ -

338 College & Research Libraries July 1994 

TABLE9 
EVALUATION OF SELECfED LIBRARY PROGRAMS AND SERVICES 

Significant Interactions by Gender and Status 

Gender Status 

Male Female Full Part 

Mean F F 
Item (overall N = 299) (S.D. N=100 N = 199 (p) Cp N=150 N=149 (p) Cp 

26. A problem for me is that 2.47 2.29 2.57 4.79 .112 2.40 2.55 4.28 .452 
there is not assistance (1.14) (1.04) (1.18) (.029) (1.18) (1.10) (.039) 
available. 

27. A problem for me is that 2.53 2.29 2.64 7.21 .008 2.35 2.70 10.24 .974 
I am unfamiliar with this (1.28) (1.09) (1.35) (.008) (1.27) (1.27) (.002) 
library. 

Mean, S.D., N, F values, (p) and Cochrans Cp values 

TABLElO 
ITEM 28: INTERACfiONS BY AGE 

Age 

N=81 N= 101 N=117 

Item (overall N = 299) Mean (S.D.) 18-25 Years 26-33 Years 34-41 Years F(p) Cp 

28. A problem for me is 
that it takes too long 
to get materials from 
Tempe. 

2.91 
(1.37) 

3.27 
(1.24 

Mean, (S.D.), N, F values, (p) and Cochrans Cp values 

2.73 
(1.36) 

2.80 
(1.43) 

5.00 
(.007) 

.376 

TABLEll 
EVALUATION OF SELECfED LIBRARY PROGRAMS AND SERVICES 

Item 23: Significant Interaction by Gender and Age 

N=26 
Mean 18-25 

Item (S.D.) F (p) Years 

23. A problem for me is 2.83 4.11 3.00 
that research takes (1.18) (.017) (1.10) 
too much time. 

Mean, (S.D.) F values, p 

means were significantly different at the 
alpha = .05 level. A Cochrans C homoge-
neity of variance test showed the groups 
were homogeneous (p = .376, not rejecting 
the hypothesis that the variances are 
equal) at alpha= .05. The Tukey procedure 
showed the 18-25-year-old group to be 
significantly different (p = < .05) from both 
the 26-33-year-old group and the 34--41-
year-old group. Although the overall mean 
was moderate for item 28, the mean of 3.27 
for 18-25-year-olds indicates a stronger 

Male Female 

N=38 N=36 N=55 N=63 N=81 
26-33 34-41 18-25 26-33 34-41 
Years Years Years Years Years 

2.92 2.25 3.24 2.57 2.91 
(1.12) (0.94) (1.20) (1.17) (1.21) 

belief in this age group that it takes too 
long to get materials from Tempe. 

The significance of this finding is that 
it shows a greater level of comfort and 
acceptance among older students for li-
brary models such as the one used at 
ASUW that feature enhanced access as 
an answer to reduced ownership of ma-
terials. These models require users to 
plan ahead, even if just for forty-eight 
hours, to receive selected items. The ad-
vantage for users is savings in time that 



would otherwise be needed for collect-
ing materials from the shelves and pho-
tocopying articles. Older students have 
adapted more effectively to this model, 
which is becoming increasingly more 
common among academic libraries. 

The final analysis of this section covers 
item 23 and is shown in table 11. Analy-
sis by gender and age of responses to 
item 23, "A problem for me is that library 
research takes too much time," shows 
that there is a significant difference in 
the scores of both older men and older 
women. The older group of males found 
this less of a problem than either of the 
younger groups of males. The older 
women also found this less of a problem 
than did the younger women. More ma-
ture students are either better able to 
make use of what time they have, or 
more accepting of the amount of time 
library research takes. 

CONCLUSIONS 

This survey showed no significant dif-
ferences between the responses of tradi-
tional and nontraditional students in six 
areas. These included the pressure felt 
from lack of time, their ability to find 
what they need in the library on their 
own, the importance of instruction on 
using electronic sources, and concerns 
about library hours, the adequacy of col-
lections, and the role of the library in 
providing access to materials. Greater 
differences were identified in areas relat-
ing to technology, perceived value of in-
formation literacy and library skills, the 
willingness to pay for services, and the 
use of the library as a study space. More 
differences were found because of gen-
der and status as a part-time or full-time 
student than were found in the age of the 
students, although this was a relevant 
factor in questions about hours and use 
of remote access for obtaining library 
materials. Data were collected on the 
subject major of students in this survey, 
primarily as a check on the validity of 
the sample. Student majors were not 
considered as a variable in defining non-
traditional students in this study. An 

Nontraditional Students 339 

area for further study might be the vari-
ations in responses and the relationship, 
if any, to the student's area of study. 

The extremely low use of home com-
puters for research by all students, and 
especially by those who are considered 
nontraditional, indicates a strong need 
for marketing and training to help stu-
dents take better ad vantage of emerging 
technologies to solve some library-tise 
and time-management problems. It may 
also be true that fewer students have 
access to home computers than we as-
sume. If that is the case, the solution may 
require an institutional response to as-
sist students in acquiring equipment. 
However, the data from tables 10 and 11 
show a significant difference in nontra-
ditional students who have adapted bet-
ter to a library model that relies heavily 
on access as an alternative to ownership. 
Nontraditional students also indicate a 
stronger enthusiasm for and comfort with 
using electronic systems and more confi-
dence in their ability to use the library than 
was expected, based on previously pub-
lished literature. Services that save time, as 
well as instruction designed for and mar-
keted to women and part-time students, 
should be considered. 

More mature students are either 
better able to make use of what time 
they have, or more accepting of the 
amount of time library research takes. 

The survey met several of the goals we 
had set out to accomplish. It provided a 
better and more accurate picture of the 
nontraditional student, tested some as-
sumptions, and gave us a student per-
spective. The survey told us a good deal 
about all of the students at ASUW, not 
just those we consider to be nontradi-
tional, and how they view and use the 
library. Some services have already been 
adjusted to reflect the insights gained, 
and discussion needs to take place about 
how to address other issues arising from 
this study. 



340 College & Research Libraries July 1994 

REFERENCES AND NOTES 
1. For statistical projections of enrollments, see William J. Hussar, Projections of Education 

Statistics to 2003. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics 
(Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1993). For an analysis and explanation of higher education enrollment 
projections and the potential impacts, see John M. Budd and David G. Robinson ''Enrollment 
and the Future of Academic Libraries," Library Journal111 (Sept. 15, 1986): 43-46. 

2. Noah J. Brown, "Lifelong Learning Trends: A Profile of Continuing Higher Education," 
National University Continuing Education Association (Bethesda, Md.: ERIC Document 
Reproduction Service No. ED 319 961, 1990). 

3. Brian H. Nordstrom, ''Non-Traditional Students: Adults in Transition" (Bethesda, Md.: ERIC 
Document Reproduction Service No. ED 310 689, 1989). 

4. Jeanie Rountree-Wyly, Susan Frusher, and Tim Ficklin, "A Comparison of Learning Styles 
in Traditional and Non-Traditional Students" (Bethesda, Md.: ERIC Document Reproduc-
tion Service No. ED 310 689, 1988). 

5. Brian Nordstrom, ''Non-Traditional Students: Adults in Transition," 4. 
6. Ibid., 16. 
7. Jean Sheridan, "Andragogy: ANew Concept for Academic Librarians," Research Strategies 

4 (Fall1986): 156-67. 
8. Malcolm S. Knowles," Andragogy, Not Pedagogy!" Adult Leadership 16 (Apr. 1968): 351; The 

Modern Practice of Adult Education: From Pedagogy to Andragogy (New York: Cambridge 
University Press, 1980); The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species (Houston, Tex.: Gulf Pub-
lishing Company, 1984). 

9. Jean Sheridan, "Andragogy: ANew Concept for Academic Librarians." 
10. Mary Kennedy, "Bibliographic Instruction in the Academic Library: Looking at the Adult 

Student," Reference Librarian 10 (Spring/Summer 1984): 205-13. 
11. Susan Swords Steffen, "Designing Bibliographic Instruction Programs for Adult Students: 

The Schaffner Library Experience," fllinois Libraries 70 (Dec. 1988): 644-49. 
12. Sheila Howard, "Library Use Education for Adult University Students," Canadian Library 

Journal40 (June 1983): 149-55. 
13. Jacquelyn Coughlan, ''The BI Librarian's New Constituency: Adult Independent Learners," 

Reference Librarian 24 (1989): 159-73. . 
14. Andrea Wyman, ''Working with Nontraditional Students in the Academic Library," Journal 

of Academic Librarianship 14 (Mar. 1988): 32-33. 
15. Jean Sheridan, ''Teaching Part-time MBAs to Use a Library," Research Strategies 3 (Fal11985): 

184-90. 
16. Nicholas G. Tomaiuolo, "Reconsidering Bibliographic Instruction for Adult Reentry Stu-

dents: Emphasizing the Practical," Reference Services Review (Spring 1990): 49-54. 
17. Betsy N. Hine, Janet Meek, and Ruth H. Miller, "Bibliographic Instruction for the Adult 

Student in an Academic Library," Journal of Continuing Higher Education 37 (Spring 1989): 
20-24. 

18. Colette A. Wagner and Augusta S. Kappner, ''The Academic Library and the Nontraditional 
Student" (Bethesda, Md.: ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 284 589, 1987). 

19. Cheryl Polson, "Adult Learners: Characteristics, Concerns, and Challenges to Higher Educa-
tion: A Bibliography," National Academic Advising Journal9 (Fal11989): 8~112. This bibliog-
raphy includes over 850 citations. See also Sharon Merriam, "Finding Your Way through the 
Maze: A Guide to the Literature on Adult Learning," Lifelong Learning 11 (Apr. 1988): 4-7. 

20. Eric V. Iovacchini, Linda M. Hall, and Dennis D. Hengstler, "Going Back to College: Some 
Differences between Adult Students and Traditional Students," College and University 61 
(Fal11985): 43-54. 

21. DonnaS. Queeney, "Adult Learners: A Focus on Who They Are, What They Need, and the 
Problems They Face," Journal of Continuing Higher Education 32 (Spring 1984): 2-6. 

22. Michael Hu, "Determining the Need and Attitudes of Non-Traditional Students," College 
and University 60 (Spring 1985): 201-9. 

23. Brian Nordstrom, ''Non-Traditional Students: Adults in Transition." 
24. Arizona State University West, Office of Institutional Planning and Research, "Environ-

mental Conditions Abstract Update," September 1990. 



Nontraditional Students 341 

25. Arizona State University West, Office of Institutional Planning and Research, "Enrollment 
and Student Characteristics Summary Abstract," Jan. 1993. 

26. Dennis Isbell and Lisa Kammerlocher, "Participatory Evaluation: Alternatives for Library 
Instruction Evaluation." Mapping the Future: Contributed Papers. · (Paper presented at the 
ASLA-AEMAJoint Conference, Phoenix, Ariz., 1992): 1-18. 

27. The form of some of the questions was suggested by a survey conducted by Leon A. 
Joakobovits and Diane Nahl-Jokobovits in "Measuring Information Searching Compe-
tence," College & Research Libraries 51 (Sept. 1990): 448-62. Used with permission of the 
authors. 

28. Susan Swords Steffen, "Designing Bibliographic Instruction Programs for Adult Students: 
The Schaffner Library Experience," 645; Sheila Howard, "Library Use Education for Adult 
University Students," 151. 

29. Susan Swords Steffen, "Designing Bibliographic Instruction Programs for Adult Students: 
The Schaffner Library Experience," 646. 

30. Althea H. Jenkins, "Guest Editorial: Surviving the Flood," College & Research Libraries 53 
(July 1992): 281-82. 

31. Brian Nordstrom, ''Non-Traditional Students: Adults in Transition," 15. 
32. Arizona State University West, Office of Institutional Planning and Research, ''Market 

Study" (Spring 1991), 45. 
33. The ASUW Library is at present open 87 hours a week. Library hours are Monday to 

Thursday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sunday, 
11 a.m. to 9 p.m.