NONTRADITIONAL STUDENTS AND THE LIBRARY - OPINIONS, PREFERENCES, AND BEHAVIORS

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 marketing 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.