Loans, logins and lasting the course: Academic library use and student retention
Activities and services that improve student engagement and retention in the higher education sector are important not only to individual student’s success but also to university planning and funding. This paper reports on a quantitative study that was carried out to explore whether use of the libra...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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Australian Library and Information Association
2010
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/48020 |
| _version_ | 1848757994323443712 |
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| author | Haddow, Gaby Joseph, Jayanthi |
| author_facet | Haddow, Gaby Joseph, Jayanthi |
| author_sort | Haddow, Gaby |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Activities and services that improve student engagement and retention in the higher education sector are important not only to individual student’s success but also to university planning and funding. This paper reports on a quantitative study that was carried out to explore whether use of the library by new university students is associated with continued enrolment. Students’ socioeconomic background and age were also examined in relation to library use. Limited to commencing students in March 2010 at Curtin University, the study drew on demographic data from the University’s enrolment system and instances of library use from the Library’s management system. Results of the statistical analyses indicate that library use is associated with retention, and importantly, library use in the early weeks of a student’s first semester is associated with retention. ‘Mature aged’ (21 years and over) students displayed different library use patterns than their younger colleagues and there was some variation in library use between students from different socioeconomic backgrounds. Findings from this study suggest that academic libraries can contribute to the retention of students and that carefully targeted programs and services may improve library use by some groups of students. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T09:36:56Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-48020 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T09:36:56Z |
| publishDate | 2010 |
| publisher | Australian Library and Information Association |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-480202017-09-13T14:22:51Z Loans, logins and lasting the course: Academic library use and student retention Haddow, Gaby Joseph, Jayanthi Activities and services that improve student engagement and retention in the higher education sector are important not only to individual student’s success but also to university planning and funding. This paper reports on a quantitative study that was carried out to explore whether use of the library by new university students is associated with continued enrolment. Students’ socioeconomic background and age were also examined in relation to library use. Limited to commencing students in March 2010 at Curtin University, the study drew on demographic data from the University’s enrolment system and instances of library use from the Library’s management system. Results of the statistical analyses indicate that library use is associated with retention, and importantly, library use in the early weeks of a student’s first semester is associated with retention. ‘Mature aged’ (21 years and over) students displayed different library use patterns than their younger colleagues and there was some variation in library use between students from different socioeconomic backgrounds. Findings from this study suggest that academic libraries can contribute to the retention of students and that carefully targeted programs and services may improve library use by some groups of students. 2010 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/48020 10.1080/00048623.2010.10721478 Australian Library and Information Association fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Haddow, Gaby Joseph, Jayanthi Loans, logins and lasting the course: Academic library use and student retention |
| title | Loans, logins and lasting the course: Academic library use and student retention |
| title_full | Loans, logins and lasting the course: Academic library use and student retention |
| title_fullStr | Loans, logins and lasting the course: Academic library use and student retention |
| title_full_unstemmed | Loans, logins and lasting the course: Academic library use and student retention |
| title_short | Loans, logins and lasting the course: Academic library use and student retention |
| title_sort | loans, logins and lasting the course: academic library use and student retention |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/48020 |