Unaffiliated users’ access to academic libraries: A survey

Authentication and Access: Accommodating Public Users in an Academic World

“…35 In "Unaffiliated Users' Access to Academic Libraries: A Survey," Courtney reported and analyzed data from her own comprehensive survey sent to 814 academic libraries in winter 2001. 36 Of the 527 libraries responding to the survey, 72 libraries (13.6 percent) required all users to authenticate to use computers within the library, while 56 (12.4 percent) indicated that they planned to require authentication in the next twelve months. 37 Courtney followed this with data from surveyed libraries that had canceled "most" of their indexes and abstracts (179 libraries, or 33.9 percent) and libraries that had cancelled "most" periodicals (46 libraries or 8.7 percent).…”

Circulation Policies for External Users: A Comparative Study of Public Urban Research Institutions

“…Courtney (2001) provided a comprehensive overview of the library literature that addressed academic policies toward external users from the late 1950s to the late 1990s. Courtney (2003) also conducted a survey of 814 academic libraries in the United States on physical access, borrowing privileges, and computer use. This was the most comprehensive national study about public access to academic libraries since the ACRL study in 1965.…”

“…(Best-Nichols, 1993;Courtney, 2003;Hayes & Mendelsohn, 1998;Josey, 1967;Josey, 1970;Judd & Scheele, 1984;McCulley & Ream, 1998;E. S. Mitchell, 1992;O'Harra, 1959;Russell, et al, 1989;Russell, et al, 1992;Shaw, 1999;Shires, 2006).…”

“…Many of the more recent studies (studies completed since the late 1990s) included information about access to computers for external users (Courtney, 2003;Hayes & Mendelsohn, 1998;Shaw, 1999;Shires, 2006;Wojtowicz, 2006). Some of these studies focused specifically on which online tools and applications have been made available to external users, such as access to the internet, the library catalog, journal databases, and office productivity tools.…”

Nonaffiliated Users in Academic Libraries: Using W.D. Ross’s Ethical Pluralism to Make Sense of the Tough Questions

“…5 In 2003, Nancy Courtney surveyed 814 libraries and concluded that, along with building access and borrowing privileges, "academic libraries have also been generous in allowing computer use by unaffiliated users," citing that 95 percent of academic libraries allowed computer access for library resources; 79.8 percent allowed Web surfing; 57.6 percent allowed checking e-mail; 31.8 percent allowed word processing; and 25.6 percent permitted use of other software applications. 6 Providing computer access for nonaffiliated users can be problematic for two reasons: first, it can divert limited computer resources away from students, faculty, and staff, especially during busy periods; and, second, working with nonaffiliated users who are unfamiliar with the library's electronic resources or who have low levels of computer literacy can be quite time consuming, which also poses problems during busy periods in the library.…”