[Eril-l] Access to licensed resources for microcredential courses?

[Electronic Resources in Libraries discussion list]

Hi John,

If it helps, prior to my current library role, I worked in another
university department which was implementing a new suite of microcredential
short courses. While I wasn't involved with the details of providing
library support for our students, I do recall that broadly the decision was
made to treat the enrollees as standard students in terms of access to
university services, including the library. Part of the logic was that we
already had a long-established pathway for people to undertake 'non-award'
study, eg to enrol in and complete a single unit separately from enrolling
in a full award course, and that those students were granted access to
standard student resources. (Indeed, those students would have needed the
standard level of library access, as the units they were undertaking as
standalone study, were usually completed within a broader course, and would
have been originally designed under the assumption of standard library
access.) Completing a standalone microcredential short course, we decided,
wasn't substantially different in this aspect from that established single
unit study pathway. Additionally, providing a full 'university-standard'
level of education and resource access for the new microcredentials, was a
way to distinguish the university's microcredential offerings from that of
other, non-university providers.  (On a practical level, this was managed
in the student system by housing microcredential enrolments as 'units'
within a generic non-award course enrolment, so that the students 'looked
like' standard students for most university systems and processes.)

As a side note, the terminology used in the US may differ, but here, I'm
using these terms to mean:
- 'Course' - a typically multi-year, structured study program comprised of
multiple units units, often leading to the awarding of a qualification
- 'Unit' - a self-contained short module of study, typically completed
within a single semester or other study period
- 'Award' vs 'non-award' - 'award' study leads to the awarding of a
standard university qualification (eg Bachelor, Master) upon successful
completion.

Best regards,
Alison

ALISON CARR (she/her)
Collection Analytics Coordinator

Monash University
Library
Level LG, Matheson Library Annexe, Clayton campus
44 Exhibition Walk
Wellington Road
Clayton, VIC 3168
Australia

E: alison.carr at monash.edu
T: +61 3 9902 4324
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alison-carr

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On Wed, 25 Jun 2025 at 02:56, Electronic Resources in Libraries discussion
list via Eril-l <eril-l at lists.eril-l.org> wrote:

> Hello,
>
>
>
> Perhaps this topic has been discussed on this list previously, but I’m
> trying to gather information on how academic libraries support non-credit
> microcredential/professional development courses in terms of access to
> licensed e-resources. Do you allow participants in these programs to access
> licensed content, or limit your role to assisting course developers with
> identifying OA/OER for use as course materials? Have you made efforts to
> formally designate learners in these courses as “students” at your
> institutions? Any insights or lessons learned would be greatly appreciated!
>
>
>
> Many thanks,
>
>
>
> John
>
>
>
> *John Holm* (he/him)
> E-Resources & Discovery Librarian
>
> University of St. Thomas Libraries | library.stthomas.edu
>
> john.holm at stthomas.edu | (651) 962-5009 | OSF Library 155
> Zoom: https://stthomas.zoom.us/my/johnholm
>
>
>
>
> [image: University of St. Thomas : All for the Common Good]
> <https://www.stthomas.edu/e>
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