Education & Distance Learning Enthusiasts- The United States Distance Learning Association — USDLA — Announces New Lower Cost Method of Supplying Outside Readings

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The United States Distance Learning Association — USDLA — Announces New Lower Cost Method of Supplying Outside Readings

Business Wire - December 9, 2003

Business Editors

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 9, 2003

The United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) is pleased to announce a significant advance in lowering the cost of instructional materials used by Distance Learning Institutions and their students. The current costs of nearly $30- $70 per textbook and $25 to $50 for each packet of outside readings make a major dent in student budgets. One of USDLA's 21st Century Sponsors, Knowledge Ventures, has responded to this cost crisis with The Learner's Library. Using the Learner's Library institutions can offer students virtual course packs or readings for less than $5. In addition, the Learner's Library offers students a valuable research tool whose automatic checking of paper citations removes any incentives students have to plagiarize from the Internet.

U.S. Senator Charles Schumer commissioned a study of textbook sales for freshman and sophomores in NY that confirms textbook prices are rising dramatically. "After they pay tuition, parents and students are getting slapped with shockingly high textbook prices..." According to the study over the past five years the compounded increase has been 41%. "It's a serious problem," said Schumer. "If you go to SUNY or CUNY and you're paying $4,000 tuition and another $1,000 for textbooks, that's a big extra load." Dr. John Flores, executive director of the USDLA, noted "the cost of instructional materials must not be allowed to become an insurmountable burden which stands in the way of the education of our next generation. We need to fix the problem of rising costs, and the Learner's Library is a major step."

The Learner's Library(TM)

The Learner's Library(TM) (http://www.learnerslibrary.com). is a simple and intuitive search tool that locates relevant material from a comprehensive list of current full-text academic journals and news sources and automatically generates the citations needed for their use in a term paper or article. The Learner's Library is more focused than a Google type Internet search, more in depth than an encyclopedia, and, through the footnote generator, "forgiving" of students' haphazard research practices.

Administrators and faculty like the fact that Learner's Library is low cost compared to other online services and it is easy to use. With the Learner's Library an instructor can create a virtual course pack for as little as $3 per user compared to $40-60 competitive providers charge -- potentially saving students several hundred dollars per year.

To develop a coursepack teachers/professors use the search engine of the Learner's Library to select articles from over 500 major academic journals. Once these articles have been aggregated using the "my reading list" feature, a web page is easily created containing the selections. All permissions have been pre-cleared and are paid. The articles can be downloaded and printed at no additional cost provided the institution or individual has a Learner's Library subscription. In addition to the instructor's reading list, students have full access to the Learner's Library for supplemental research and for use in writing papers and articles. Learner's Library's natural language queries are deceptively simple and easy to use. The Learner's Library Citation Check gives the student the complete MLA citation for footnotes for any content used from the database. Copyright is not a concern, and the Citation Check helps students comply with an institution's rules concerning plagiarism.

The Library Journal has recommended the Learner's Library "for high school, college and public libraries serving academic libraries." The Learner's Library offers significant advantages for students, faculty and administrators when used as a research tool for distance learning programs. It can be used in conjunction with the school library, or for programs with little or no library access. Content is focused on the social sciences, business, humanities and health care. As a virtual course pack provider the Learner's Library is also ideally suited for both community colleges and liberal arts programs at large institutions.

Visit the site at www.learnerslibrary.com and obtain a Temporary Password by clicking on the tab marked 'Educators' on the Learner's Library homepage and clicking on the 'Free 1-Day Trial' icon. or call 617.621.1565 for more information.

For more information about USDLA visit www.usdla.org or call 800.275.5162.

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