Introduction: Recently, virtual education has significantly influenced traditional educational systems by means of advanced communication information technologies .Which has not been paid much attention by the developers of this system. The present study aims at exploring the viewpoints of the managers and students of virtual educational centers concerning the services provided by virtual libraries.
Methods: The research tool of the present original research study consisted of a questionnaire. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by six specialists out of ten and its reliability was determined by the managers and students as 79% and 71%, respectively. The research community included managers and students of 19 centers for virtual educations at universities in Tehran. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics by means of SPSS and Excel.
Results: It was found that, regarding the role of a library in virtual education, the managers and the students considered ‘empowering the user’ and ‘the research’ as their first priorities, respectively. Amongst the resources presented, ‘information databases and textbooks’ were found to rank first by both groups. In terms of the method of presenting the resources, ‘access to the abstracts and bibliographical information’ and ‘access to the full texts of the resources’ were prioritized by the managers and the students, respectively.
Conclusion: Since the virtual library plays a crucial role in virtual learning, paying adequate attention to the differences between the viewpoints of the two groups is essential. The managers, therefore, should plan to provide library services based on the needs of the students so that the virtual libraries can fulfill their roles in the development of virtual education.
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