PURPOSE: An environmental scan provides a snapshot of the forces that will affect the future and monitors the changes in the external environment. The scan also alerts managers to trends and issues that may affect the organization.

Internal Forces Affecting DLS

·        ACRL -    Strategic Plan

Policies & Procedures (including Guidelines)

Mentoring Program

·        Relations with other sections and groups

-        Budgets and program duplication may require increasing collaboration among sections

-        Partnering with other groups (in ALA, vendors, non-ALA groups) for programs and presentations

·        Opportunities & Activities within DLS

-        Expanding and diverse membership

-        Varying levels of member participation

-        Committees expanding; opportunities for member participation

-        Virtual membership

-        Awards and honors

-        Staff development funds for librarians to attend meetings

-        Web page development

 External Forces Affecting DLS

·        Social/Demographic

-        Partnerships which include non-ALA, corporate, teams and consortia

-        Competitors/Competition

-        Growing competition for students

-        Other institutions students using other than their own institutions resources

-        Expanding demand for distance learning

-        Globalization of education

-        Training vs. education (and society)

-        Lifelong learning

-        Need for constant training

-        Increased rate of change in general

-        Changing socioeconomic climate

-        Changing student demographic

-        Changing research environment

-        Structural change in research and development

-        Publication patterns

-        Assessment issues

-        Accreditation

-        Growing reliance on the Internet to satisfy every information need

-        The business and marketing of distance learning programs

·        -Political/Legal

-        Credential portability (transfer of credits among institutions)

-        Government policies and laws (e.g. Internet regulation)

-        Increased demand for academic accountability to constituents

-        Intellectual property and copyright issues

-        Decreasing support and funding for public education

-        Impact of the World Trade Organization on the service sector as it relates to libraries and distance learning

·        Economic

-        For-profit units of academic institutions to market distance learning

-        Competition from for-profit institutions/corporate entities

-        Information explosion with limited buying power of libraries

-        E-commerce

-        Availability of grants and fellowships to reward innovation

-        Funding patterns for higher education

-        Decreasing funding for state supported institutions

-        Feasibility of grant producing faculty including a library component on services and resources within grants

·        Technological

-        Wireless Web technology

-        Virtual libraries

-        Virtual universities

-        Decreasing length of change cycle for technology (once 5 years, now 18 months)

-        Growth of electronic information

-        The use and misuse of technology as a tool to facilitate learning