Reviews the historical development of adult and continuing education as provided through the Open University system of Great Britain. An interview with the librarian for Oxford's Department of External Studies examines the current status of the program and describes the library services available to participants. (8 references) (CLB)

The purpose of this paper is to give those who work in distance education a better awareness of the factors at work in developing nations and to help those whose profession is national development gain a fuller understanding of distance education. It begins with a discussion of the process of national development which focuses on the factors that…