Library Service: the Missing Link inElectronic Educational Programs in Iran

Today electronic education is considered as one of the kinds of formal education in Iran. Annually more and more universities hold their educational courses virtually with the advancement of the institutes of electronic education in the country. Most people pay special attention to teaching methods in virtual world but they don’t pay enough attention to library services and to providing students with information resources. Hence one of the greatest barriers to virtual education is the lack of library facilities and services. This paper debates the importance of designing library and information systems for electronic educational programs. The study population is the students of electronic courses in the University of Shiraz. The methodology was survey research and the data collecting tool was a questionnaire. Findings of the research showed that 78.3 percent of the study population believed that library services were of high importance as one of the decision support systems in virtual education.