Distance education and open learning, according to AONTAS, have "a contribution to make to help us `fit in' some learning or training into our lives at a time and place convenient to us."

Some 8 per cent of calls to the AONTAS Information Service during last year were queries about distance learning and AONTAS has most, if not all, the answers to your queries about what's available and how to go about getting what you want. Ever wondered, for example, about how widely recognised your qualification might be once you've completed your course of study?

The word from AONTAS is that you should make sure, before starting, that the course you propose following is recognised either by potential or future employers or an accredited educational institute.

AONTAS points out, too, that professional organisations which offer distance learning qualification are, of course, recognised by the professional organisations concerned.

As far as requirements go, age is a bonus. If you are aged 23 or over, you simply apply to most institutions without the normal entry requirements. Individual prospectuses will tell you what exactly is required.

Distance learning allows you study for many qualifications as well as for a recognised degree.

You can, of course, opt for a distance learning course which will allow you just to enjoy learning about a topic which interests you. There are many accredited providers of distance learning courses in Ireland and AONTAS reminds us that the public library near you may give access to open learning materials - and you may be able to access the internet from there.

The many courses and providers of distance learning available include the Dublin Business School, where they offer the Henley executive diploma/MBA by distance learning, and NUI Maynooth, where courses at the Centre for adult and community education include a BA/Diploma in arts through OSCAIL, an extra-mural diploma in adult guidance, theory and practice, and a higher diploma in arts (adult guidance and counselling). OSCAIL is the national distance learning Centre at Dublin City University and when you register with them you are assigned a study centre.

Tutorials may also be held in other institutions around the country.

RTE, too, has an open learning education office, while NUI Dublin offers a vast range of courses, details of which are available from their adult education office. In Galway, the Western Management Centre acts as a centre for organisations such as the Open University, the Irish Production and Inventory Control Society (IPICS) and Henley Management College (UK).

Providers, who are based abroad, and whose courses are available in Ireland, include the University of Wales with their diploma/BSc Econ in information and library studies, the Open College of the Arts in Yorkshire, who offer a wide range of home study arts courses, and the Association of British Correspondence Colleges. The AONTAS Distance Learning Directory will give you the comprehensive word on all of these courses. There is help and advice available from the AONTAS Information Service, open to the public from Monday to Thursday.

The information officer Jane McKeon and information support systems officer Isobel Crowe, along with librarian Margaret Purcell, work the service so as to have what is as close as possible to the last word on distance learning.