A collection of papers on distance education is presented. "Distance Education: An Option for Social Welfare and Social Work Education in the 1990s" (Robert A. Bush and Chris J. Williams) discusses the implications for welfare education of changes in tertiary education and community services industry that are likely to pressure welfare educators to change their educational strategies. This paper also examines the potential for using distance educational technology is social work and social welfare education programs. "Educational Packages for External Students" (Peter A. Donnan) examines that constitutes a well written and designed package for external students. "Textbook Selection: Evaluative Criteria" (Brian Hemmings and David Battersby), presents a procedure that instructors might adopt to assist in decision making. An appendix provides an alphabetical list of textbooks assessed, including checklist scores. (SM)