Malcolm Knowles was known as the father of andragogy, or adult education. The processes in self-directed learning include diagnosing one's own learning needs, setting personal goals, making decisions on resources and learning strategies and assessing the value of the outcomes. Self-directed learning is the method used when a learner, rather than an institution, controls both the learning objectives and the means of learning. It is a continuous process, often informal, and an important factor in lifelong learning.
Many adults engage in self-directed learning to improve their work performance.
Others carry on self-directed learning in recreational arts and hobbies, matters of health, family and community, or simply to increase their intellectual resources. The Knowledge Hound , free-ed and World Wide Learn have directories for locating both informal and formal education experiences. The Congressional Research Service has a portion of the topics that the Library of Congress has researched for Congressional members. Providing excellent reports of a timely nature, CRS works exclusively as a nonpartisan analytical, research, and reference arm for Congress. The CRS mission is to support an informed national legislature.