Internet Reference Services for Distance Education

SUMMARY

Published guidelines for distance learning library services provide a framework for distance education librarians to use in planning services for off-campus students. Other literature in the arena of distance education librarianship provides concrete examples of how reference services have been offered in real settings. This paper attempts to synthesize these two types of literature in order to offer models of reference service for distance learners.     

Ask a UT System Librarian

SUMMARY

University of Texas System libraries initiated a chat reference program to support distance learners enrolled at University of Texas component institutions, including the UT Telecampus Digital Library. Librarians at several geographically distant campuses staffed the collaborative chat reference service.

Librarians assisted students at other UT System campuses, in effect becoming “distance librarians” who must have thorough knowledge of both their own library resources and the resources available at other campus libraries.

Librarians at The University of Texas at San Antonio share their experiences with this collaborative chat reference service.     

A Review of “Hiring,Training, and Supervising Library Shelvers”

Abstract

The emergence of the Internet has dramatically changed information access capabilities through computers. Tools and resources available on the Internet affect library services in various ways. Many health science librarians are using Internet resources to meet the information needs of health care providers and themselves. This study examines different applications of the Internet components in medical library settings with a special emphasis on reference services. It also discusses the role of the Internet in fulfilling National Network of Libraries of Medicine's (NN/LM) objectives and analyzes the merit and demerits of using the Internet as a reference tool in health sciences libraries.     

Developing Skype-Based Reference Services

ABSTRACT

Internet voice and video calling have demonstrated a dramatic rise in quality in the past several years and have quickly become communication technologies with a disruptive impact on society. Librarians, who regularly adopt such technologies in outreach and public services, should evaluate Web-calling programs as potential sources of innovative reference programming. This article describes the development of Skype video and Internet telephony pilot reference services at the Ohio University Libraries and considers the utility of Skype and VoIP in a library setting.     

Trying it on for Size

ABSTRACT

Most colleges are continuing to see growth in their online education programs. Academic libraries are attempting to strike a balance between traditional library offerings and new online resources and services. Determining how to allocate funds is complicated by the fact that many students in online classes today live near enough campus to come to the library. Should libraries at institutions where most online students live near campus devote scarce resources to providing services such as online reference? One community college library is attempting to answer that question by testing online reference with Elluminate vClass in a limited way.     

Integrating Library Reference Services in an Online Information Literacy Course

SUMMARY

The Internet Navigator, an online information literacy course developed by a team of academic librarians in Utah, offers a model for teaching independent research skills to remote students. The course uses an online textbook that doubles as a self-paced tutorial, and a set of assignments that take students step-by-step through the research process. Assignments are submitted by e-mail and evaluated by reference librarian/instructors. Questions on the assignments follow the pattern of a reference interview helping instructors guide students to use useful research strategies and information sources. Other methods of integrating reference services with online learning are discussed.     

A Review of “What They Don’t Teach You in Library School”

SUMMARY

Distance learning students may not think of the “campus” library as the first place to fulfill their information needs and may not even be aware of the services available to them. One way to reach these students is to adopt and adapt marketing techniques from the business world. This article examines the findings of a survey conducted at Emporia State University concerning the awareness of distance learning services. It will also examine marketing techniques and illustrate how they can be applied to increase awareness of reference support services for distance learners.     

The S.A.G.E. Project

ABSTRACT

This paper describes the process and creation of a library resources and services Web page within WebCT, a course authoring program that is being used to deliver complete course content over the Internet in a distance education program at The Ohio State University. A librarian at the Prior Health Sciences Library was asked to join a faculty team to teach and provide library services for a series of three courses. The students are working health professionals who cannot attend regularly scheduled classes. Illustrations are included of the WebCT course page and the library resources and services page. The initial process and planning are described, and recommendations for future research are identified.     

Providing Reference in a Joint-Use Library

SUMMARY

As a one of a kind joint-use facility between a private university and a county government, the Alvin Sherman Library, Research, and Information Technology Center at Nova Southeastern University (NSU) provides reference services to both NSU students on and off campus and public users. Reference librarians have had to adjust to the variety of users and demands for new services and at the same time find new and creative methods of offering, promoting, and providing instruction about their services to public users as well as NSU's local and distance students. Tracking statistics can assist in identifying user needs.     

Fostering Library as a Place for Distance Students: Best Practices From Two Universities

The concept of library as a place is now in action in many academic libraries: from physical library spaces to Web presences. In the constantly growing market of online and distance learning, however, libraries must foster library as a place for students who may never set foot in the physical building. This article provides a profile of two universities serving two very different bodies of distance students as well as the challenges associated with these populations. These libraries work to provide services to distance students that cultivate the library as a place to go for learning, research, and support by focusing on six categories: access, environment, resources, instruction, availability at the point of need, and “being real.” Tangible examples and best practices are provided throughout. This article is based on a presentation given at the 15th National Conference of the Association of College and Research Libraries in Philadelphia in March 2011.     

Designing Internet Instruction for Latinos

SUMMARY

It is becoming increasingly important to provide appropriate library instruction for the rising number of Latino students enrolling in higher education. Of particular concern is how librarians can provide effective Internet instruction to Latinos. Latino students' needs and learning styles tend to differ from those of the mainstream population from which the majority of librarians come. These differences have implications for the ways that librarians offer instruction. This paper will discuss cultural issues and varying learning styles that librarians need to be cognizant of when working with a Latino population, and will provide guidelines for shaping instruction for Latinos within an Internet environment.     

A Review of “The Reader’s Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction”

Distance education is one of the fastest growing trends of higher education in the United States. This trend has brought various changes and challenges to academic libraries and librarians in their provision of reference and instructional services. This article reviews the literature on the effect of distance education programs on reference and instructional services in academic libraries. The ongoing efforts made by librarians and the various challenges they face in meeting distance learners’ needs for reference and instructional services are synthesized and discussed.     

Embedding Library Reference Services in Online Courses

SUMMARY

The University of Wyoming has a long tradition of providing library services to distance education students. As technology changed and enhanced the delivery mode of distance education courses, the library altered the ways in which it offered services to distance learners. The institution was an early adopter of Web courses, so offering library support in this new environment was a natural expansion of our services. This expansion supports the goals of the ACRL Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services and the goals of the University. This article will describe the integration of library reference services into online courses.     

HawkHelp

SUMMARY

This article describes the factors that influenced the design of a chat reference service that meets the needs of distance learners as well as traditional students. Emphasis is placed in the importance of collaborative projects, evaluation of software, and planning the organizational structure. An innovative “peer and tier” staffing initiative may extend hours and free reference librarians to concentrate on research and in-depth questions. Finally, a planning effort by information services may lead to a one-stop shopping service that will include student services that often are problematic for the distant learner (counseling, enrollment, financial aid, etc.).     

Centralizing Information About Library Services and Resources

SUMMARY

The School of Information Resources and Library Science at the University of Arizona (UA) has a mix of local and distance students in its program. The librarian at the UA Library who works with this program developed a Web site that centralizes information about several library services and resources that benefit distance learners: online orientation and research guides, chat reference, document delivery, and more. Bringing together this information with a focus on distance learners provides a platform for delivering the library to all users, whatever their distance from the library.     

Using Courseware Discussion Boards to Engage Graduate Students in Online Library Workshops

ABSTRACT

Librarians at Oregon State University (OSU) Libraries used the discussion board features of Blackboard courseware to create an interactive experience for graduate students at a distance who could not attend the on-campus “Literature Review Workshops.” These recently developed workshops have been extremely popular with graduate students across the disciplines and have generated a growing demand from distance education graduate students and faculty to offer similar information online. Reluctant to simply deliver content via an online tutorial, librarians sought to duplicate the workshop atmosphere by making the sessions available for a short time-period online, asking participants to respond to discussion questions at specific points in the workshop, and offering audio-mediated online demonstrations of tools and resources. Student feedback and follow-up requests for more workshops support the perception that this approach offered a rewarding learning experience that addressed their specific adult learning needs.     

Keep IT Simple

SUMMARY

Distance education students are often goal-oriented and task-driven. They do not appreciate roadblocks that prevent them from gaining access to the information or services they need to complete their course objectives. However, Web-based reference support sites are sometimes more frustrating than helpful. This article discusses some of the difficulties of accessing reference services faced by distance education students and examines ways in which librarians should “keep IT simple” when designing the tools and methods to access reference support.     

The Walden University Library

SUMMARY

Although it is a unit of the Indiana University-Bloomington Libraries, the Walden University Library serves only Walden students and faculty. It is a true virtual library, one that has no print collection but only online databases. Because it is located far from Walden students, faculty, staff, and administration, library personnel put forth great efforts to overcome the negative effects of distance. This article will describe how the library fits into the IUB and Walden institutional structures, and how its librarians and staff proactively connect with the people they serve as Walden experiences fast-moving growth and change.     

Does Anyone Need Help Out There?

SUMMARY

In order to provide online help for distance students, as well as the increasing number of on-campus students who regularly access library resources, a team of librarians from the Marshall University Libraries created an online library assistance site (HELP). This site brings together traditional print handouts, FAQs, online subject guides, course-specific guides, learning modules, and instructional videos in one central location where users can get assistance with library-related questions at their point of need. This article discusses the rationale for developing the site, the process of creating it and incorporating user input, ongoing content development, the impact upon the Libraries' Web site, and future development plans.     

Designing and Developing Internet Reference Services to Support Firefighter Distance Learners in Illinois

SUMMARY

This article discusses issues surrounding the development of a small special library's Internet reference services to support firefighter distance learners for the University of Illinois Fire Service Institute's (IFSI) online Firefighter II Certification Program, the first of its kind in the nation. Planning for the Internet reference services involves consideration of user needs, funding, staff management, and collection development. In addition, this article explores how the IFSI Library has established a collaboration and partnership with the online course and Information Technology teams, and local public and community college libraries.