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.     

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.     

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.     

Electronic Instruction at Carlson Library

Abstract

In this age of increasing electronic instruction in academic libraries, the University of Toledo's Carlson Library, like many other academic libraries, is trying to come of age. The library's instruction program has traditionally used a paper-based instructional format. However, with the introduction of the library's OPAC, CD-ROMs, the Internet, and OhioLINK in recent years, we are faced with a number of challenges which this paper will discuss. The main challenge is that we are trying to teach electronic resources without a mediated classroom in the library. We need to bridge the gap between the paper-based instruction program and electronic resources because our current teaching methods do not always allow for patron interaction with the technology. Increasingly, instruction is having to take place at the Information Desk, where there are time constraints and library users are unclear about the kinds of information they want or which electronic resources they need. Adapting to these new and growing resources and developing the skills needed to teach them are among the important challenges librarians at Carlson Library face.     

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.     

A Historical Overview of Internet Reference Services for Distance Learners

SUMMARY

The advent of library services and collections on the Internet revolutionized reference services to students enrolled in distance learning programs. Prior to the Internet, reference librarians who supported distance learning programs had few methods, and many of them costly, to provide the equivalent library services advocated by the ACRL Guidelines. Through the Internet, these librarians were able to approximate the services and resources that had always been available to students who came into the library. This article describes the development of reference services on the Internet in a variety of libraries that support distance learners.     

Understanding Student Perspectives on Self-Efficacy,Scholarship & Library Research in Graduate Social Work Distance Learning: A Pilot Study

Graduate distance learning programs are charged to find creative ways to foster student engagement and learning. Faculty and Library Sciences professionals are increasingly collaborating to achieve this end. In this study, faculty from the Masters in Social Work program and the Library collaborated to explore student's perceptions about how to best engage the library, its resources and trained staff to improve perceived self-efficacy and scholarship in research methodology. Survey data (n = 28) suggests that these students have a surprisingly high level of discomfort and anxiety related to the information search process, the library, and their own academic self-confidence. Students present as less confident in their ability to locate needed information, more anxious about using the library and asking for help, and appear to have less developed search skills. Implications for student engagement and integration of information literacy skills are presented and discussed.     

It Takes a Library to Support Distance Learners

ABSTRACT

The Rochester Institute of Technology Wallace Library's philosophy is to create and provide resources and services that will support all users. Consequently, distance learners and distance faculty have a plethora of online resources available to them, some of which are “pushed out,” saving time and effort for the library user. The evolvement of Wallace's online resources is continuous, focused on the student or professor's research need from a geographic distance.     

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.     

Internet Access to National Library of Medicine SDI Search Results

Abstract

The results of selective dissemination of information (SDI) searches are typically printed offline and mailed to the library for distribution. Postprocessing this material-sorting the printouts, gathering and recording statistics, and actually delivering itnrequires substantial effort by staff. With the recent introduction of Internet access to SDI search results at the National Library of Medicine (NLM), the library at Louisiana State University Medical Center in Shreveport (LSUMC-S) was able to computerize much of its SDI postprocessing. Library staff wrote two computer programs which sort SDI results, gather and report statistical data without requiring manual data entry, and allow delivery of search results as either hardcopy or e-mail, as the client prefers. This software also adds value to the final product, by tagging citations which appear in journals to which the library currently subscribes. Automation of SDI postprocessing at the LSUMC-S library has resulted in substantial savings in staff time and expense.     

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.     

Assessing effects of information architecture of digital libraries on supporting E-learning: A case study on the Digital Library of Nature & Culture

Modern digital libraries not only contain rich digital resources, they are also required to provide an environment which integrates collection provision, information services, and academic activities to support effective learning. This work chose the Digital Library of Nature and Culture established by the National Museum of Natural Science in Taiwan to investigate whether the design of the information architecture of a digital library influences learning performance and whether learners with different learning styles have different information usage behaviors and learning performance when they use the digital library to support e-learning. This work suggested that e-learning supported by a digital library resulted in excellent learning performance. Regarding the influence of information architecture on learning performance, this work found that the organization system was crucial to learning performance. Further, learners with different learning performance exhibit different behaviors when they use the information architecture of the digital library. Another finding was that the learning performance of global learners was better than that of sequential learners. Global learners and those learners with superior learning performance relied more heavily on the organization system, while sequential learners and those learners with inferior learning performance relied more heavily on the search system.     

Developing a Chat Reference Training Program

ABSTRACT

In the last few years, chat reference services have been implemented by public, college and university libraries. One important aspect of the chat reference service is library staff training. Literature shows that this is a vital step in offering a chat reference service. Library staff need to be well-trained in areas of chatting, reference interviewing in a digital environment and using electronic resources, such as the Internet and databases. This article discusses the chat reference training program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The following text provides an outline for establishing a chat training program including planning, organization, implementation and assessment. Areas of discussion include the chat reference interview, chatting and patron management techniques.     

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.     

Information Counseling Inventory of Affective and Cognitive Reactions While Learning the Internet

Abstract

Library professionals in the information age are called upon to provide user-friendly information environments. To accomplish this, more detailed knowledge is needed about the information behavior of users. The concept “information counseling” reflects this new orientation and involves instruction activities such as: orienting, advising, and reassuring novice learners. The taxonomic approach transforms self-witnessing reports into classified segments of information behaviors at three levels of internalization and in three behavioral domains, including: affective, cognitive, and sensorimotor behavior. Reference librarians and instructors are invited to contribute to the taxonomy and make use of it in planning and designing programs and facilities. This behavioral inventory of information behaviors learning the Internet is presented with illustrative entries under each category for affective and cognitive behavior. Suggested uses for the inventory include promoting information self-counseling skills, helping learners overcome technophobia through generational self-witnessing reports, and creating better point-of-use instructions for novices using complex information systems.     

Distance Library Services for Doctor of Pharmacy Students

SUMMARY

Doctor of Pharmacy students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison spend their final year of study working side-by-side with pharmacists throughout Wisconsin. Clerkship rotations often take place outside of Madison, away from familiar and dependable library resources and services. To make the transition from campus to community as smooth as possible, librarians have developed a focused orientation and a detailed field guide to provide students with the tools for a productive and successful year working and studying at a distance.

This article will outline the library's orientation program, describe the elements included in the distance services field guide, and highlight the pre- and post-clerkship assessment tools to be used in measuring satisfaction with the program in the future.     

Exploring Virtual Librarianship: Second Life Library 2.0

ABSTRACT

In April 2006, Alliance Library System and Online Programming for All Libraries partnered to start the Second Life Library 2.0 in the online world Second Life and in August 2006 purchased an island on the Teen grid of Teen Second Life. Second Life is a virtual world, a descendant of multiplayer online games. Educational institutions have recently been drawn into Second Life's robust economy and vibrant cultural life. The Second Life Library 2.0 works with librarians from around the world and with other educational partners such as TechSoup, WorldBridges, and the New Media Consortium. Second Life Library 2.0 provides “traditional” library services such as ready reference, book discussions, and search assistance, but, at heart, it explores what it means to be a virtual library in a virtual world.     

Informatics in the republic of Zambia

Abstract

The state of agricultural libraries and potentials of electronic communications in disseminating agricultural information in Tanzania are discussed. Poor communication between the Sokoine National Agricultural Library and its partner libraries within the country is cited to be one of the reasons for inferior information services to library users. Due to low level of information technology development and financial constraints facing the country, the establishment of an electronic network based on low cost communications technology and the information technology infrastructure in place is recommended to link agricultural libraries.     

Applying Learning Style Theory to Web Page Design

ABSTRACT

Library Web sites can be instructional tools, especially for those patrons who utilize library resources from their homes. Many libraries are developing online tutorials, but there is an opportunity for Web instruction on another level. The organization and design of a Web site can act as an instructional tool in itself. This paper is a call to library Web designers to assess their work in terms of learning style preferences. Learning style theory is based on how people process information and learn new material. Applying these ideas to Web page design can make library resources more accessible and improve the patron's comprehension of how the library works.     

How May I Help Thee? Let Me Count the 2.0 Ways…

ABSTRACT

Web 2.0, Library 2.0, and Librarian 2.0 are terms that have been in the vernacular now for some time. There is an ever-increasing number of 2.0 applications that can be utilized as tools for information and reference service in the academic library. Using examples from experience, four such applications are discussed in the context of providing Internet reference service to undergraduate engineering students. It is impossible to incorporate all appropriate 2.0 technologies in Internet reference so it is recommended that the librarian choose a small number at first and determine which ones works best before trying other applications.