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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

As I Sit Studying: WWW-Based Reference Services

Abstract

This article reports on the current state of reference services on the World Wide Web (WWW). It explains what a WWW-based reference service is, describes several models of handling requests, and explores the impact of these services on traditional reference services. Based upon anecdotal information the author concludes that, to date, Web-based reference services have had little impact upon traditional reference services.     

A methodological approach for designing and evaluating intelligent applications for digital collections

The rapid evolution of Internet services has led to a constantly increasing number of Web sites and to an increase in the available information. The main challenge is to support Web users in order to facilitate navigation through Web sites and to improve searching among the extremely large Web repository, such as digital libraries, online product catalogues, or other generic information sources. The complexity of today's services could be lowered by means of proactive support or advice from the system. The proactiveness could be achieved using dialoguing agents that exploit user profiles to provide personal recommendations. In this paper, we will present a general methodology to cover the entire process of designing advanced solutions for online services. The methodology has been adopted to elicit user requirements for the system developed in the COGITO project, and to evaluate the performance of the final prototype.     

User Satisfaction Survey of Ask-A-Question Service at the Internet Public Library

ABSTRACT

To assess satisfaction of the Internet Public Library's Ask-A-Question service, we conducted a three month user survey between February 12 and May 11, 2004. Most respondents were highly satisfied with the answers they received. Although only a few respondents expressed dissatisfaction with the service, we conducted failure analysis on those transactions. The conclusion includes suggestions for improving the IPL digital reference service.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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 Literacy and the Distant Student

SUMMARY

This article discusses the development and implementation of a required, credit bearing online information literacy course at the University of Maryland University College. Key factors in its success include administrative support, student and faculty interaction in the online classroom, and outcomes assessment. Student persistence in the course is high, and grade distributions indicate that students are being challenged.     

Searchers,Bring Your Credit Cards

ABSTRACT

Libraries will never have comprehensive collections in today's publishing and media landscape. While the ability of searchers to discover content via metadata continues to improve by leaps and bounds, retrieval is rapidly losing ground. Libraries are collecting less, interlibrary loan is less effective today than in the 20th century, and searchers are looking for things that have never been collected by libraries. Reference services need to address the direct-to-consumer download market emerging outside their traditional sphere of influence. Sometimes the best answer to a reference question is “you can buy it here.”     

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 Dirty Details of Gopher Maintenance

Abstract

This paper describes the details of maintaining an Internet information service, focusing on the experience of Documents Center staff in the University of Michigan Library with the “Department of Commerce Economic Data (UMich)” gopher area. Described are the evolution of the service, the logistics of obtaining and posting the files, developing staff skills and knowledge, file selection, and provision of enhanced access and assistance. Long term considerations are discussed. Internet information services differ from more traditional library services and materials maintenance because they require special skills, equipment, and constant reassessment. Despite this, the benefits of providing such services are significant for the academic library's clientele, its staff, and the Internet community overall.