Distance Learning Library Services Research Articles

ACRL guidelines for distance learning library services: The final version, approved July 1998

ACRL guidelines for distance learning library services: The final version, approved July 1998

This worksheet works: Making the DLS Standards work for you

The ACRL Standards for Distance Learning Library Services are increasingly used by librarians who are striving to provide adequate and equitable services to their online learning populations. In an environment where more fully online programs are springing up, more campus-wide strategic plans include moving general education requirements online, and more students than ever are enrolled in distance or online classes, these Standards can be useful for advocacy, communication to stakeholders, and driving goals and direction both for your library as a whole and for your distance or online learning librarian.

Mind the Gap! Making the Leap to Reach Distance Students Through On-Campus Events

When a mid-sized library at a private university held its first robust research-support event, a huge portion of the student body was noticeably absent – the distance population. The ACRL Standards for Distance Learning Library Services affirms that distance learners are entitled to the same services and resources as on-campus learners. This means that “service excellence in distance librarianship” should include conducting outreach programs for distance learners that parallels outreach programs for on-campus learners. This case study tracks the process of rethinking an on-campus event to incorporate distance learners. It is designed to communicate how a shift in thinking can create opportunities for outreach experiences by transforming existing events and/or extending programs the first time they are made available.

But This Is How We Have Always Done It: Overcoming Resistance to Change in the Quest to Support Distance Learners

The Standards for Distance Learning Library Services created by the Association of College and Research Libraries asks the distance learning librarian to be an advocate for an institutional culture of support for distance learners. The Standards make it clear that the distance learning librarian must initiate and participate in institution-wide projects. However, both individuals and organizations in which they serve struggle with change, and such resistance to change is a major barrier to creating a supportive institutional culture and convincing colleagues to participate in collaborative projects. Librarians using the Standards to guide their work must understand how to strategically manage resistance to change. This article will discuss how one online learning librarian used leadership and project management practices to address resistance to change in the library organization and across the college. It gives practical recommendations for leadership and project management skills that will help distance learning librarians and others working to enact the Standards at their academic institutions.

Going the Distance for Grads: What Online Graduate Students Want from the Library

With new program additions and changes to existing graduate programs, librarians at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas were interested in investigating if students taking online courses were successful in accessing the library services and instruction. A survey was created that included all types of graduate students (fully online to fully in-person) to identify how they accessed the library and how confident they were in finding resources. The results of this survey have provided the researchers insight regarding successful strategies and where we need to improve; where distance learners are struggling more than on-campus students; and how we need to create varied approaches to disseminate library information and instruction. The study has also opened up communication and stronger collaborations with teaching faculty and instructional designers to better integrate the libraries into the curriculum. To help make findings more generalizable, the researchers aligned them with the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Standards for Distance Learning Library Services.

From Assessment to Implementation: Using Qualitative Interviews to Inform Distance Learning Library Services

ABSTRACTWhile broad assessment projects are often used to steer library strategic planning initiatives, this article will present the benefits of qualitative interviews with distance learning constituents as a framework for developing a focused vision and targeted services. This article will describe the planning and execution of an assessment project used to build a foundation for future library resources and services to target off-campus users. The benefits of this analysis will be detailed. Based on the data, implementation strategies were devised to strengthen and further develop the distance learning unit at Florida State University Libraries.

Long Distance Relationships: Assessing the Library Service Needs of Rural Students in eLearning Courses

ABSTRACTIn states with limited road accessibility, rural students can feel isolated from library services. This article explores the creation, implementation, and results of an on-going longitudinal study assessing the library service needs of rural students in eLearning courses. To align with current practices in online pedagogies, including the Association of College and Research Libraries' Standards for Distance Learning Library Services and recent revisions to the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, this survey has been designed to help the library identify and improve services to enhance rural student success.

Embracing Change: Adapting and Evolving Your Distance Learning Library Services to Meet the New ACRL Distance Learning Library Services Standards

ABSTRACTThis article examines the update and revision of the current Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Distance Learning Standards that has been proposed and submitted to the ACRL Standards Committee. An in-depth analysis of the update is included, along with some comparisons between the old and new. Practical advice detailing initiatives and strategies implemented by a mid-sized regional university to meet the new standards is offered in conjunction with a forecast of the future of distance learning library services and impact the new changes will have for academic libraries.

No Learner Too Far: A Comparative Study of the Development of Guidelines for Distance Education Library Services in Australia

This paper is a comparative study relating to the development of global education policy. It examines the origins of the distance learning library services guidelines developed in Australia by the then Library Association of Australia (LAA), and those by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) division of the American Libraries Association (ALA) and by the Library Association (LA) of the United Kingdom. While the guidelines in the United States grew out of efforts to provide quality library services for an expanding population of off-campus college students, and Britain's perhaps out of the needs for an expanded approach to tertiary education, the Open University, the language in these guidelines would expand to meet criteria for a newer era locally. The paper discusses the various conditions under which guidelines for distance education library services originated and evolved in Australia and their influence elsewhere.

Distance Learning Library Services in Ugandan Universities

The study carried out at Makerere University and Uganda Martyrs University in 2010 aimed at providing strategies for enhanced distance learning library services in terms of convenience and adequacy. The study adopted a cross sectional descriptive survey design. The study revealed services provided in branch libraries in Ugandan universities were inadequate compared to the main libraries in the main campuses. The library services were convenient to a few of distance learners. About 209 (61.8%) learners from the two universities studied could not easily access the library services provided in the universities and 18 (5.3%) did not access them at all.

Current Practices in Distance Learning Library Services at Urban and Metropolitan Universities

Urban and metropolitan universities serve a diverse population of learners, including nontraditional and part-time students, many taking courses on-campus, off-campus at remote locations and/or online. Libraries at these institutions are committed to providing collections and services to support students and faculty engaged in both traditional and online environments. This article reports on a survey of libraries at the member institutions of the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU) that identifies the services, activities and policies that urban and metropolitan libraries have developed to provide library resources to their distance learners.

Distance learning library services : The Tenth Off-Campus Library Services Conference, Patric B. Mahoney (Ed.)

In the Book Announcement, the Editors insists that the following information should form part of all reviews: 'Distance Learning Library Services: The Tenth Off-Campus Library Services Conference has been co-published simultaneously as Journal of Library Administration, Volume 37, Numbers 1 & 2 and 3 & 4 2002'.

Spatial Metaphors and Distance Learning Library Services: Why “Where” Makes a Difference

ABSTRACT A close analysis of spatial metaphors used in distance education, such as “distant” education and “extended” courses, shows how these metaphors affect the design and goals of distance education library services. While some metaphors emphasize the possibilities of growth and communication, other metaphors continue to emphasize the isolation of distance learners. Distance librarians can reduce students’ confusion and forge new concepts about distance library services with thoughtful choices of metaphors.

Standards for distance learning library services: Approved by the ACRL Board of Directors, July 2008

Standards for distance learning library services: Approved by the ACRL Board of Directors, July 2008

Going the Distance: Library Instruction for Remote Learners (review)

Reviewed by: Going the Distance: Library Instruction for Remote Learners Thomas E. Abbott Going the Distance: Library Instruction for Remote Learners, ed. Susan J. Clayton . New York: Neal-Shuman Publishers, Inc., 2006. 225p. $65 soft cover (ISBN 1-55570-592-8) Going the Distance is a useful compilation of thoughts, ideas, and means of delivering instruction to the growing population of new distance learners. The 20 contributors are all in the business of delivering such instruction or otherwise playing a major policy role in the distance learning process at their institutions. The book provides insight about an array of useful tools and models for the distance learning librarian, academic and student development staff who support this growing population, and even distance students themselves. It is especially valuable for the librarian and off-campus administrator beginning or expanding programming for distance students. The book opens with chapters on designing effective instruction. The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services are referenced, as are six model institutions. The value of matching distance delivery technique with individual learning theory, as well as the power of social learning experiences for adults, are emphasized. Authors discuss flexible teaching processes that open channels of communication and engage the student, including an in-person (or [End Page 496] at least personal) presence with distance students. Part 1 also includes chapters on copyright and plagiarism, focusing on how to deal effectively with what seems at times like a losing battle to maintain an ethical balance between "free" copying and the concept of reasonable fair use with attribution. Bravo to the authors of these two chapters for their direct approach to a growing problem. Part 2 of the book, "Delivering Distance Instruction," covers a wealth of practical techniques and Web-access ideas that will help make library instruction for the distance student useful and meaningful. Technology is vital to making things happen, but all contributors agree that technology tools are there to support ideas and make the approach more flexible and durable for different audiences; they are not a fixed set of "boxes" into which one must jam ideas. For my library colleagues, I would call attention to the great advice and examples provided in this part of the book. Contributors guide the reader from feeling like a non-techie to feeling comfortable with online tutorials, virtual tours, building Web sites for specific disciplines, and becoming a knowledgeable advocate for the distant student. Part 3 of the book, "Collaborating for Distance Instruction," provides a good summary of approaches for partnering with discipline-based faculty members and instructional designers, as well as means for marketing library instruction. Collaboration is a recurring theme in the publication and a worthy one; we need to engage students as well as the faculty members who teach the course content and the administrative leaders who, in many cases, rarely see what actually happens at the far end of the distance learning pipeline. In the ideal environment, the distance librarian is treated as a full partner with the discipline faculty member in the preparation of an information literate student. The book concludes with an important but often overlooked topic—assessment of what we do. For years, with the steady pressure from accrediting agencies, funding agencies, and legislative bodies, we have all begun work on assessment of student learning outcomes. Most of us have designed the data collection models and even collected some information. What has not happened to any great extent is the application of those findings—that is, how we make what we do work for the student. It is one thing to do a pre- and post-test before and after an instruction session and call it assessment. It is quite another to consider whether library-use instruction during orientation, writing classes, and even upper level research courses has had an impact on our students' information literacy and research ability by the time of graduation. Read these chapters carefully, design your outcome goals, and then figure out how to collect and use the information—and be sure to publish it for the rest of us. If there is a challenge presented in Going the Distance, it is the...

Virtually Usable: A Test of the Information Gardens

This paper presents the results of a usability study conducted to determine the functionality of a desktop, three-dimensional virtual library designed and supported by the Appalachian State University Distance Learning Library Services team. Formative evaluations were performed with representative students utilizing Morae software. Results influenced the final design of the library.

Distance Learning Librarianship Research Over Time

ABSTRACT Central Michigan University has hosted 11 Off-Campus Library Services Conferences since 1982. This paper studies the proceedings of the 11 conferences to identify patterns of research. The authors were interested in determining how the field of distance learning library services has changed over that 22 year period as evidenced by the topics presented and the types of papers included in the proceedings. The authors analyzed the contributed papers and assigned those papers to specific subject tracks. The authors also considered the sources used by the presenters in order to identify works that may be considered seminal in this field. Distance learning librarianship is a field that has grown and matured, but there has been little research to date into the core literature of the field. This paper attempts to identify some of those core works through an analysis of the citations used in these sets of proceedings.

Creating a Logo to Market Distance Learning Services

ABSTRACT With distance education rapidly expanding at many institutions, the successful promotion of services designed for distance learning faculty, staff, and students is essential since most of the students will never visit the library building. While many libraries have created a logo for their main web page that is also used on publications and handouts, an evaluation of distance learning sites and portals reveals that few libraries use a logo specific for distance learning. Creating a brand identity is a marketing element underutilized in promoting distance learning library services. In the fall of 2004, it was determined that a distance learning specific logo would help to better promote services. The logo is used on all the library's distance learning sites as well as publications including brochures, bookmarks, and presentations. The goal is to create a unique “brand” to unify all of the library's distance learning materials. This poster session focuses on the history of the design and selection of the logo. During the creation process, several images were considered as logos. The poster describes the reasons for selecting one design over others, and includes tips for the institutional approval process. This poster demonstrates the uses of the distance learning logo to brand presentations, publications, and Web pages to successfully increase use of distance learning services, and create a name for the services.

Marketing Research Relationships to Promote Online Student Success

Many creative and unique plans for serving the distance learning population are being designed to stay in compliance with the ACRL Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services (2004). These guidelines promote providing services for the distance learning community that are equivalent to those provided for students and faculty located in a traditional campus setting. The guidelines also acknowledge that designing services for this population may result in a more personalized approach than the campus community might expect. This paper will examine the application of relationship marketing, defined as mutual interest between companies and customers that emphasizes customer retention and long term relationships, to the design of library services for distance learners.

Podcast Pilots for Distance Planning, Programming, and Development

This paper examines podcasting as a library support for distance learning and information systems and services. The manuscript provides perspective on the knowledge base in the growing area of podcasting in libraries and academia. A walkthrough of the podcast creation and distribution process using basic computing skills and open source tools is narrated. Challenges to the process and guidelines for increased chances of success are presented using an example framework of a do-it-yourself podcast pilot created for an academic library course. Finally, some implications are discussed for podcast systems as a distance learning aid in support of the Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services.