The Distant Librarian

Supporting Services in e-Learning

A report titled Supporting Services in e-Learning was mentioned in today's Online Learning Update.
With a title like that I thought for sure they'd mention the importance of library services, but no, not really.

The report talks about support services to students at NKI Distance Education, an online institution in Norway. While NKI does apparently offer library services to its distance students, they either weren't important enough to include in the survey, or for the students to mention. The library is mentioned as a support tool during the "learning phase" of a student's experience at NKI, but that's it. Too bad :-(

Information Literacy Webliography

A good-looking Information Literacy site was just mentioned on the Information Literacy Weblog (of course!). Here you will find a page each for Web sites, Articles, Bibliographies, and Mailing lists relating to information literacy. Very international in scope too, which is refreshing :-)

Information Literacy - Sources of Information

20th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning

I've always wanted to go to this conference, but there only ever seems to be one or two sessions relating to the library each year. Maybe I should do something about that instead of just complaining ;-) Anyhoo, there is at least one session this for distance librarians - Linking to journal articles in online instruction. Oh, and there's a crackerbarrel session for us too: Using metasearch to provide library resources for distance education.

Has anyone been? Is this a good venue to spread the gospel of the library according to Us?

Born with the Chip - Library Journal

I read this article on NextGens a couple of weeks ago and was really struck by a couple of the things it had to say. Born with the Chip. I've heard Stephen Abram talk on this subject a couple times and didn't expect much new, but I guess it always pays to give a guy a chance, as IMHO he's really dialed in on this topic now. BTW, if you get a chance to hear Stephen talk you should go; he's quite dynamic :-) (sorry, while I've heard the name, I've never heard Judy Luther speak).

So relating to distance librarianship, I picked up on the following: "We must prepare this generation for the real issues of the world they will live through, not the one we encountered". I find this one particularly interesting because so many of the statistics show our distance students are above the average age of the typical undergrad, and thus may not be quite as "wired" as "the kids", yet on the other hand their entire eduction is in a wired environment... And of course regardless of their age, they're living in this world, now the world in which we were educated...

"Librarians need to be able to reach NextGens in their devices of choice..." I know I'm not doing anything special in this area. Well, unless the device of choice is the PC, but even then I'm constrained by Canadian Copyright law from delivering some things directly to the desktop (grrrr). Library service to the PDA or cellphone anyone?

"...only five percent of people over 30 have an IM account, while estimates run as high as 85 percent of NextGens with at least one IM account." This one shocked me, though The Shifted Librarian has been noting this trend for a good while now. I've started asking my distance students in some of our pre-assessment exercises how many have an IM account, and so far a large majority DO use them, so I continue to wonder when I will offer my services to them via this medium...

I'm not that far removed from this generation, but my finances seem to limit me from playing with all their toys. Yeah, it's not my age, it's something else ;-)

ALA - Management Tools for Digital Reference

Another DE-related session at ALA:

Management Tools for Digital Reference

Sponsored by the RUSA MARS Management of Electronic Reference Services (MERS) Committee
The Peabody Orlando Hotel, Florida Ballroom I
Sunday, June 27, 1:30-3:30 PM

As digital reference services are integrated into the fabric of libraries, what are librarians doing to manage those services? In allocating resources to support this additional service, and in evaluating these services, what tools are librarians using to manage the process, to build supporting resources, and to gather data about the services? Please join us to hear four perspectives on these issues and to hear an update on NISO's Question and Answer Transaction Protocol (QATP).

Laura Probst (Penn State University) will provide an overview of the tools used in management of digital reference services, what librarians need, what is available in the marketplace, and needs for future development.

Andrew Breidenbaugh (Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library) will discuss justifying digital reference services in the context of their local government budgeting process and will describe their efforts to gather data demonstrating the effectiveness of their digital reference program.

Alice Kawakami (University of California at Los Angeles) will discuss promoting digital reference services and the challenges of building a centralized service on a decentralized campus and will consider internal management issues, including data collection, user assessment, training and scheduling.

Ruth Vondracek (Oregon State University) will consider digital reference services from the perspective of an academic library administrator and as chair of the Oregon L-Net advisory committee. Topics to be discussed
include: what data is useful for administrators in assessing how to allocate resources, how to balance the local service needs against statewide needs, and how to determine the cost and benefits for university administrators.

Donna Dinberg (Library and Archives Canada) will present an update on NISO's Question and Answer Transaction Protocol (QATP), which has recently been released for a one-year trial use period.
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Wink vs Viewlets

I've been using the Qarbon ViewletBuilder for online tutorials for a couple of years now and have been very pleased with it.  At a recent meeting a colleague mentioned a freeware alternative called Wink that does pretty much the same thing, so I thought I'd give it a go for comparison's sake.

In a nutshell both of these products allow you to take a series of screenshots, annotate them, and then output them as small Flash files for viewing online.  I've been using them as "point-of-use" instructional opportunities, keeping them down to about 2-3 minutes each.

While Wink does indeed get you to a Flash output, I found in my brief trial that it's not as simple to use as ViewletBuilder, nor is the output as nice, IMHO.  ViewletBuilder is almost all WYSIWYG, while Wink seems more at the object-oriented stage.  Didn't take me very long to sort it out, but it's obviously not as polished as the commercial project.

Having said that though, of course Wink is free, and ViewletBuilder is not, though if your campus buys in bulk it can get pretty resonable.

Here's a quick tutorial I threw together using Wink:  How to renew your books   (you may have to scroll to see the "next" button in the lower right corner)

Here's the same one done using ViewletBuilder:  How to renew your books

With more experience I could probably get the Wink presentation to look a little better (not sure what caused that corruption on the last screen), but I do believe I'll be sticking with ViewletBuilder.  Check out Wink if you have no budget though, and I'm sure it'll get the job done.

PS, ViewletBuilder also supports audio (voiceover), a fair amount of interactivity, and the ability to insert simple quizzes.  There are a number of other neat products on the Qarbon site, and I have no affiliation with them other than as a happy user.

Canadian Copyright Concerns

Ever send your distance students a link to a website?

Michael Geist has an interesting legal piece in the Toronto Star entitled Will copyright reform chill use of Web?. In it, he discusses a recent parliamentary committee report (44 page PDF) on copyright reform that, if adopted, would mean that Canadian educational institutions would be required to seek permission to use anything available on the web that didn't explicitely state it could be used w/o prior permission. The juicy stuff is in the second half of his article. I note that the parliamentary committee report does have a note that it can be reproduced...

This reminds me of a post I read on Alan Levine's cogdogblog the other day in which he described how he has some photos on the web, and how some folks ask his permission to use them, and how he almost always says "sure". But not long ago someone (from Canada, hmmmmm) asked permission and asked that Alan send his permission in writing (a burden for him), and that what he sent was actually returned to him for insufficient postage!

I dunno, both of these scenerios seem pretty silly in this digital age.

Distance Ed at ALA

I won't be attending ALA, but Jerilyn Marshall Chair, DLS Liaison Committee, just sent the following list of programs related to distance library services to the OffCamp listserv:

Going the Distance: Librarians Supporting Online Courses
RUSA-MARS
Saturday, June 26, 8:30 am - 10:00 am; Peabody Plaza International BR F/G

Librarians are taking active roles in online learning in both academic and public libraries. In academia, librarians may have a presence in web-based courses. In public libraries, innovative programs can bring traditional learning opportunities to the Web. Librarians entering the virtual environment frequently need training and support for adapting traditional skills to new media. This program will feature speakers from Penn State, Purdue University, as well as from a public library

Bridging the Gap: How Well are We Serving Our Students' Needs as They Move Along in Their Learning Careers?
ACRL-CJCLS
Saturday, June 26, 10:30 am - 12:00 pm; Radisson Barcelo Hotel Orlando Butler BR

Panelists serving students at the high school, community college, four-year college, and research university library level will demonstrate how their online tutorials and web sites are being used to support their students' current needs and prepare them for the next step in their learning careers. Needs of students at satellite campuses, taking online courses, day and evening/weekend students, and life-long learners will also be addressed. Speakers: Mary Smither, Head, Media Department, George Jenkins High School, Lakeland, FL; Maira Bundza, Reference Librarian, Western Michigan Univ.; Marianne C. Rough, Collection Development Librarian, Prince George's Community College (moderator); Imogene Zachery, Electronic Services Librarian, Prince George's Community College, Largo, MD; Sara E. Crest, User Instruction Librarian, Towson University (MD)

Interlibrary Cooperation and Resource Sharing to Better Serve Distributed Learners
ACRL-DLS
Saturday, June 26, 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm; Peabody Florida BR III

As distance learning programs continue to expand, library users increasingly have multiple affiliations, use multiple libraries, and are geographically distributed. With the added concern of budget cuts, librarians must develop new ways to serve users across boundaries by sharing our resources and services. This program will showcase different models of cooperation and communication between various types of libraries.

Pedagogy and the Online Learner
ACRL-EBSS
Saturday, June 26, 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm; Radisson Barcelo Hotel Orlando Butler BR

Providing library resources and services via the web is a major challenge and opportunity facing academic libraries. Librarians are actively using the web to provide resources and services, yet many lack sufficient understanding of how online learners learn and use resources and how to best present information and services in this medium. This program will address human factors in information design, best practices in online learning, and how to use effective design in a library setting. Speakers: Michael Newlin, Psychology Department, Univ. of Central Florida; Jerilyn Veldof, Univ. of Minnesota Libraries

Angst to Zest: Empowering the Non-traditional Student
ALA-LIRT
Sunday, June 27, 10:30 am - 12:00 pm; Orange County Convention Center 209 B/C

Join LIRT for practical approaches using adult learning theories in the development of effective library instruction. Keynote speaker, Dr. Phyllis Bibko, Florida Atlantic University, addresses adult learning theories while librarians Judi DeLesle, Valencia Community College and Deborah Anderson, Broward Community College, Palm Bay Campus, share their experiences and advice in developing exciting and creative instruction programs for non-traditional students. Speakers: Judi DeLesle, Valencia Community College; Deborah Anderson, Broward Community College, Palm Bay Campus.

Come Dance with Us: Library Collaborations and Partnerships
LAMA-SASS
Sunday, June 27, 10:30 am - 12:00 pm; Peabody Plaza International BR C

Speakers will present three different partnerships that demonstrate best practices in leadership and management: 1) Libraries as Court Help Resource Centers, a program to help Spanish-speaking citizens navigate the New York State courts, 2) The UD Lib/Search partnership between the University of Delaware and the State which provides electronic information to middle and high school students, and 3) Central Florida Memory, a digitization project of the University of Central Florida Library, the Orange County Regional History Center, and the Orange County Library System. Speakers: Gregg Gronlund, Genealogy Department Head, Orange County Library System; Diane Eidelman, Government Documents Librarian, Suffolk Coop. Library System; Dr. Sandra Millard, Asst. Director for Library Public Services Univ. of Delaware Lib & Prog Dir.

Celebrating a Decade of Web-based Reference Collections-Where do we go from here?
RUSA-MARS
Sunday, June 27, 10:30 am - 12:00 pm; Peabody Plaza International BR F/G

Virtual reference is a major aspect of reference service. While much of the focus has been on staffing, training, and other issues, an equally important concern is the web-based reference resources that librarians use to answer questions. Our program will examine the history and sustainability of these services as well as their future. Speakers: Joseph Janes, Assistant Professor, Information School, University of Washington; Susan McGlamery, 24/7 Reference Project Director; Karen G. Schneider, lii. Org. Director.

Is "Distance Learning" Passe?
LITA
Monday, June 28, 8:30 am - 10:00 am; Peabody Plaza International BR C

The practice of enhancing classroom teaching with web-based courseware is commonplace. Chat reference services can be used anywhere, even within the library. Many patrons now receive documents electronically from interlibrary loan. With numerous electronic services available to all library patrons, is the need to distinguish between “distance” and “on-campus” becoming less necessary? This panel will address how technologies developed with distance learning in mind now have broader use.

Recent articles

Back from vacation - here are some recent articles dealing with distance librarianship (courtesy of Erik Arfeuille's New Technologies in Libraries email service):

Collaboration: The Key to Unlocking the Dilemma of Distance Reference Services / Sherry Hawkins Backhus, Terri Pedersen Summey. In: The Reference Librarian. (2003)83/84; p. 193-202. Distant education offerings are growing at a phenomenal rate for academic institutions, creating new groups of library users and research needs. Recent studies examining the needs of this unique and growing population note that reference and research assistance are key services needed. Many institutions have appointed or hired distance educations librarians to help provide services to distant learners. They are often, however, one-person operations that function more as coordinators rather than full-service providers. Since the coordinator cannot provide all of the reference services alone, the key to providing these services for distant education students is to create and sustain good working relationships both in the library and with external entities. Offerings to distance students include phone reference and accessibility to online resources, plus virtual reference and often 24/7 services. This article will examine issues and experiences in bringing together different groups to provide reference services to distant learning communities. It will also describe key relationships necessary for keeping distance reference services at an optimal level.

Reference Beyond the Walls of the Library: Interacting with Faculty and Students in the 21st Century / Connie Ury, Carolyn Johnson.
In: The Reference Librarian. (2003)83/84; p. 203-218.
The nature of research continues to evolve from accessing print publications in a library building toward retrieving information online, any time any place. Since patrons no longer need to enter a library building to access information, the social character of reference service has also changed. Demand for face-to-face reference interaction has declined, altering the traditional one-on-one venue for teaching information retrieval and evaluation. To develop new opportunities for influencing the information literacy of students, librarians at the Northwest Missouri State University are creating outreach strategies that facilitate increased interaction with students and faculty.