Internet Reference Support for Distance Learners

Rita Pellen, William Miller

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781317824923
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Computer Science General
• Index: Computer Science

Make separate library services for distance learners a thing of the past Internet Reference Support for Distance Learners takes a comprehensive look at efforts by librarians and information specialists to provide distance learners with effective services that match those already available on campus. With the development of the World Wide Web and the evolution of Web-based services, reference librarians are adding a human element to the virtual library, blurring the difference between distance learners and traditional users. This unique book examines how they deal with a wide range of related topics, including standards and guidelines, copyright issues, streaming media, and chat and digital references, and presents a historical overview of how reference and instructional services have been delivered to distance usersbefore and after the creation of the Internet.
Internet Reference Support for Distance Learners reveals that librarians do not make a sharp distinction between reference and instruction within the context of distance learning, and that there is no clear boundary between true distance learners and more traditional students who might use services designed for nontraditional users. Online capabilities have allowed reference librarians to approximate services advocated by published guidelines and standards, including the ACRL Distance Learning Section's Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services, to provide a framework for librarians to plan services for off-campus students.Internet Reference Support for Distance Learners provides practical information on:

• how librarians can keep IT simple when designing methods to access reference support
  
• why library Web sites are vital sources of communication between the distance learning student and the reference-based instructional component
  
• how to set up a university chat service, including software selection, staff training and assessment
  
• how to provide students services beyond traditional provision of resources, including advising, enrollment, and payment of fees
  
• how to create an online assistance site that incorporates online versions of traditional print handouts, FAQs, subject guides, course-specific guides, learning modules, and instructional videos in one central location
  
• how to work with faculty to create online support for students in Blackboard courses
  
• the pros and cons of using open-source software
  
• how to create an online library assistance site
  
• how to create online information literacy course to teach independent research skills to remote students
  
• how to avoid copyright infringement and how to educate library personnel about copyright law
  
• how to use Camtasia Studio, a screen capture program to create audio and video for online presentations

Internet Reference Support for Distance Learners is an invaluable resource for librarians working in academic, school, special, and public settings, and for library science faculty and students.

Index

Numbers followed by n indicate notes.

“Academic Libraries and Distance Education” (Gandhi), 21–22

Adobe Premiere, 198

Adolescents, Internet usage patterns of, 46

Advanced Distance Learning Network (ADLN), 195, 198

Advertising, on the World Wide Web, 164

Agreement on Guidelines for Classroom Copying in Not-For-Profit Educational Institutions with Respect to Books and Periodicals, 182

Alfred University, 137

Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning, 136

Anxiety

in librarians, 70

library-related, 117

Apache Web server, 151, 152

Apple Public Source License, 150–151

Archie search engine, 163

Ariel®, 155

ASKAL (Ask-a-Librarian) open source software, 154

Ask-a-Librarian reference services, 9, 11–12, 52, 116, 136

Ask Jeeves, 52

AskNow Virtual Reference Project, 99–114

effects on distance learning students, 109–113

versus e-mail reference service, 112

institutional autonomy of, 113

participating libraries, 104

staffing of, 104–105

staff training for, 104

Telecommunications Infrastructure (TIF) of, 103

usage statistics for, 113

Virtual Reference Toolkit® use in, 104, 112

Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL)

Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services, 7, 20–21, 23–24, 25, 26–27, 136

Information Literacy Competency Standards, 58, 163

Auburn University, 58

Audioconferencing, in reference services, 22

limitations to, 23

Austin Community College, 13

Berkeley Systems Distribution, 150

Bibliographic verification, 35–36

Blackboard (course management system), 23, 135–145, 195, 199

library web site links to, 38

students’ evaluations of, 141–143

students’ expectations of, 139

underutilization of, 41

Black’s Law Dictionary, 181–182

Boston Library Consortium, 26

Branch campus libraries, 6

Budg...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Introduction: Providing Distance Learners with Reference Services Online
• A Historical Overview of Internet Reference Services for Distance Learners
• Internet Reference Services for Distance Education: Guidelines Comparison and Implementation
• Academic Library Web Sites for Distance Learners in Greater Western Library Alliance Member Institutions
• Keep IT Simple: Internet Reference Support for Distance Learners
• Ask a UT System Librarian: A Multi-Campus Chat Initiative Supporting Students at a Distance
• HawkHelp: From Chat to a Student Services Portal
• One School’s Experience with Virtual Reference
• Does Anyone Need Help Out There? Lessons from Designing Online Help
• If You Build It, They Will Come, but Then What: A Look at Issues Related to Using Online Course Software to Provide Specialized Reference Services
• Open Source Software to Support Distance Learning Library Services
• Integrating Library Reference Services in an Online Information Literacy Course: The Internet Navigator as a Model
• Copyright and the Delivery of Library Services to Distance Learners
• From Cameras to Camtasia: Streaming Media Without the Stress
• Index