lauren's library blog

Organizational Perspectives: Distance Learning in the Library, Across the University, and into the Future
Howard Carter, Associate Professor and Manager, Instructional Support Services, Southern Illinois University Carbondale

• Started with a plug for DLIG and LITA. I’ve heard this talk from him before, and he’s good at it! It’s the speech that got me interested in DLIG and got my foot in the door with LITA. Yay!
• Talked about the history: it’s been around for a while! TV courses on public access, sending teacher to a military base, etc.
• Talked about the impact of DL on public libraries.
• Internet changed everything. The challenge in the internet age is not “how do we provide the same services to our distance students as our local ones?” but “how do we provide the same services to our local students as our distance ones?”
• Distance has become a disability to be accommodated. Can’t see, hear, touch, reach local resource.
• Increasing use of technology to enhance learning experience. Our patrons need problem solving skills and have different learning styles.
• We need to keep up or we really do risk our survival.
• Think of technology is a subscription that needs to be renewed, not a one time purchase.
• Finding the same way we teach doesn’t necessarily work online, and that can inform what we do in person too. What works for ADA, or online, just work better in general anyway.
• We’re past the point of cutting the fat, we’re now amputating. (book budget)
• We’re seeing an increase in adjunct virtual faculty members. They are growing and essential.
• New degree models: DL, for-profit universities, community colleges
• Talked a bit about the Google Books project, how books are not becoming obsolete, but rather more widely available
• We have to provide better students for DL, helps all.
• We must continually re-examine our assumptions.

Organizational Perspectives: Distance Learning in the Library, Across the University, and into the Future
Harvey R. Gover, 2008 ACRL/Haworth Press National Distance Learning Librarian, Acting Chair and Consultant to the Distance Learning Section Guidelines Committee, and Assistant Campus Librarian, Max E. Benitz Memorial Library, Washington State University Tri-Cities

• Very kindly, Harvey summarized the points made by the earlier speakers and synthesized it into a single message.
• His message: Bringing Some Order Out of the Chaos
• Tools: The National Agricultural Library Staff Discussion Paper Blue Print for Success (PDF) & DLS ACRL Standards for Distance Learning Library Services (will be updated at this conference)
• He talked about the Standards and the paper in more detail.
• Two areas of ambivalence: how we define distance learners, and how we define ourselves as their service providers. The Standards offer some answers.
• Cited article: Jim Jill O’Neill, “Push, Pull, or Osmosis?” NFAIS Enotes, December 31, 2007.
• I will check out these citations… it’s a lot of good stuff!

I had to right at the end so that I could make the LITA Board to share with them my thoughts on the Emerging Leaders program. Karen hung around, so hopefully she got good feedback and found some people who are interested in the interest group. I think it was a really good program! It was really long, and audience members shifted in and out for a bit, but we had a lot of people who stayed the whole time. I learned a lot from my role in the program, so if you ever are planning to do one and have questions, I’d be happy to share what I learned along the way!

Update: Thanks to Lila for the correction!

Related posts:

1. LITA Distance Education Interest Group
2. distance education
3. Systems approach to assessing information literacy
4. cut and paste libraries
5. shifting definitions of information literacy