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Embedded Librarians in Distance Learning

Embedded Librarians in Distance Learning. Institutions Offering Distance Education Courses. 65% of all 2 and 4 year institutions offered college level, credit-bearing distance education courses in 2006-2007 (US Dept. of Ed., 2008). Format of DE Courses Offered. US Dept. of Ed, 2008.

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Embedded Librarians in Distance Learning

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  1. Embedded Librarians in Distance Learning

  2. Institutions Offering Distance Education Courses 65% of all 2 and 4 year institutions offered college level, credit-bearing distance education courses in 2006-2007 (US Dept. of Ed., 2008)

  3. Format of DE Courses Offered US Dept. of Ed, 2008

  4. Distance Education Enrollments • 12.2 million post secondary students total (US Dept. of Ed., 2008) • 4.6+ million students took at least 1 online course fall 2008; up 17% from prior year; greater than the 1.2% overall higher ed growth (Allen & Seaman, 2010) • Over 25% of higher ed. students take at least 1 course online (Allen & Seaman, 2010)

  5. Enrollment by Course Format US Dept. of Ed, 2008

  6. ACRL Standards for Distance Learning Library Services Every student, faculty member, administrator, staff member, or any other member of an institution of higher education, is entitled to the library services and resources of that institution, including direct communication with the appropriate library personnel, regardless of where enrolled or where located in affiliation with the institution. Academic libraries must, therefore, meet the information and research needs of all these constituents, wherever they may be. ALA, 2008

  7. Libraries & DE Quality • “If distance-learning programs are to be credible and successful, the distance-learning student must have the same access to library support services as the on-campus student” (Tipton, 2001, p. 394). • Parnell (2002) viewed access to library support so significant that he questioned the “appropriateness of offering the same academic award to those students without equivalent access to learning resources” (The Value of Library Services section, para. 4).

  8. Defining the Embedded Librarian • ‘Embedded journalism’ in Iraq war … ‘embedded librarian’ (Dewey, 2005; Hedreen, 2005; Schroeder, 2004) • “Embedding requires more direct & purposeful interaction than acting in parallel” (Dewey, 2005, p.6) • Expanded beyond physical campus to distance learning environment (Figa & Bone, 2009; Matthew & Schroeder, 2006; Kvenild & Calkins, 2011)

  9. Changed Framework “Embedded librarians realized that research action no longer swirls around the reference desk nor the library Web site, but in students’ online learning space otherwise known as course management systems” (Tumbleson & Burke, 2010)

  10. Role of Librarian in Distant Learning • “Wide ranging arsenal of skills” (Gandhi, 2003, p.140) • More proactive & creative approach to teaching IL (Gandhi, 2003) • Purposefully increase faculty awareness of services, resources, and instructional support available (Gandhi, 2003)

  11. Success Factors for Librarians Supporting Distance Learners • “Interpersonal communication skills; library research and reference skills; information organization skills; information technology skills; &knowledge of customer subject domain” (Shumaker & Tyler, 2007, p. 18) • Collaboration with faculty(Owens & Bozeman, 2009) • Marketing & public relations (Gandhi, 2003)

  12. Embedded Librarian Activities – A Sampling

  13. Challenges • Learning management systems • Technology • Communication strategies • Varying levels of embeddedness • Workload • Relationship with subject specific librarians

  14. The Future “If our services are to remain relevant, and if we are to remain responsive to our users’ diverse information, reference and research needs, we envision a future in which embedded librarians – and embedded librarianship – are the norm rather than at the forefront” (Kesselman & Watstein, 2009, pp. 395-396)

  15. Selected Resources • Allen, I. E. & Seaman, J. (2010). Learning on demand: Online education in the United States, 2009. Needham, MA: The Sloan Consortium. Retrieved from http://sloanconsortium.org/publications/survey/pdf/learningondemand.pdf • American Library Association. (2008). Standards for distance learning library services. Chicago, IL: American Library Association. Retrieved from http://www.acrl.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/standards/guidelinesdistancelearning.cfm • Dewey, B. I. (2005). The embedded librarian. Resource Sharing & Information Networks, 17, 5-17. doi: 10.1300/J121v17n01_02 • Figa, E. & Bone, T. (2009). Librarian on board! Texas Library Journal 85(1), 14–19. • Gandhi, S. (2003). Academic librarians and distance education: Challenges and opportunities. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 43(2), 138-154. • Hedreen, R. (2005, April). Embedded librarians [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://frequanq.blogspot.com/2005/04/embedded-librarians.html • Kesselman, M. A. & Watstein, S. B. (2009). Creating opportunities: Embedded librarians. Journal of Library Administration, 49, 383-400. doi: 10.1080/01930820902832538 • Kvenild, C. & Calkins, K. Eds. (2012). Embedded librarians: Moving beyond one-shot instruction. Chicago, IL: Association of College and Research Libraries.

  16. Matthew, V. & Schroeder, A. (2006). The embedded librarian program. EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 29, 61-65. • Owens, R. & Bozeman, D. (2009). Toward a faculty-librarian collaboration: Enhancement of online teaching and learning. Journal of Library & Information Services in Distance Learning, 3, 31-38. doi: 10.1080/15332900902794898 • Parnell, S. (2002). Redefining the cost and complexity of library services for open and distance learning. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 3, 1-15. Retrieved from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/102/562 • Schroeder, A. (211). Replacing face-to-face information literacy instruction: Offering the embedded librarian program to all courses. In C. Kvenild & K. Calkins (Eds.), Embedded librarians: Moving beyond one-shot instruction (pp. 63 – 78), Chicago, IL: Association of College and Research Libraries. • Shumaker, D. & Tyler, L.A. (2007, June). Embedded library services: An initial inquiry into practices for their development, management, and delivery. Paper presented at the meeting of the Special Libraries Association Annual Conference. Chicago, IL. • Tipton, C. (2001). Graduate students’ perceptions of library support services for distance learners: A university system-wide study. In A. M. Casey (Ed.), Off-campus library services (pp. 393-408). New York, NY: Haworth Information Press. • Tumbleson, B. E. & Burke, J. J. (2010). When life hands you lemons: Overcoming obstacles to expand services in an embedded librarian program. Journal of Library Administration 50, 972 – 988. doi: 10.1080/01930826.2010.489002 • U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2008). Distance education at degree granting postsecondary institutions: 2006-07. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2009044

  17. Deborah A. Nolan Dean of University Libraries Towson University Towson, MD dnolan@towson.edu

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