De-Compartmentalizing Distance Librarianship

De-Compartmentalizing Distance Librarianship

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  DE-COMPARTMENTALIZING DISTANCE LIBRARIANSHIP EMERGING ROLES AND STAFFING MODELS FOR DISTANCE AND ONLINE EDUCATION LIBRARIANS SETH ALLEN, MLIS ONLINE INSTRUCTION LIBRARIAN KING UNIVERSITY BRISTOL, TN
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  ALA JOB ADSFOR DISTANCE LIBRARIANS FROM 1980-2010 Between 1980 and 2000, there were 82 Distance Librarian positions posted to the ALA Job Board, American Libraries. Tables found in: Tang, Y. (November 01, 2013). Distance Education Librarians in the United States: A Study of Job Announcements. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 39, 6, 500-505.
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  SURVEY OF ALAJOB ADS, 1980-2010 Tables found in: Tang, Y. (November 01, 2013). Distance Education Librarians in the United States: A Study of Job Announcements. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 39, 6, 500-505.
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  DIFFUSION OF INNOVATIONIN DISTANCE LIBRARIANSHIP? Tables found in: Tang, Y. (November 01, 2013). Distance Education Librarians in the United States: A Study of Job Announcements. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 39, 6, 500-505.
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  2014 ACRL STANDARDSFOR DISTANCE LEARNING LIBRARY REVISIONS The following is a selected list of proposed revision to the from 2008 standards to the 2014 standards: • Defines embedded librarian • Advocates for additional funding for online learners, not supplanting brick-and-mortar library funding • Access Entitlement Principle spells out multiple modalities/locations • Describes the dilemma of supporting MOOCs • Advocates for librarian advocacy of distance learners, cross-departmental communication, university committees on distance learning, and general support for distance learning • Direct marketing to students
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  SURVEY TO ACADEMICLIBRARIANS SERVING DISTANCE STUDENTS • An eight question survey was sent to librarians in Nov. 2014 on several listservs asking about their library staffing models and their thoughts on the future of distance librarianship • Key questions included: • Typical job duties • FTE at their schools • Whether they though distance librarianship would continue to remain a distinct specialization in libraries • 50 librarians responded, ranging from college with less than 100 students with 20,000+ FTE
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  THREE CONCEPTUAL MODELSOF DISTANCE LIBRARY SERVICES DISTRIBUTED WITH DISTRIBUTED MODEL (NO COORDINATOR) SOLO MODEL COORDINATOR MODEL
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  RESULTS OF SURVEY– JOB DUTIES PEFORMED BY SURVEY RESPONDENTS
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  STAFFING MODELS IN RESPONDENTS’ LIBRARIES Dispersed 48% Dispersed with Coordinato r 32% Solo 20% 1. Dispersed Model – Several librarians are responsible for serving distance students without a coordinator 2. Solo Model – One librarian is in charge of serving all distance students 3. Dispersed with Coordinator Model- A team of librarians serve distance students but there is one or more person in charge of coordinating distance library services
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  AVERAGE FULL TIMESTUDENT EQUIVALENT (FTE) BY STAFFING MODEL DISTRIBUTED WITH COORDINATOR MODEL SOLO MODEL DISTRIBUTED MODEL (NO COORDINATOR) 9,227 FTE 1,303 FTE 9,880 FTE
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  FORECASTING THE FUTUREOF DISTANCE LIBRARIANSHIP – RESPONSES FROM THE SURVEY “Our campus was recently accredited by the USDLA and I believe this requires a specific distance librarian. So the designation will probably stick for a while.” “I think an increasing amount of librarians will be expected to serve distance students, regardless of the specialization of the librarian.” “We work under the assumption that all students are mobile and that all librarians are to some extent distance librarians.” “I think it depends on the institution but I could see either of those paths becoming likely. I think smaller institutions and those without significant online student bodies will opt for the latter” “I think larger institutions, or institutions that do a lot of distance ed will continue to employ a distance/online learning/instructional design librarian. Smaller institutions will necessarily have to spread those duties out among their staff.”
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  ADDITIONAL COMMENTS FROMTHE SURVEY “Even our "traditional, on-campus" populations engage the library as distance learners at times (and some always and only). They use devices to contact and converse with us; they seek out information wherever it may be found. If we are not where they are going, then they'll find something out there that will "do enough." If we want to be relevant we need to keep reaching” “I think it is good to have a librarian dedicated to the students that are not on campus, so that they feel that they have someone to turn to. Any way in which you can get involved with off campus students is good, I think so that they feel connected to the campus.” “I think distance librarianship will be even more important in the future because I think more classes and entire programs of study will be online. Instructional design using electronic media, knowledge of user behavior in an online environment, and comprehensive collection development for an online population are all important areas of knowledge for distance librarians that differ from traditional librarians.”
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  SO WHAT DOESIT ALL MEAN? 1. There has been a ‘diffusion of innovation’ in distance librarianship. ALA Job Ads for Distance Librarians Diffusion of Innovation, E. Rogers (1962) 2003- Presen Table found in: Singhal, A., & Quinlan, M. M. (2008). Diffusion of Innovations. In L. L. Kaid & C. Holtz-Bacha (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Political Communication (Vol. 1, pp. 182- 186). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. Table found in: Tang, Y. (November 01, 2013). Distance Education Librarians in the United States: A Study of Job Announcements. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 39, 6, 500-505. 2001 t 1980’s-1998
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  SO WHAT DOESIT ALL MEAN? 2. There is no ‘one size fits all’ model for serving distance students, nor are the roles of the distance librarian uniform across institutions. 3. Because of this diffusion and diversity of roles a distance librarian could potentially server, distance librarians can develop new specialties, such as: • Copyright Specialists • Instructional Designers/Course Designers • Educational Technologists • Assessment Specialists (especially in online instruction) • Diffusors of Technological Innovation • Project/Team Management of Online Services • Online Pedagogy Experts • Advocates for Online Students • Faculty Trainers 4. Distance librarians should refine their services using principles of instructional design and online pedagogy and new technologies. 5. Distance librarians can be catalysts for organizational change in their libraries, helping colleagues to understand the blurring of ‘traditional’ and ‘online’ students
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  SO WHAT DOESI T ALL MEAN? 6. The future of distance librarianship is hard to forecast, BUT……we can use environmental scans to make an educated guess. Herring (2014) uses the TEMPLES model to forecast the future of libraries. This scan could be applied to distance librarianship as well? Technology – How does they help/hurt traditional library services? Economy – Financial health of the nation and its impact on libraries Markets – what will the library’s ‘niche’ in information delivery look like in an environment of open access Politics – Do legislators support funding libraries? Laws – How does copyright and Internet regulations affect libraries? Ethics – How does the library assert ‘quality control’ of info? Society – How do users expect to access info? How does that affect our service model? Image taken from Flickr: https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3577/3650151941_ca9e1770b0_b.jpg
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  WORKS CITED Bell,S. J., & Shank, J. D. (2007). Academic librarianship by design: A blended librarian's guide to the tools and techniques. Chicago: American Library Association. Herring, M. Y. (2014). Are libraries obsolete?: An argument for relevance in the digital age. Lockerby, R., & Stillwell, B. (October 01, 2010). Retooling Library Services for Online Students in Tough Economic Times. Journal of Library Administration, 50, 779-788. Mery, Y., & Newby, J. (2014). Online by design: The essentials of creating information literacy courses. Rogers, E. M. (1983). Diffusion of innovations. York: Free Press. Stielow, F. J. (2014). Reinventing the library for online education. Tang, Y. (November 01, 2013). Distance Education Librarians in the United States: A Study of Job Announcements. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 39, 6, 500- 505.