What Do Distance Education Faculty Want from the Library?

Abstract

Distance education is a quickly growing phenomenon in higher education. In 2001, the National Center for Education Statistics reported that 56% of all Title IVeligible, degree-granting institutions were offering distance education courses, an amount that had nearly doubled in the three years since the previous survey. In accordance with the Association of College and Research Libraries' Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services and the mission of the library and university, the Mansfield Library at the University of Montana integrates library services into the instruction efforts of faculty both on and off campus. In December 2004, the Mansfield Library conducted a survey of University of Montana faculty who teach courses at a distance. The goals of that survey included: 1.) identifying what distance education faculty need from their library to supplement their instruction; 2.) what services would faculty like to see the library offer to their students and 3.) how can the library best meet the ACRL Guidelines and its own mission. The results of the survey were used to strengthen the design and development of outreach services to distance faculty and students. This poster session outlines the development of the survey, the results of the survey, and the conclusions reached. Survey:We designed a brief, ten-question survey to measure how aware faculty were of the library's offerings, and what services they would ideally like the library to offer. Questions were all multiple choice. The survey was deployed over the web via SurveyMonkey.com, a site providing free and low-cost survey hosting. We sent the survey to 35 faculty and received 16 responses (a 46% response rate). Results:We discovered:• Faculty are asking their distant students to do research to complete assignments.• Faculty feel they are aware of what the library offers to support them, but• Faculty aren't so sure that their students know what's available from the library.• Faculty feel the best way to educate students about library resources is a standalone library skills course.• Faculty also favor a customizable BlackBoard course module or linkable subject guides for library instruction.• Faculty don't want librarian-led discussion threads within their BlackBoard courses.• Faculty are not linking to the library website from their BlackBoard course shells.

Uncovering the Evidence: Faculty Perceptions of Distance Library Services

“…Many of those who have published in this area included their survey instrument in the appendix of their publication which is very useful to those looking for practical examples Hines, 2006;Shaffer, Finkelstein, & Lyden, 2004;Thomsett-Scott & May, 2009 While some studies may incorporate other methods in their research, the survey is commonly the key component to inquiries of this nature. Shaffer, Finkelstein, & Lyden (2004) started their inquiry with a small focus group of distance faculty and used the resulting feedback to assist in developing the survey questions and identifying faculty who would serve as participants.…”

“…The research method used by , Hines (2006), Thomsett-Scott andMay (2009), and was more straightforward; in each case an online survey instrument was designed and then distributed to distance learning faculty.…”

“…In the Hines (2006) study, the investigator noted that she had reviewed previously published studies and was curious to see whether or not the demand for services identified by distance faculty in those studies were the same at her institution. In the There are many methods researchers can employ to inform the creation of their survey instrument.…”

Improving Library Services to Satellite Campuses: The Case of the University of Lethbridge

“…Hines 10 surveyed other universities' attempts to discover what their distance faculty want from their institutions' libraries, as well as reporting her own findings of instructors at her university. While the review of other studies is now dated (initial surveys were performed between 1986-2004) she found many of the instructors aware of services and receptive to library instruction (especially tutorials or handouts which could be utilized outside of class time), but frustrated by technological issues.…”

Using Courseware Discussion Boards to Engage Graduate Students in Online Library Workshops

“…A common barrier to library instruction for graduate students, whether on-campus or through distance programs, are faculty assumptions that graduate students arrive equipped with advanced research knowledge and skills (Hardesty, 1995;Schmehl Hines, 2006). Faculty also assume that if students need to increase their research and information management skills, they will learn these skills on their own (Genoni and Partridge, 2000).…”