Marian N. Jackson, MLS
Director of Library Services
Tyler Junior College

Introduction

Libraries and library services are hardly new concepts.  Since the days of the Alexandria Library, mankind has attempted to collect, preserve, and make information more readily available.  What has changed, however, is the way information is disseminated since the advent of Internet.  In academic libraries, the challenge is to provide information to the user who could be as close as in the dorm on-campus or as faraway as the user halfway around the world.  Users now expect their quest for information to be easy and convenient.  Distance users may also not be able to differentiate between high-quality information and that of lesser quality when searching for sources.  Although many institutions define their Distance Learning (DL) students as only those who are remote from the campus, most libraries include those students who are enrolled in perhaps a combination of traditional classroom instruction and in Distance Education (DE)  courses.  With these kinds of challenges, consideration as to the best practices for providing information must become a priority.

Procedures

In 1997, the Consortium for Educational Technology in University Systems (CETUS) summarized the challenge for those of us trying to devise strategies for meeting the library needs of distance learners in this way:

The fundamental question must be “how do we serve distance learners in ways that meet or exceed academic standards of traditional classes?”  Many [accrediting agencies] encourage colleges and universities to build off-campus libraries that are modeled after the campus library environment.  Yet duplication and shadow services are not the answer.  As we move toward more sophisticated technological delivery of higher education, the very nature of our business will change.  So, too, must the library.

The process of making library services available to the distance learner must begin with becoming very familiar with standards and guidelines created by accrediting agencies for the colleges and for libraries.  Some of the major standards and guidelines to be used include:

• ALA's  ACRL’s Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services     

• Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications  (WCET)

• Southern Association of Colleges and Schools  (SACS)

• Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education  (WICHE)                       

• Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB)

Once a working framework of standards and guidelines has been established, the mission of the college must be compared to the mission of the library and its web-presence. This may be an obvious comparison, but it is an important step nevertheless. 

Consideration of the purpose of the library website and the target audience must be made next. For whom are you providing the resources?  Who is/are your target audience(s)? Faculty? Students (both on-campus and remote)? Community users?  Identify the level of library services currently available to your patrons. What internal and external factors, if any, restrict these services?  How many students are enrolled in the college’s DE courses and where are they located?  Are there patrons with special needs? The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) guidelines are widely regarded as the international standard for Web accessibility.

Next, clearly state your library’s goals and objectives for the program.  Develop guidelines and operating procedures for each component of the library’s program.  An organizational scheme should be selected based on the audience and on the content of the website. 

The library’s webpage should provide DE students with all of the elements consistent with support for the traditional student.  Some of the more basic components are:

1. Ability to search the library catalog for books;

2. Access to the library’s databases;

3. Reference assistance by telephone and/or email;

4. Interlibrary loan and document delivery; and

5. Library contacts by department.

You may never see DE students face-to-face, so it is important to also include specific information unique to services for these students.  For instance, specify if your library will mail materials to them in support of their classes and provide them with appropriate library staff contact information. 

Content is the most important element of a library’s website.  Useful and easily accessed information is what distinguishes a great website from a mediocre one.  Prioritize content selection to match the goals and needs of your audience.  What resources will you link through your website?  How will you organize these resources?  By subject? By resource type?  By type of library service? 

The information should be laid out in a logical manner, with clear header information and distinctive sections.  Keep the organization of the pages as simple as possible. Pages should be balanced between appealing design and important content.  Place the most important links and information at the top of each page.  Links should be practical, logical, and consistent.  Navigational icons, if used, should be unobtrusive and their meaning obvious.  Consistency within the format of related web pages is vital.  Using a template will ensure consistency.  Consider offering a site map and/or a table of contents.  If restrictions apply to the resource (i.e., “available only on campus”), posting the restriction in an obvious area on the site is important.  Include tutorials on topics such as website evaluation skills, plagiarism, word processing, literacy information skills, effective electronic reference skills, study skills, and copyright information.  

Remember:  If the user cannot easily locate and use the content on the website, it is as if the content does not exist!

In real estate, the mantra is Location, Location, Location!  In library services, it is Content, Content, Content!  Where does one get the content in developing the library’s web pages?  The first source when looking for content is the existing print materials produced by the library:

• Pathfinders (handouts) developed for your patrons;

• Library newsletters;

• Press releases;

• Library manuals;

• Handbooks;

• Annual reports;

• Social publications;

• Print resources;

• Community information files;

• Image collections; and

• Other library-specific resources.

In creating new content for your website, begin by examining what is new about your library:

• Have new services been added?

• Are newly developed or scheduled tutorials or workshops available?

• Have new titles or Internet resources been added?

• Are there any special or forthcoming events?

• Have any renovations or changes been made to the library?

• Are there any new recommendations or reviews of books, videos, or Internet resources?

As you add or modify the features of your site, it is imperative that users are made aware of these new features.  Different users will be reached by different promotional approaches.  For academic libraries, the best way to promote the use of your site is to make DE faculty aware of the site and help them integrate the library’s resources into their curricula.  Maintenance of library services on the website requires continuous updating of any information provided as well as continuous training and availability of library staff to respond to reference and other questions.  It is crucial to regularly check links to ascertain their currency and validity as well as incorporating new resources into your website.

Here is a sample site map of those content items you want to consider when designing your website:

Additional Resources

• Project LEAD

• Baylor University Libraries web site takes a look at web site usability issues

• University of Wisconsin – Madison Libraries page concerning HTML, design, accessibility, images, HTML checkers and much more

• Great resources compiled by Ron Jantz at Rutgers University Library

• The Library Online page from St. Petersburg College Library is a good example of content to include for your DE students

• “Design Elements for Great Web Pages: Readability, Browsability, Searchability Plus Assistance” by Eric Morgan from the Virginia Library Association

• Cornell University Library Web Design Guidelines

Evaluation

In the ACRL Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services (1988), it is recommended that librarians regularly survey DL library users in order to “monitor and assess both the appropriateness of their use of services and resources and the degree to which needs are being met.”  Surveys are time-limited in that they only provide a snapshot of the view held by the DE students at the particular time the survey was distributed.  In the quickly changing world of technology and library services, and in order to keep informed about student opinions, the survey should be revised and repeated as frequently as possible.  Such surveys will assist in identifying who your DE students are and enlighten you as to their evolving concerns and needs for library services and resources.

Evaluation of a website or its resources can be done as:

• Mail-to links

• Webforms (including such features as text-entry fields, pop-up menus, checkboxes)

• Surveys

• User evaluations

• Web statistics

• Collaboration with other campus units

Some sample survey instruments can be found at the following websites:

• University of Texas – Arlington

• Regent University

Technology

Toll-free telephone and fax lines.  Email.  Electronic request forms.  Remote patron authentication.  Proxy servers.  Chat rooms.  Bulletin boards.  Blogs.  Picking out china, crystal, and silver patterns is simpler and less stressful than choosing the mix of technologies by which you deliver library services.

We rely heavily on the technology to streamline the work, deliver the service in a more convenient, timely fashion, provide access to the library catalog and databases, and enhance the quality of all course instruction, including library instruction” (Block, 45-59).

One of the first questions to ask is “Does your site have an appropriate level of Internet connectivity to run your website?”  In other words, “Is your engine big enough to push your car?” 

To make the most effective use of technology, start by assessing your current capacity and then plan on how to improve it.  Outline a timeline and action plan your library can edit and refine as you create and update your technology plan.

• Your technology plan is driven by your mission statement and your vision for how computer technology can improve service to library patrons.  Assemble a technology planning team and create mission and vision statements to drive your planning processes.

• Your technology plan will naturally derive from an inventory of your current resources. Once you have an accurate picture of your hardware, software, and network connections, you'll be better able to plan for the future.

• Beyond computer equipment itself, you also need to understand how computer technology is used in your library.  Gather information on how you are currently implementing security, developing staff skills, and using software tools to implement a communications strategy.

• Once your library technology plan begins to take shape, provide recommendations on specific tasks to be undertaken towards achieving your technology vision.  Break down those recommendations into manageable steps and track cost and effort required for each one, as well as staff assignments and schedules.

Douglas Lord’s Connecticut State Library Checklist for Technology Plans  (2004) is a checklist to help you walk through your library’s technology planning process.

Providing access to restricted online resources is one of the most difficult endeavors for librarians.  Library subscription databases are restricted due to licensing agreements, so students searching from off-campus must be authenticated to gain access.  Most accomplish this through the use of proxy servers or software that communicates with the library’s automation system.

Some library automation vendors make authentication software programs available as part of their systems.  One such program, Remote Patron Authentication (RPA) by Horizon (a Dynix, Inc. product), allows the library to place a link from their web site to an authenticating page.  After entering their user ID, a student may access all resources listed on the following pages.  RPA authenticates by searching student records that are loaded into the system each semester. 

Other libraries may choose to authenticate their users through a proxy server.  A proxy server is the “interceptor” between requests made from a web browser and the intended URL.  It then validates users, allowing them access to licensed databases that require authentication.  Since the proxy server is able to store searches for a period of time, it improves the efficiency of searching.  Proxy servers do not work with all service providers or web browsers, and some database vendors do not allow their use.

Authentication Resources:

·        An extensive list about user authentication from Steve Hunt at Santa Monica College Library.

·        List of good information about proxy servers and remote access from the Colorado State University Library.

·        Useful Utilities provides excellent resources about EZproxy.

People

Obviously all the technology and procedures in the world can be at your disposal, but without the appropriate personnel to plan, implement, and evaluate DE library services, those electronic library portals will not open. 

Who should be included in the development and management of DE library services?  In Providing Library Services for Distance Education Students [Goodson, 2001} the following is suggested:

1. A librarian-administrator to plan, implement, coordinate, and evaluate library resources and services addressing the information and skill needs of the DL community;

2. Professional and/or support personnel (possibly from Media Services and/or from DE departments) on-site with the capacity and training to identify information and skill needs of DL library users and respond to them directly;

3. DL community representatives, including administrators, faculty, and students to formulate objectives and to regularly evaluate the DL library services program;

4. IT personnel to provide the necessary support of automation for the DL program (including webmaster, Help Desk, et al.);

5. An instructional designer to participate in the curriculum development process and in course planning for distance learning to ensure that appropriate library resources and services are available; and

6. DL library users to monitor and assess the appropriateness of their use of services and resources and the degree to which needs are being met and skills acquired.

There are many things to consider when planning a DE library services including additional cost, additional staff and training, and ongoing technical support.  The specific type of support that you are able to provide depends on the circumstances of your particular library.  Does your staff possess the capabilities to manage each of these services?  Will each department be responsible for their area of support or will you designate one person to coordinate all library support services?  Does your library staff have the technical expertise to maintain a web page and additional online resources?  Everyday responsibilities can be taxing to your library staff, so consider the additional burden it will place on your staff when outlining the services you will provide.

Now What?

Once your library website is ready, talk it up!

• Work with your campus’s instructional designer to get the library component incorporated into DL courses when the course is first developed.

• Identify faculty members who will embrace this form of library support for their students. Take the mountain to Mohammed. Go to their offices and/or classrooms to demonstrate using the library’s website.

• Meet with the different departments on campus to demonstrate the relevancy of such resources to the user.

• Schedule brown bag sessions, faculty development workshops, and individual one-on-one sessions to demonstrate the website.

• Be visible at all open meetings on campus (faculty senate, departmental meetings, enrichment series, student senate meetings, etc.)

• Visit off-campus sites to make contact with faculty and students.

• Consider communicating with students via chat rooms, bulletin boards, and Blogs.

• When students submit forms or requests via your website, make sure there is a confirmation screen to verify that the request was received.  Ensure the clarity of hours as well as response time.

• Send emails to faculty, staff, and students (if you can send a group email) whenever there is an addition or change to the library website.

• Be PROACTIVE!

Resources and Additional Reading

Barron, Daniel D. (Ed.).  (2003).  Benchmarks in distance education: The LIS experience.  Westport, CT:  Libraries Unlimited.

Block, Marylaine (Ed.). (2003).  Net effects: How librarians can manage the unintended consequences of the Internet.  Medford, NJ: Information Today, Inc.

Curtis, Donnelyn (ed.).  (2002). Attracting, educating, and serving remote users through the Web.  New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers.

Dowling, Thomas. (2003, January/February).  Library Web manager’s handbook. Library Technology Reports,  39.

Ensor, Pat.  (2000).  The cybrarian’s manual 2.  Chicago: Library Association.

Garlock, Kristen L. & Piontek, Sherry.  (1996).  Building the service-based library Website: A step-by-step guide to design and options.  Chicago: American Library             Association.

_____.  (1999).   Designing Web interfaces to library services and resources.  Chicago:    American Library Association.

Goodson, Carl F.  (2001).  Providing library services for distance education students: A how-to-do-it manual.  New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc.

Junion-Metz, Gail and Derrek L. Metz.  (2001).  Instant web forms and surveys for academic libraries.  New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers.

Mates, Barbara T.  (2000).  Adaptive technology for the Internet: Making electronic resources accessible to all.  Chicago: American Library Association.

Off-campus library services.  (2001).   Journal of Library Administration, 31(3/4).

Off-campus library services.  (2001).  Journal of Library Administration,  32( 1/2).

Pace, Andrew K.  (2002, March/April).  Optimizing library Web services: A usability approach. Library  Technology Reports,  38.

Project LEAD: Librarians Entering A New Dimension. Summer Workshop for Distance Learning Librarians.  (2002, July 22-26).  (Sponsored by Project LEAD, a two-  year grant written by The University Center and Montgomery College, North Harris Montgomery Community College District, The Woodlands, Texas, funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Tomaiuolo, Nicholas G.  (2004).  The Web library: building a world class personal library with free Web resources.  Medford, NJ:  Information Today, Inc.

Tyler Junior College website: http://www.tjc.edu/library/index.htm.