DE-COMPARTMENTALIZING DISTANCE LIBRARIANSHIPEMERGING ROLES AND STAFFING MODELS FOR

DISTANCE AND ONLINE EDUCATION LIBRARIANS

SETH ALLEN, MLISONLINE INSTRUCTION LIBRARIAN

KING UNIVERSITYBRISTOL, TN

ALA JOB ADS FOR DISTANCE LIBRARIANS FROM 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.

Between 1980 and 2000, there were 82 Distance Librarian

positions posted to the ALA Job Board, American Libraries.

SURVEY OF ALA JOB 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.

DIFFUSION OF INNOVATION IN 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.

2014 ACRL STANDARDS FOR 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

SURVEY TO ACADEMIC LIBRARIANS 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

THREE CONCEPTUAL MODELS OF DISTANCE

LIBRARY SERVICES

DISTRIBUTED WITH

COORDINATOR MODELSOLO MODELDISTRIBUTED MODEL

(NO COORDINATOR)

RESULTS OF SURVEY – JOB DUTIES PEFORMED BY SURVEY RESPONDENTS

Dispersed48%

Solo20%

Dispersed with

Coordinator

32%

STAFFING MODELS IN RESPONDENTS’ LIBRARIES

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

AVERAGE FULL TIME STUDENT EQUIVALENT

(FTE) BY STAFFING MODEL

DISTRIBUTED WITH

COORDINATOR MODEL

SOLO MODEL

DISTRIBUTED MODEL

(NO COORDINATOR)

9,227 FTE

1,303 FTE

9,880 FTE

FORECASTING THE FUTURE OF 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.”

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS FROM THE 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.”

SO WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?1. There has been a ‘diffusion of innovation’ in distance librarianship.

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.

ALA Job Ads for Distance Librarians Diffusion of Innovation, E. Rogers (1962)

2001

2003-

Presen

t

1980’s-1998

SO WHAT DOES IT 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)

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

• Diffusors of Technological Innovation

• Project/Team Management of Online

Services

• Online Pedagogy Experts

• Advocates for Online Students

• Faculty Trainers

SO WHAT DOES I 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

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.