Laurie has a thought-provoking post wondering if the concept of “library services for distance learning” has died. She cites primarily the lack of participation in regional and national distance education interest groups (CLA and COPPUL here in Canada, and the OFFCAMP listserve). She and I briefly kicked around this question last week, and one group I didn’t consider is the ACRL Distance Learning Section – is that more active, or does it follow the same trends noted by Laurie? Looks like they got 270 respondents to a membership survey a couple of years ago – that’s pretty good! If ACRL DLS is more active, what’s the secret of their success? Is this niche only big enough for one such group? Any thoughts? Leave them here, or with Laurie, if you would 🙂
Technorati Tags: distance_education, librarianship
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2 Responses to “What does “Library services for distance learning” mean to you?”
Paul:
My experience has been that my institution has moved away (as a matter of policy and finance) from distance programs, and my job has shifted to cover the “continuing ed” (ie., adult learner) programs. At the same time, the library has begun, as policy, collecting and servicing everyone as if they were at a distance – whether across campus or across the country.
Certainly interesting times…
C/
Having ended up in the distance learning world somewhat accidentally, I’d love to know what kind of active networks there are. I know we’re the only institution doing distance learning on this scale locally – maybe the ‘distance’ in the concept tends to preclude local groups from forming.
I know I’m hoping to track down some relevant sessions at ALA this year.