Libraries and Other Academic Support Services for Distance Learning

Information Outlook, Dec, 1998 by Susanne Bjorner

Snyder, A. Carolyn; Fox, W. James, Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, Inc., 1997. 334 p. ISBN: 0-7623-0229-1

The ubiquity of the Internet has pushed distance learning programs to the fore, and this book should appeal to a broad audience of librarians, educators, and learners. It must be noted, however, that the editors have established a somewhat narrower field than might be hoped for with the wide-ranging title.

Distance learning is here defined as "a form of distance education using equipped and wired classrooms to provide courses to students not physically present at the originating campus of the course." This definition implies college- and university-sponsored courses rather than training or continuing education offered by professional associations or private concerns. It also implies courses delivered to several students in established groups rather than to individual learners in a work, library, home, or other setting. The definition thus reflects the considerably older history of distance learning, which began through correspondence courses, television teaching, and traveling instructors, rather than the newer reality of distance learning through Internet technology, known variously as ASL. (Asynchronous Learning) or online courses.

What is presented here is an excellent series of essays and supporting documents that describe, largely from the viewpoint of librarian authors, various distance learning models employed by universities in the United States and Australia. Especially noteworthy contributions include Maryhelen Jones' and Thomas J. Moore's description of the history (since 1971) of extended campus library services at Central Michigan University; Nancy H. Dewald's and Glorianna St. Clair's explanation of active and collaborative learning in Pennsylvania State University's freshman-level Project Vision online course; Edward Lim's and Marie Therese Van Dyk's detailing of Monash University's developing library support programs; and Fred W. Roper's and Gayle Douglas' story of LISDEC and the University of South Carolina's delivery of library/information science education. Other institutional efforts receiving attention include Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (Starratt and Hostetler, and Shepherd); the North Dakota University System (D'Andraia); and the University of Alabama (Rodgers).

An appendix with the results of a 1995 SPEC Survey of ARL libraries conducted by editor Snyder paints a picture of rather limited participation by research institutions at that time. Over one-hundred pages reprint World Wide Web pages on distance learning from five of the universities profiled in the book, captured apparently during the middle months of 1996. The extensive web documentation, an excellent and extensive annotated bibliography by Preece and Russell, and the thoughtful essays combine to provide a thorough history of university libraries' response to the challenge of distance learning in the mid-1990s.

This is not a book that will provide immediate, practical guidelines for librarians who need to define and justify their support of newer networked learning methods. Nor is it an answer book for distance learners in search of library support. It stands as a useful and important documentation of the development of education delivery to dispersed students at one point in time. As such it is recommended for all schools of education and library/information science, and for any college or university moving toward distance learning programs.

by Susanne Bjorner. Bjorner is special projects editor, Choice magazine. She may be reached at SBjorner@ala-choice.org.