Reference in library and information science education

Library Trends, Fall, 2001 by Yvonne J. Chandler

At the University of North Texas, distance-learning courses serve students in urban areas and remote parts of the state through face-to-face off-campus courses, televised, live-interactive videoconference courses, and online Web-based delivery. The School of Library and Information Sciences has been a pioneer in offering distance-learning opportunities. A goal of the School is to aggressively expand graduate educational opportunities for two populations: those in the many remote Texas cities and counties where library staffs are otherwise unable to continue their formal education, and those others across the country who are geographically isolated from access to a site-based library and information science program. The Center for Distributed Learning provides support services for the distance-learning infrastructure and manages the WebCT Internet-based-course management software.

The School of Library and Information Sciences participates in distance learning via three pedagogical methods: face-to-face off-campus courses, live-interactive videoconferencing, and through the Internet. Full-time faculty members traveled to teach students in Houston and Lubbock for a number of years. Since 1998, the School has used distributed interactive videoconferencing to offer courses in other locations, including Dallas (at a second campus), Texarkana, Wichita Falls, Abilene, Edinburgh, Corpus Christi, and Tyler as well as Minneapolis and St. Cloud, Minnesota. This distance-education technique enables the School to offer these courses on campus and at the distance sites simultaneously, with live lectures delivered via interactive videoconferencing to two to five sites.

The SLIS faculty set as a goal the offering of the complete master's degree program over the Internet by Summer 2001. To achieve that goal, the faculty committed to develop new courses and convert much of the school's curriculum to Web-based delivery formats. The SLIS curriculum requires nine hours of core courses, including a course addressing reference and information access. SLIS 5600 (Introduction to Information Access and Retrieval) is a four-credit required course. It is also offered as a required course for undergraduate students matriculating through the Information Science and Legal Information Management programs. The first reengineering of the core curriculum for distance learning was funded by a university grant in 1998. Since the successful reconfiguration of the class, it has been distributed to the nine above-mentioned sites in Texas and two cities in Minnesota using learning technology supported by Web-based course material and communications systems.

Currently the course is organized into modules for each topic. The subject content and exercises provide an academic foundation for meaningful dialogue within the class. Instructional materials and resources are published on the Internet through WebCT; the digital classroom Internet site is password protected. The site includes information about the learning objectives, required readings, a glossary of terms, collaborative learning activities, assignments, projects, lectures, downloadable PowerPoint lecture-note slides, and hypertext links to databases and other reference sites on the Internet. The students in each class are divided into teams to work together throughout the semester on all collaborative assignments. The cooperative work projects provide a framework within which students develop peer relationships. The availability of course materials on the Internet allows students to access learning modules, laboratory exercises, and assignments at their own desktops. Offering the reference course using this technology gives students experience in using distance-education techniques-experience they will be able to utilize in their professional work. One of the most exciting uses of the distributed technology is the ability to present select guest lecturers, industry professionals and representatives of database vendors and publishers, to the class.