Angela Lee, Social Work Library
Angela Lee, Social Work Library
Distance learning has become a buzzword in the academic scene in the last few years. Providing access to courses at a distance has been a key issue for many institutions of higher learning. Education planners have been trying busily to determine how to mount programs and also provide academic support to students. From the library point of view, providing services to these students can be a major challenge. How we provide these services and at what cost is a complex issue. This article describes the Social Work Library experience and explores one way of meeting the challenge.
In 1996, the School of Social Work began a pilot distance learning program on the Olympic Peninsula at Peninsula College in Port Angeles. Two social work courses were offered by the School in Summer 1996 and Spring 1997. The Social Work Library's role was initially to provide reserve readings and document delivery for the program. However, the Social Work Library agreed to take on the provision of a full range of services to students enrolled in the courses as a test case for planning and delivery of future distance learning services. The librarian initially made three site visits to check out facilities and equipment, train library staff, teach students about library resources, and evaluate library services. All other contacts with library staff and students were via phone and e-mail over the course of the pilot project.
The two courses offered were foundation courses in Social Work (SW 502/503 Human Behavior and the Social Environment and SW 504 Cultural Diversity and Social Justice). Instruction consisted of several face-to-face interactions, phone contacts, and e-mail communication, with the bulk of student learning focused on independent study or group work. Each course differed in terms of its needs for services and materials; both provided a framework by which a range of services could be delivered—greater services for the research-oriented courses and less service for the experiential.
For the library, the key concerns were how to provide specific services and what would be the mode of contact between the library and student. The specific services offered were: (1) providing reserve materials, (2) delivering documents, (3) teaching about technology and resources, and (4) answering reference questions.
A small collection of course reserve materials was purchased with funds from the Libraries and UW Distance Learning. The materials were processed as an off-site collection with on-site circulation and housing at Peninsula College Library. Document services (delivery of books and journal articles) were offered to students and subsidized by the Health Sciences Libraries. Requests could be made by e-mail, fax, or phone with a turnaround time of 24 to 48 hours; materials could then be delivered by mail or faxed to a student's home.
A critical part of the service was teaching about computers and library resources which was done on-site to give students some experience with accessing resources from afar. Teaching focused on starting up the computer, knowing the various computer applications including e-mail, and learning about library and Internet resources.
For those unanswered questions, reference assistance was available to students by phone or e-mail. Questions ranged from topical (unionization of social workers) to resource (access to videotapes) to technology (connecting to UWIN). Most dealt with computer access to library resources from home (connecting and installing software).
Besides providing traditional services, the librarian took on several other tasks, as demanded by the project, including helping with course design by planning research assignments, training computer users on the workstation designated for distance learners, and consulting with Peninsula library staff to set up collections and circulation policies.
This pilot experiment showed that library services are needed and can be delivered to a distant site given enough preparation and material support from both institutions. Some of the lessons learned from the project were: (1) Distance learning demands that the librarian not only be proactive in developing such programs but must learn to take on the tasks of coordinating activities across institutions. (2) The use of just a modicum of technology such as e-mail, fax, and phone can enhance current service modes; however, any future services should have a Web-based design for more efficient and comprehensive delivery of services and resources. (3) The key to distance learning is in teaching students about the strategies for getting access to resources whether through electronic or other means. The provision of library services to distance learners is still at an early stage, but librarians must be prepared to design services that will meet their needs as higher education transforms itself in the next century.