On a practical level, most of you probably don’t think about the library as long as we provide the resources and services you need efficiently. You trust us to do our jobs well and we try to meet and exceed your expectations. That is as it should be, but you should know that we have some guidance and are not just making this up as we go along.
At the 2008 American Library Association convention the Association of College & Research Libraries approved the updated Standards for Distance Learning Library Services. The important part, as far as I’m concerned, is in the first paragraph – “Academic libraries must, therefore, meet the information and research needs of all these constituents, wherever they may be.”
The Standards are a useful baseline and I believe that the University of Iowa Libraries meets them. However, whether the Standards say so or not, we’re going to continue to provide the best service we can tailored to the needs of the students who use us – “…wherever they may be.”
Within the limits of copyright law and understanding that we won’t write your research paper for you, are we meeting your needs? Is there something we can do better?
Let me know in the comments.
Dan the Librarian
Hi i agree with with your opinion about the first paragraph. I have a german glossary about distance learning online under http://www.das-fernstudium.com/?page_id=13
regards
Kai
LOLOL..
how bout you do half my research paper..
lol
great article.. I think your doing a wonderful job.
Such a shame copyright law doesn’t let people pass others work off as their own, would make education easier and quicker. Plus it would make everybody an A+ student
Thanks for nice laughing )).
btw: i think libraries are going to past. Online libraries are getting more and more power.
Funny, Distance Learning Fan that though you think libraries will be “going to past” you are still promoting a library: an online library.