Competency-based education (CBE) is an emerging model for higher education designed to reduce certain barriers to educational attainment. This essay describes CBE and the challenges and opportunities for academic librarians desiring to serve students and faculty in Library and Information Management Master of Library Science (MLS) programs. Every…

The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), located in western New York, strives to deliver the same quality library services to its students and faculty located across the globe as those living in the Rochester area. In addition to an array of distance courses and online programs, RIT also has international campuses located in Kosovo, Croatia,…

Distance librarians working with graduate programs often discover many of their students have specialized information needs and require additional instruction. However, it can be impossible to discover these students without first becoming deeply involved with the program. Librarians at Benedictine University have developed a method for becoming…

Information literacy instruction is provided in five formats: reference, one-shot sessions, credit courses, library Web sites, and embedded librarians. Each method offers distinct merits as well as limitations. Much can be gained by considering the swirl or interplay of all five and how working with one approach informs the others and results in a…

The librarians at Northern Kentucky University's W. Frank Steely Library have successfully added a new embedded librarianship program to their established reference and instruction services, without the support of increased staffing. In fact, this program was established and has matured during a period of staff reductions. The decisions made in…

Today's academic library provides resources that users can access both physically in the library and virtually from academic offices. This increasing availability of online access means that information resources are no longer confined within library walls and librarians need to rethink how their constituents' information needs are being met.…

Dealing with unaffiliated distance learning students can be a daunting task for many public as well as academic librarians. This article will discuss strategies for providing reference to these students by gathering information on what services they are offered via their home institutions, and helping them navigate the often confusing landscape of…

Thanks in part to technology, the boundaries of library positions are dissolving. It is no longer practical to discuss the profession in terms of traditional library types, and in today's library, the relationship between librarians and technology is stronger than ever. In this informative volume, veteran author Laura Townsend Kane interviews…

East Tennessee State University has a diverse student population of approximately 12,500 students. Recent statistics have indicated that the student body is bypassing the physical library building, including reference services, and connecting to online sources from off campus. With only six public service librarians whose duties include…

This paper looks at the author's outreach efforts as a distance librarian to encourage library use among a distance student population that comprises satellite locations, students attending online, students attending courses through instructional television, and students attending hybrid courses. Outcomes of the author's outreach attempts and…

Advocates reexamining reference services and outreach programs, and relating them more closely. Argues that archival records are underutilized and that archivists should proactively reach out to researchers and encourage research use. Discusses researcher services; measuring and reporting on researcher use; electronic records; and creating…

Ask Here PA is Pennsylvania's new statewide live chat reference and information service. This article discusses the key strategies utilized by Ask Here PA administrators to recruit participating libraries to contribute staff time to the service, the importance of centralized staff training, the main aspects of staff training, and activating the…

Argues that patrons in a publicly supported academic library come from the general community as well as from the university, and include children, adolescents, and business people. The importance of recognizing the needs of various user groups and budgetary and staff limitations are stressed along with setting future priorities. (28 references)…

This discussion of the services offered at the public library on Montserrat, one of the smallest of the Commonwealth Eastern Caribbean Islands, covers adult and children's reference and reader's services at the main library, bookmobile services, bibliographic control, and the card catalog. (EJS)

The growing population of deinstitutionalized persons with physical, mental, and emotional disabilities is described, some of their information needs are examined, methods of providing library services are suggested, and a rationale for community outreach is provided. The state program in Rhode Island is outlined. (22 references) (EAM)