Update from Toronto: Thoughts on Buck & the Distance Student Experience

One of the great things about blogging is that, given the aids of a functional laptop and available internet access, updates can be carried out anytime anywhere.  For example, though I usually update from my home base in London, today I am posting from Toronto, where I am currently situated while attending my first-ever Ontario Library Association (OLA) super conference.  Though it is difficult to find a free moment of uninterrupted time during this busy, but so-far enjoyable experience, I felt I should devote at least a few minutes to a valid blogging update. 

First of all, though slightly overdue, I figured it would be useful to reflect on the Stephanie Buck article, “A Distance Education Librarian Becomes a Distance Education Student.”  In reading about Buck’s experiences, I immediately developed a sense of empathy.  Through entering the world of distance learning from the student perspective, Buck (2011) asserts that she, “gained a better understanding of the issues that distance education students face and how the library can help them” in her role as a library professional (1).  Similarly, I am also in the process of exploring both sides of the distance learning experience. 

Over the summer, my co-op placement as a reference librarian at an academic library gave me an opportunity to work with distance users on a fairly regular basis.  By fielding reference questions via the media of phone, email and chat, I was exposed to the needs of distance students, provoking me to consider the best ways to assist them without face-to-face contact.  Having never participated in distance learning myself, it was sometimes difficult to discern the effectiveness of my reference approaches and responses, making my current role as a distance student a highly valuable one.

In addition, the article made me think critically about distance librarians.  Though Buck’s institution is fortunate to have a distance librarian who cares enough to further their learning about distance users, what about the distance librarians who don’t go to such lengths?  More importantly, what about institutions that don’t have a librarian who possesses the “distance education librarian” title?  During my undergrad, I studied at a smaller school, serving approximately 9, 200 students.  Though the school itself had adopted and run a distance program for many years, its library had no employee devoted to the needs of these users.  I feel this is a problematic approach, given that remote students deserve the same attention as the on-campus population, but may require information in alternative methods, and therefore, need a librarian who understands how this information can be relayed in the most compatible way.

Though I’d like to write more, given a busy schedule over the next few days, I will temporarily sign off.  Wishing everybody a good week.  More on the OLA experience to follow…