ACRL's "Standards for Distance and Online Learning Library Services" sets seven professional standards and associated benchmarks for academic and research libraries. These standards address all academic and research libraries, but institutions with different sizes, funding models, and user demographics necessarily cannot apply the…

The Distance Library Services Conference was founded in 1982 by the librarians of the Off-Campus Library Services department at Central Michigan University. From its inception through its 18th conference in 2018, Central Michigan University planned and administered this conference for the benefit of librarians serving distance learners and faculty…

This article is an update to a previous article on the online embedded librarian program at Athens State University. It examines the nature of embedded librarianship at Athens State University and how it has grown and evolved over the past fifteen years. The authors review the literature and provide definitions and best practices associated with…

In March 2020, many academic librarians were abruptly forced into an online service environment due to the global COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Although some librarians had been providing synchronous video reference consultations prior to the pandemic, evidence of the practice in Library Science literature is scant. This paper presents scenarios…

This article presents the University of South Florida's Virtual Book Club, created and continually improved during a time of social isolation (COVID-19 pandemic). Implementation steps taken are discussed, presenting practical considerations to others who may wish to replicate this program. Additionally, this article explores findings from a…

Librarians recognize that they occupy an online presence in the lives of students, particularly with the rise in use of online resources and increased library integration with campus learning management systems. Self-regulated learning are personal behaviors that move individuals toward their goals. As students increasingly work at a distance,…

Offering students synchronous research and reference help can be a challenge for libraries that offer services at a distance. Virtual office hours can be a means of overcoming this challenge, allowing patrons the opportunity to seek timely point-of-need assistance. The author implemented a librarian-led virtual office hours pilot project at her…

At Webster University, solo librarians manage libraries on six campuses in Africa, Europe, and Asia. On the home campus in St. Louis, ten librarians at a traditional library serve faculty, staff, and students at metro and military campuses across the U.S., at international campuses, and online. To ensure consistency for users, librarians have…

Distance librarians working with an online doctoral program at Johns Hopkins University are asked by both students and faculty to provide a large amount of library support -- without being embedded into the curriculum or the individual courses. Program administrators and faculty were resistant to allow librarians into the course management system…

Research librarians often have a specialty in certain discipline, and many academic libraries thrive on this type of arrangement to support their researchers. But more often, new interdisciplinary programs are developed that require the expertise of more than one subject expert for support. In particular, students in a Master of Education in the…

User experience is immeasurably important for your patrons as they access your Web site. This article presents tips and strategies for testing user experience, suggests a number of different popular technologies and tools that are used in the UX field, and lays out a plan for sharing and utilizing data to make improvements on your Web site. It is…