Current trends in librarianship in higher education have indicated an increasing tutoring role for librarians in the online environment. This article examines how the role of the e-tutor is outlined in selected online learning literature before progressing to examine the implications for librarians of fulfilling the demanding e-tutoring role by…

Podcasting is a term derived by combining iPod with broadcasting. During 2006, when the idea of podcasting was still in its infancy, this author [an information systems librarian at the Universal College of Learning (UCOL) in New Zealand] began to consider how this new technology could be used by librarians to provide instructional sessions. She…

The job of the contemporary reference librarian has a virtual component unimaginable a generation ago. Today's library professional can obtain an MLS (or equivalent) online with a minimal residency requirement. Not only the degree, but also library sources, and indeed patrons, have become virtual. Both books and periodicals can be consulted by…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of The Bridging Worlds Conference which was held in October 2008 in Singapore. Design/methodology/approach: One of the main topics the National Library Board of Singapore, the organising party, wished to address was the roles cultural institutions, such as libraries, may play in…

Twenty-three scholarly papers and twelve abstracts comprise the content of the eleventh annual Brick and Click Libraries Symposium, held at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri. The peer-reviewed proceedings, authored by academic librarians and presented at the symposium, portray the contemporary and future face of…

A new Danish act regarding library service has initiated several projects in order to promote libraries and to provide library staff experience in using the Internet to communicate with end users. Most public Danish information is found on official World Wide Web sites, and there is a tendency to publish online versions instead of printed…

Identifies basic concepts of a networked digital library and the effects on traditional information service and formats. Describes selected projects in information automation and delivery. Highlights research projects at six universities concerned with digitizing information to be made available via communication networks. Discusses the role of…

Discusses impacts of the Internet on reference services and changing roles for reference librarians. Describes a continuum of libraries (Sutton) from a paper-based (traditional) to a fully digital library. Examines K-12 uses and benefits of digital reference services (question-and-answer services sometimes referred to as AskA's). Describes K-12…

This paper discusses a vision of the transformation of the library from a repository of printed material to a digital library serving as a complete information center where distant learners can obtain support for their educational aspirations. Future information centers will be distant learner-centered. Factors discussed include: (1) distance…

This proceedings of the fourth Libraries Without Walls Conference addresses key strategic issues arising from international, regional, and cross-sectoral approaches to the provision of library services to distant users. The following papers are included: Theme 1: Libraries and Virtual Learning Environments: "Introduction" (Peter Brophy,…

Discusses how the Internet is altering the intermediary roles of teachers, librarians, and media specialists. Highlights include the role of the middleman, research the way it used to be, research and learning now, online classrooms and distance learning, visions of the future, a timeline of the Internet and schools, educational research Web…

The growth of telecommunications technology for distance learning in the Cyberspace Age has opened many options for studying off-campus from home or office from remote and sparsely populated communities. Higher education is exploring this modern version of correspondence courses with the goal of increasing their student enrollment as well as…

Recent technological advances in computing and digital imaging technology have had immediate and permanent consequences for visual resource collections. Libraries are involved in organizing and managing large visual resource collections. The central challenges in working with digital image collections mirror those that libraries have sought to…