(415)WHERE IS THE CONTEMPORARY UNIVERSITY LIBRARY?

摘要

In the current socio-political climate of global polarization, economic challenges and significantdemographic shifts, learners in universities face an array of options for extending their education. Withthe virtual explosion of online degree programs, the burgeoning numbers of adult learners enrolling inprograms range from older students returning to continue postsecondary studies, to graduate studentsattending fulltime, having just earned their undergraduate degree. In the majority of academic settings,the learner is now considered to be a consumer or client in the same way that the public is a customerin the business sector. Correspondingly, an education is viewed as a product or service to be providedwith predictable outcomes related to economic success, vocational achievement, and job placement.Having little pre-knowledge about the process or the application of course material, the enteringlearner is often left frustrated and fearful when entering the online classroom. This phenomenon notonly can be anxiety provoking but also can result in distracting learners from the otherwise importantcontent of their early online education. While changing the way the learner and faculty interface withthe campus library can be anxiety provoking, effective accession of university library resources anddatabase searches are an inherent and inevitable factor in the success of learner education. It is afoundational facet in the quality of course assignments, and further comments upon the capacity of thelearner for scholarly rigor. Synchronous Electronic Library Orientation sessions can be used fortargeted dissemination and exploration of the significantly important information regarding databasesearches and accession of available library resources. Such sessions include methods to conductrobust information searches for scholarly manuscripts, accessing statistical data, locating governmentresources and exploration of interdisciplinary databases. These sessions also allow students to speakin "real time" with the faculty and library staff directly despite being online and geographically remote.Learner feedback regarding these sessions has been very positive and the quality of assignmentsubmissions has significantly improved overall from both technology immigrants and natives.