In public health as in behavioral health, the application of theory to practice is critical. This was repeatedly demonstrated through student feedback when students emphasized (via emails to the course faculty upon their completion of the course) that they had expanded their knowledge base and addressed “real-world”
or pragmatic behavioral health service problems. In addition, students appreciated the inclusion of the virtual library exercises within their weekly assignments:
Student 1: “…Being a novice to public health and its databases, I found the initial assignment on informatics to be instrumental. Likewise, I appre- ciated the sequencing of assignments to parallel the public health model itself (i.e., prevention, intervention, rehabilitation/working with specific popula- tions). Sequencing the topics to match this was both helpful to my understand- ing, and interesting and thought-provoking as well…”
Student 2: “Overall, I really enjoyed this course. It provided me with a great introduction and overview of community and family health and prevention and intervention in Public Health. I especially liked the library searches (although not at the time) and the TILT tutorial, which helped me with my research in this class and others. The weekly homework assignments were in general a good application of the lecture material, which I also enjoyed. Lectures were an easy and informative read, unlike some of the articles. Although, as compared to the majority of my other classes, the readings were so much more applied and interesting!”
As a result of student feedback and an increased comfort level with Web- based instruction, the professors have added a number of enhancements to the two
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Web-based courses. Enhancements to student learning include: the addition of more online text in the form of articles, monographs, and white papers found on the Internet; increased use of media such as streaming video, demographic, statistical databases, and PowerPoint presentations; more group activity projects, and increased library activities as part of the weekly student assignments.
Thus, the case study presented underscores the dependence that both faculty and students in distance learning courses have on the use of the virtual library’s resources and services throughout each of the two courses. It is incumbent upon university faculty to provide students with access not only to refereed, academic resources within the university library as well as those available on the Internet but also to instruction on how to use online resources to their best advantage. The USF Virtual Library was a necessary and critical component for distance learning courses.
SUMMARY
Distance education will only continue to develop. In order to support that educational initiative, it is vital that academic libraries establish ongoing supporting framework and commitment to those services traditionally provided by libraries.
Students need to be able to access their “library.” The virtual classroom needs not only a virtual library, but also access to the paper resources that have not yet been transformed into a digital format. The library must be able to deliver materials to students or assist them in finding alternate sources for physical resources. Libraries need to make sure that their students are identifiable, and work with the institution’s ID card office in order to verify student information. Help desks, chat rooms, email programs, and live reference all contribute to the support of the distance learning programs.
Faculty members also require library support for their courses. For example, materials may be scanned and placed on the Web or videos may be “streamed” for online access. In addition, in some cases, the library may be the only location that can assist the faculty member with copyright clearance or information concerning the correct use of copyrighted materials. Finally, since faculty can no longer require DL students to go on “field trips” to a library’s physical facility, it is important to provide information on how best to access the library virtually.
FUTURE ISSUES
Distance learning continues to flourish, especially for collaborative academic initiatives. With the advent of telecommunications technologies, thereis a growing
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need for research examining the effectiveimplementation and ongoing management ofdistance education. For example, much has been written about the social isolation of distance work. However, recent advances in groupware technologies have enhanced an individual’s ability to stay connected for both work and social exchange through the use of synchronous and asynchronous remote communication (Li, 1998). Venkatesh & Speier (2000) speculate that these technologies have the ability to significantly transform the way organizations conduct their “business”, span geographical boundaries, and at the same time potentially overcome the social isolation. However, they suggest that formal and extensive training on both distance technology and team communications are necessary.
The ephemeral nature of the Web is apparent as thousands of web pages move or cease to exist. For example, in a recent research study, nineteen percent of the 515 hyperlinks contained in online materials for three graduate-level biochemistry courses at the university had expired sometime between the creation of these courses in August 2000 and March 2002 (Kiernan, 2002). This “link-rot” impacts course development for distance education since the progressive disappearance of these materials presents a major problem for courses developed specifically to utilize “free” Web resources. For those course support pages developed by academic libraries within academic library catalogues, electronic reserves, or standalone pages, it is critical to maintain the intellectual content of these support pages. However, maintenance (and future development) comes at a continued cost in staff labour and software.
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