Who Trains Distance Librarians: A Study of the Training and Development Needs of Distance Learning Librarians

Distance librarianship is continuing to grow in importance in the life of academic libraries. Institutions are being driven to take their programs to the students as a matter of economic survival. In libraries with a history of serving distance learners as well as residential students, the service requests from off-campus audiences have long surpassed those on campus. In addition, academic institutions are offering online courses to their residential students at an ever-increasing rate, which creates a new category of distance learning student. How do librarians obtain the training they need to serve this growing user base? This article looks at the crosspollination of the variety of librarians and program foci targeted at reaching all students with quality support and service. The results of this study may provide a framework for training that can be developed by DLS, LITA, or suggested as an addition to library graduate education.