Going the Distance in Academic Libraries: Identifying Trends and Innovation in Distance Learning Resources and Services

Abstract

In 2012, U.S. News & World Report ranked nineteen institutions on its Up-and-Coming national universities list. The universities were put on the list based on rankings from experts in higher education administration. The experts were asked to identify institutions that had implemented innovative ideas in the areas of academics, faculty, and student life. This article examines the distance education services and resources that are provided by the libraries at each of the Up-and-Coming universities in order to identify innovative ideas and trends related to the support of distance library users.

KEYWORDS:

• Distance learning
• academic libraries
• innovation
• higher education
• trends