The Remote Library and Point-of-Need User Education

Abstract

This paper discusses information literacy instruction from the perspective of Charles Sturt University, an Australian university with a high proportion of distance learning students. Topics covered include e-mail, Ask-A-Librarian services, online forums (a form of newsgroup developed at Charles Sturt University), online Chat, NetMeeting, Webezy (a Web tutorial), Camtasia Studio, an animated screen capture tool, and the embedding of information literacy instruction tutorials within the curriculum. There is some discussion of programs at other tertiary institutions, especially Australian universities. It is argued that in the field of information literacy instruction the role of the librarian is changing significantly, and that university librarians must both adapt to new educational paradigms and seek out new partnerships.

Key Words:

• Information literacy instruction
• distance learning
• remote students
• Web-based library tutorials
• synchronous and asynchronous communication
• e-mail
• Chat
• NetMeeting