The role of the academic librarian in online courses

One of the largest factors impacting learning in a global context has been the emergence of distance education. As of Fall 2016, over 6 million students in the United States were enrolled in at least one online course (Seaman, Allen, and Seaman, 2018). With the rise in online education, library services to distance students are becoming increasingly important. Whether they are providing instruction or research assistance to distance students, academic librarians are now playing an active role in online course management systems (York and Vance, 2009). However, different views exist regarding the appropriate role an academic librarian should play in an online course. The proposed study will utilize an online survey of faculty, students, as well as academic librarians regarding the use of a librarian in an online course. Questions will focus on strategies for using librarians in online courses, which strategies were successful and which were not, and gather perspectives from faculty, students, and librarians themselves in order to better establish best practices for providing the growing number of distance education students with the library services they need