E-learning and libraries

Learning in most academic institutions has relied on the provision of library resources to both support and supplement what is being taught and researched. This chapter focuses on the research process of students in the digital environment and discusses the challenges they and service providers in the library face in terms of accessing and making available academically relevant information resources. In order to understand these challenges, a consideration of how developments in technology have changed scholarship in the digital environment is important. Further, the evolving role of the information professional is considered in connection with these changes. The deluge of information, both open-access and subscribed, affects the way in which users search for and access information sources. Thus an appreciation of the information-seeking behaviours of researchers is imperative if educators are to provide the relevant support, manage user expectations and ensure the successful provision of an information service in the twenty-first century e-learning environment. The (often younger) tech-savvy, multi-tasking user who is fluent in the use of mobile technologies, conversant with social media and Google, YouTube and Wikipedia, often has different expectations of the academic digital library. These expectations are quite often dashed and users may end up discouraged, as they may not have the appropriate skills to navigate the different search platforms that publishers make available to academic libraries. Users require skills that include knowledge of different types of information resources and an understanding of the most appropriate ways for searching, locating, accessing, and critically evaluating information, as well as using and managing this information. ‘Information literacy’, as these information and literature search skills are referred to, go hand-in-hand with digital literacies, which allow users to make the best use of the technologies employed by information providers such as libraries. These literacies, in turn, form the gamut of academic literacies that ensure that learners leave formal education with the appropriate skills to enable them survive in the work place and to continue their learning throughout life. The chapter also discusses ways in which academics can work collaboratively with support staff within educational institutions and offers practical solutions to improving the student learning experience through collaborative practices