The study examines how academic libraries are serving their institution’s distance and blended learning programs, including the impact of the rapid development of MOOCs and the increasing use of lecture capture in online courses. The study looks at staffing, budgets, salaries and other nuts and bolts aspects of college library programs to serve distance learners. It also probes how librarians communicate with distance learners – through online information literacy courses, online tutorials, instant messaging and a strong presence on course management systems, among many other ways.
The study offers hard data on the percentage of distance learning librarians that archive and use lecture capture materials, their spending on licensed films and other intellectual property for distance learners, and the ways that librarians track contacts with distance learning students and much more.