Attracting, Educating, and Serving Remote Users through the Web: A How‐to‐do‐it Manual for Librarians

Citation

Intner, S.S. (2003), "Attracting, Educating, and Serving Remote Users through the Web: A How‐to‐do‐it Manual for Librarians", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 59 No. 3, pp. 375-378. https://doi.org/10.1108/00220410310472590

This book is the British version of the Neal‐Schuman publication bearing the same title issued in the USA, just in case you thought it was something different. Neal‐Schuman's successful series of practical manuals for librarians working in the field continues to flourish and grow, with this title boasting a “companion Website” in addition to its text. Regarding the publisher, a sentence on the title page verso explains that Facet Publishing is wholly owned by CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, which was formerly known as Library Association Publishing, the publishing arm of the (British) Library Association. Acquisitions librarians will want to update their databases if this information has not been entered yet.

Unlike many of the “how‐to‐do‐it” manuals, which are authored solely by one person or, perhaps, jointly by two or three writers, this book is the product of several more than that, including the editor, who wrote one chapter and co‐wrote another. In all, ten contributors wrote the text. All but one of the authors are affiliated with the University of Nevada, Reno Library; the exception heads that University's medical school library. Thus, one can expect that they came to their task with similar sets of experiences.

The book opens with a preface that explains background issues addressed by the text as well as how the material has been organized, followed by brief acknowledgements. The main text is divided into nine chapters:

1. 1.

   “Reaching out‐the library's new role”, by Rick Anderson;

2. 2.

   “Getting to know remote users”, by Donnelyn Curtis;

3. 3.

   “Presenting the virtual library”, by Ms Curtis and Araby Y. Greene;

4. 4.

   “Providing electronic reference services”, by Ms Greene;

5. 5.

   “Maximizing current awareness and document delivery services”, by Margaret J. Ressel and Millie L. Syring;

6. 6.

   “Providing library instruction to remote users”, by Amy W. Shannon and Terry A. Henner;

7. 7.

   “Integrating library resources into online instruction”, by Ms Shannon;

8. 8.

   “Supporting the remote user of licensed resources”, by Carol A. Parkhurst; and

9. 9.

   “Fundraising and public relations in an electronic environment”, by Betty J. Glass and Vicki L. Toy Smith.

The book closes with an index and a few pages of biographical sketches about the authors.

Each chapter opens with an overview consisting of the section headings for the chapter; follows with the body of the chapter; and closes with the chapter references. Most of the chapters have long lists of references, mainly current ones, with a great deal of reliance on Internet sources, indicated by the presence of uniform resource locators. Reading the text sequentially is probably a good idea and is recommended to readers who are not already familiar with services to remote users, but a few of the chapters stand out and should be read by anyone interested in the topic, even if they already have a good grasp of the issues being discussed. These include: Chapter 2, Editor Curtis's description of remote users; Chapter 4, covering an array of reference services appropriate for serving people located offsite; and Chapters 6 and 7, which discuss instructional services (that is, library instruction) and the role of library resources in online coursework (called online instruction), respectively. Serving remote users does not always involve online instruction (not to be confused with online library instruction), but they often go hand in hand, thus Chapter 7’s guidance suggests directions librarians should be taking, even if they do not fall under the heading of direct end‐user services. Or, perhaps, they really do, considering the faculty members as the end‐users in this instance.

The best part of this book is its practical, down‐to‐earth treatment of nitty‐gritty matters, such as the suggestions for mitigating against uncooperative hardware/software (pp. 156‐7), which starts by telling the reader to memorize or have on hand the telephone numbers of all available technology support personnel and continues by offering nine more useful suggestions, including being prepared to reschedule something if glitches with the technology cannot be fixed in a timely manner. Some of the suggestions are plain common sense that apply regardless of the medium of instruction, such as limiting the number of examples being demonstrated and having something else to do while waiting for a slow database to load.

The worst part of the book is the silly statements made because the authors are so totally absorbed by the electronic medium in which they work, such as “The era of the handout is over” (p. 153). Mounting information on Web sites does not obviate the need for handouts, it merely presents handouts to students in a different medium. What I have learned in using Web‐CT in my own teaching is that students immediately print out every lecture note, example, and illustration I post and bring them to class, consulting them as I teach so they can question anything that seems unclear or, more often, that seems to have slipped by without mention. True, I still teach face‐to‐face in a classroom situation, so my experiences might be different, and it may be that students in Web‐based classes never print anything out, but I sincerely doubt it. Equally silly is the statement that “Web ‘handouts’ cannot be lost and are always available at hand when needed” (p. 153). As I write this review, two of my students are struggling with computer/network problems that prevent them from getting to the material I had posted online for them as well as other material they had prepared for me. Total reliability of Web‐based resources is not yet a reality!

The book abounds with examples, illustrations, forms and other helpful additions to the text. The associated Web site (www.facetpublishing.co.uk/curtis) enhances it further with notes on UK practices, research and other non‐US material that will be of interest to British and European readers. Mr Winship, who prepared it, should be congratulated for the wealth of information and additional reading sources he has gathered at the site. Despite its primary appeal to UK readers, I recommend the site to US readers as well, who might be interested in and can benefit from both the facts and sources it offers.

Attracting, Educating, and Serving Remote Users through the Web is highly recommended to all academic reference and instruction librarians, academic library administrators, academic computing support personnel and teaching faculty members working with extension or offsite programs. It is also recommended to administrators, reference staff and computer support personnel working in special libraries of all kinds, and in city public libraries whose clients include individuals using the libraries to do research. Although the primary thrust of the book is academia, the issues are not limited to higher education and the solutions will work as well in other venues as they will in college and university libraries.