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During the summer of 2014, the Research and Instructional Services Unit of Meyer Library reviewed services offered on-campus, and concluded a consultation service for distance students was missing. A face-to-face research consultation service has been utilized for more than 10 years. Due to the success of this existing service, the unit wished to offer it to students unable to come to campus. The goals of virtual consultations are to give distance students the same options for research assistance as on-campus students. Namely, help students find materials, provide a degree of information literacy instruction, and establish a positive view of the library. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For-credit, online information literacy instruction is gaining momentum in academic libraries. It provides library outreach to a broader spectrum of students, and reinforces information literacy skills and concepts more than once. In this article, librarians from a small, private, rural, four-year university will provide an overview of their library's for-credit online research skills course for nontraditional students in the university's degree completion program. The article will identify student learning barriers, share factors that contribute to and prevent instructor burnout, and describe how data-informed decision making is used to make improvements to the curricular and course design. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]