Desk to the Desktop—Digital Reference Service Leveraging Educational Assistance in Distance Learning: Implications for Jamaica.

The Internet and the World Wide Web have influenced the new approaches taken in teaching and learning at institutions of higher learning. The nature of the courses offered, the geographical spread of the teaching sites as well as the diverse and distributed student population are the catalysts for the changes. These non-traditional, or distant learners, have emerged as a significant subset of the student population, however, they are usually at a disadvantage because they do not have access to the information experts who would be able to assist them with their reference and research queries. Many libraries have adapted innovative e-reference services in the mainstream of their operations to bridge this divide. In 2009 the author received the 2008 Fulbright Visiting Researcher Scholar Fellowship and explored the theme “Digital Reference Services—Trends, Use and Implications for Academic Libraries in Jamaica.” The author was based at Syracuse University from September to November 2008, and visited other libraries such as the Ohio State University and the University of Illinois in the United States of America. This paper seeks to provide an overview of the research project that was undertaken. The findings presented are based on review of academic discourses through literature, interviews and observation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]