Best Practices for Online Information-Literacy Courses
Thomas J. Tobin
Southern Illinois University
Abstract
Remote access to resources has become increasingly important in academic libraries, spurred largely by the growth of online education. Through bibliographic instruction (BI) courses, librarians must prepare both on-site and remote patrons in information literacy. Challenges exist for remote-user BI: among them are perceived characteristics of the typical “virtual patron” and limitations of current software and infrastructure. However, recent remote-patron BI models—stand-alone Web pages, video-based programs, and class-integrated electronic modules—offer librarians templates for future best practices.
About the Author(s)...
Thomas J. Tobin is the Instructional Development Librarian at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL. He holds a master’s degree in English, a Ph.D. in English literature, and a second master’s degree in library science. Tobin sits on the editorial board of the Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration and has published and presented research on distance-education topics since 1995. He specialized in cyberspace copyright issues, assisting disabled students and faculty online, evaluating faculty performance in online courses, and creating library-skills media for online students. He may be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
