Reaching remote students: Athens State University’s electronically embedded librarian program

Abstract

Academic librarians have long grappled with the problem of how they can teach library skills and information awareness to students who do not come to the library. At Athens State University, an upper-division two-year institution in Alabama, this problem has been addressed through an electronically embedded librarian program. Athens State University offers courses for junior- and senior-level students, most of which have transferred from community colleges and work full-time while attending to family responsibilities. In the fall term of 2007, the university decided to reach out to students proactively through an electronically embedded librarian program. This article discusses the program and the lessons learned by the university's faculty and librarians. Adapted from the source document.