Distance Education: The Impact of Technology on Higher Education and the Duties of Librarians and Information Officers

This paper will review the literature in four graduate and professional areas for the purpose of determining the effect of online course offerings in gerontology, library and information science, medicine, and nursing. Duties and services of libraries and librarians have changed as a result of new services that they must provide for faculty and students. This paper is concerned about the effect of library services and graduate and professional education which are made possible by advances in technology. These are specifically distance education and courses on line. The implementation of an on line master's degree at one university is reviewed. The effects of the commercialization of higher education and specifically the possible end of tenure are discussed.