An assessment project was conducted by the Mansfield Library to evaluate the teaching and content of a research module embedded into a popular undergraduate course, Introduction to Public Speaking, part of the University of Montana's General Education Requirement. The project aimed to develop internal benchmarks and improve the curricula, as needed. Pre- and post-surveys were developed to assess student research confidence, perceptions of information tools, Web evaluation abilities, and assistance-seeking attitudes. Data from 426 student responses were analyzed using qualitative and quantitative methods. The process, results, and analysis of the project are discussed.

Many programs for mentoring of librarians exist within organizations, for specific areas of librarianship, or for particular groups of librarians. These programs generally depend on face-to-face contact and some organizational commonalities or similarity in positions. With the advent of online communication, could a more general program matching up new librarians and ALA members with experienced librarians for online mentoring be feasible? ALA's New Members' Roundtable Mentoring Committee coordinated a new project to find out. This article outlines the planning process and the mechanics of the program through two iterations. Feedback received from participants was mixed but provided valuable insight into what could make a wholly online mentoring program work.

Distance education is a quickly growing phenomenon in higher education. In 2001, the National Center for Education Statistics reported that 56% of all Title IVeligible, degree-granting institutions were offering distance education courses, an amount that had nearly doubled in the three years since the previous survey. In accordance with the Association of College and Research Libraries' Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services and the mission of the library and university, the Mansfield Library at the University of Montana integrates library services into the instruction efforts of faculty both on and off campus. In December 2004, the Mansfield Library conducted a survey of University of Montana faculty who teach courses at a distance. The goals of that survey included: 1.) identifying what distance education faculty need from their library to supplement their instruction; 2.) what services would faculty like to see the library offer to their students and 3.) how can the library best meet the ACRL Guidelines and its own mission. The results of the survey were used to strengthen the design and development of outreach services to distance faculty and students. This poster session outlines the development of the survey, the results of the survey, and the conclusions reached. Survey:We designed a brief, ten-question survey to measure how aware faculty were of the library's offerings, and what services they would ideally like the library to offer. Questions were all multiple choice. The survey was deployed over the web via SurveyMonkey.com, a site providing free and low-cost survey hosting. We sent the survey to 35 faculty and received 16 responses (a 46% response rate). Results:We discovered:• Faculty are asking their distant students to do research to complete assignments.• Faculty feel they are aware of what the library offers to support them, but• Faculty aren't so sure that their students know what's available from the library.• Faculty feel the best way to educate students about library resources is a standalone library skills course.• Faculty also favor a customizable BlackBoard course module or linkable subject guides for library instruction.• Faculty don't want librarian-led discussion threads within their BlackBoard courses.• Faculty are not linking to the library website from their BlackBoard course shells.

Understanding faculty work practices can translate into improved library services. This study documents how education and behavioral science faculty locate, retrieve, and use information resources for research and writing and how they publish and store their research materials. The authors interviewed twelve professors using a structured interview instrument and analyzed the data. Findings cover the role of library services in scholarly research processes, as well as the use of software and technologies and the challenges faculty face.

What do library workers want from professional conferences? This question was the subject of a nationwide online survey administered to a randomly selected audience of library workers. Survey results showed that most library workers attend conferences, and their preferences were for face-to-face, topical events. The primary consideration for event attendance according those responding to the survey was the content presented. Issues of cost were also highly important to respondents, although funding for professional development was reported to be generally stable or even increasing. Of lesser interest to potential conference attendees were issues of location, vendor interaction, or the opportunity to perform committee work. Some future trends predicted include a growing acceptance of virtual events, a declining importance on location-based events like state library association conferences, and a need to review the roles of vendors and exhibitors in conferences.