Stephanie Espinoza, eLearning Librarian
With over 14,000 online students at CSN, it’s clear that education happens in more places than the traditional, physical classroom. But how do you make sure students doing course work far away from an actual campus still receive the same kinds of services as those here in person?
To fill the need, CSN Library Services hired librarian Stephanie Espinoza to fill the role as the library’s and the college’s first ever eLearning Librarian. Formerly working at CSN in instruction and reference, Stephanie is eager to take on this new position where she can focus on the needs of CSN’s second largest campus.
It’s a librarian’s job to help students find information to complete assignments and succeed in class. CSN librarians do this every semester through face-to-face workshops and at the library Reference Desk. But Stephanie will be working specifically on building an eLearning program at the library so that workshops, tutorials, and librarian assistance is available online to students who can’t make it to campus. She’ll start by conducting surveys and assessments to determine the needs of this unique population so the library can move forward with the resources and services that help CSN’s online students and faculty the most.
Stephanie plans to be the research point of contact for our distance education learners and has already begun to offer new online chat assistance hours on Sunday evenings from 9pm-11pm to assist students with research questions late at night, even after all on-campus services have closed. In the future she plans to work on new online tutorials tailored to specific student groups and partner with other departments to market the library’s many collections that are already accessible online.
Having earned her master’s degree entirely online, Stephanie is no stranger to eLearning. She knows what it’s like to have all your courses away from campus and how removed that can make you feel. “It’s such a relief to learn there’s someone out there you can contact, who is a resource and an advocate just for you,” she says.
And Stephanie encourages both students and faculty to contact her if they need assistance. She can be reached via e-mail at stephanie.espinoza@csn.edu, or call 702-651-5709.
