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4 Library Services for Online Patrons empty for a while or may have been recently reconfi gured. If the position is new, you may not have a lot of guidance about the role the expectation may be that you defi ne it yourself. There are many different service models for serving online learners. You may not even have the title of distance or online librarian but may have these responsibilities in your position description. In some cases, there are teams serving online students, but in many cases, it is a rather solitary state. You may be at a regional or satellite campus, or you may be located in the main library. In any case, it is important to have a good understanding of the current situation and scope of the work that you are taking on. Questions to consider: • How is your role different from that of other librarians? • How does your role integrate with the other librarians? • How are you expected to interact with subject or liaison librarians? • How are subject or liaison librarians expected to interact with you? • How will you interact with other departments or services (e.g., interlibrary loan)? Every distance or online position is unique and has its own set of challenges. To start with, you may need to get a better sense of how your position fi ts into the bigger library structure. One issue many online learning librarians have to deal with is ambiguity in terms of their position’s relationship to that of the subject or liaison librarians. As the lines between online and distance become blurred, it may be necessary to have some conversations about where the boundaries are, and this may require some negotiations with your col- leagues. While it is very helpful to know where the lines are and what the expectations are, expect to be fl exible. Get to Know Your Department and Colleagues Once you have a better idea of your position and how it fi ts into the bigger picture, you will want to fi nd out what your colleagues know about online learning at your institution, what services they may already provide, how the services are marketed, and what has or has not been working. Some inter- views with your fellow librarians can be very useful here. Take Stock of Your Own Skillset What professional development opportunities are there for you? What support is there? What do you need to learn? As you get to know the expecta- tions of the job, you may fi nd that there are things you need to learn to do your job well. There are, fortunately, many local and national opportunities