Reference Templates for Distance Education Students outlines the use of templates by Alewine and Arndt to provide reference services to distance education students. Distance education students are defined as students who are enrolled at off-campus locations and in online classes. Graduate students may also fall into this classification as cohorts form at various locations. Students typically may be considered distance education while also taking classes physically at the University. Templates were developed to provide standardized services to all students. The templates include steps to access the resources, resources searched, keywords searched. Students were invited to contact librarians if more information was needed. Students were later sent an assessment survey to ascertain the quality of service. Benefits of template use are that they are easy to use and provide a mini-research guide to students
