Sharon Edge administers the Office of Distance Learning Library Services (DLLS) at the University of Louisville . She also serves on the University Libraries' Information Literacy Team. Sharon received her M.S.L.S. from the University of Kentucky and has done post master's work at Indiana University. During the past 30 years, she has held both user services and administrative positions in a wide range of departments at the University of Kentucky Libraries, the Ohio State University Libraries and the University of Louisville Libraries. During the past six years, Sharon has developed a Distance Learning Library Services (DLLS) program that has contributed to the receipt of three awards since 1994 from the United States Distance Learning Association for the University of Louisville's premier distance learning program in the School of Education's Department of Special Education. The University of Louisville's Office of Distance Learning Library Services (DLLS) serves distance learners across the United States as well as in Asia (Hong Kong and Singapore), in Europe (Athens, Greece), in Latin America (Panama and San Salvador) and in Cairo, Egypt.

In addition to distance learning, Sharon's other professional interests include adult literacy and technology and access to information by the visually impaired and physically challenged. As one of the early promoters of the use of microcomputers in libraries in Kentucky, Sharon was instrumental in the establishment of the Kentucky Library Association (KLA) Microcomputer Users Roundtable. Included among her publications is Maximizing Your Micro's Potential: Application of General Purpose Microcomputer Software Packages in Libraries. Sharon is a past chair of the Academic Section of the Kentucky Library Association and a past recipient of the Kentucky Library Association's annual Outstanding Academic Librarian award. She was a founding member of the Kentucky Distance Learning Association (KyDLA) and currently serves as Vice-President of Programs for KyDLA.

Sharon has been active in the State-Assisted Academic Library Council of Kentucky (SAALCK). In addition to work on various SAALCK committees, she served as project co-coordinator of the SAALCK-initiated "Kentucky Academic Libraries Networked Resources System" grant funded by the U.S. Office of Education. This project resulted in the installation of Ariel document transmission software and equipment in all eight SAALCK University libraries to enable delivery of journal articles and other library material electronically via the Internet. Sharon currently co-chairs the Kentucky Commonwealth Virtual Library (KCVL) Document Committee and its Ariel Work Group. The Kentucky Commonwealth Virtual Library (KCVL) is associated with the Kentucky Commonwealth Virtual University (KCVU). Sharon is a participant in the Online Special Education Partnership (OSEP) KCVU pilot project and serves on the KCVU Administrative Advisory Committee at the University of Louisville. For the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives (KDLA), Sharon served on the Kentucky Library Network (KLN)/Kentucky Commonwealth Virtual Library (KCVL) Transition Team. She also serves on the Gates Library Foundation-Kentucky Leadership Group charged with advising the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives on administration of the Gates Library Foundation Grant designed to bring Internet access via public libraries to the citizens of Kentucky.

Sharon has a teaching certificate and was certified as a Braille transcriber by the Library of Congress. She has taught information technology courses for schools of library science and is a frequent presenter at international, national, and regional conferences. Her recent publications and presentations include, "Building Library Support for Distance Education through Collaboration," published in Libraries Without Walls 2: The Delivery of Library Services to Distance Learners (London: Library Association Publishing, 1998), a paper on the University of Louisville's Distance Learning Library Services program presented at a conference in Mytilene, Greece, September 17-20, 1997 and a paper on "Library Services for Teachers Engaged in Distance Learning" presented at the TeleCon Europe IV Conference in London, England, June 15-17, 1998.

Sharon's focus at this point in her career is to ensure that all students engaged in distance learning, including those with disabilities, assistive technology needs and language differences, have access to library resources and services equitable to those available to on-campus students.