By the Berkeley College Library
In early March, when the Covid-19 pandemic forced colleges and universities to rapidly adopt to distance learning, academic libraries also had to quickly transition their library services virtually. Virtual library services were nothing new for the Berkeley College Library. Our library already had blazed the trail by providing instruction as embedded librarians for online courses, live chat open 80 hours a week, and a virtual appointment system providing students with research consultations via Zoom video conference. With an Online Campus constituting 30% of our college population, and an additional 20%+ of all student taking at least one online course, the Berkeley College Library collections and research/instructional services were already equipped to provide equal access for both onsite and onsite students.
Even with these virtual services established, we were concerned for our onsite students who were transitioning to the virtual environment for the very first time and would miss out on in-person interactions for research help with their assignments. Our immediate response the creation of a special Libguide that would accentuate our services and resources while the library buildings are closed. The Continuity of Library Services Libguide emphasizes our services and librarians’ availability, as well as provides access to various research support tools, all in one place. While brainstorming about this Continuity Libguide, we also decided to create another Libguide that would organize many “free” offerings available during the pandemics. We linked the Free Resources Guide to the “Continuity of Services” guide, hoping that students and staff would find some of the free resources such a museum tours, free hotspots, ebooks/audible books and workout apps, helpful for themselves or their families. And we were right. Shortly after launching our Libguides, we received an email from one of our coworkers:
“Just wanted to tell you how appreciative I am of you and your team with the Free Resources for kids for the LibGuides. We (As well as my sister and her family) are taking advantage of all of the resources!”
In our Continuity of Library Services Libguide, we continue to promote all our existing services, but were still concerned about students without prior online learning experiences. Realizing that many onsite students prefer face-to-face interactions, we decide to extend our research consultations via Zoom even further to an all-day research room we call the Zoom Room. The Zoom Research Drop-in Room is a live virtual platform for students to access a librarian 9 am-9 pm M-F and F, 9-5. The Zoom Room allows students to talk about their research needs on video conference and for librarians to talk them through their research process with the ability to share their screen to explain how to access, search and use library resources. With concerns about the security of the Zoom videoconferencing looming, we take extra steps, such as placing students in the waiting room and allowing screen sharing only with special permission within the actual meeting.
Since we know that our Spring/Summer semester will continue to take place in the virtual environment, we intend to continue previously offered services such as:
1. Embedded Online Instruction - approximately 70 classes to be supported.
2. One-on-one Research Appointments - booked via LibCal to take place either by Zoom or phone.
3. LibChat – We have already noticed a 200% increase in chats from March 2019 to March 2020 and expect the rise to continue into our Spring/Summer Semester.
4. Research Drop-in Room-We plan on implementing research specific workshops and presentations (i.e. SWOT Research Help, Narrowing Your Topic)
While a video conference, chat or phone call can never replace the in-person interactions with our campus communities, we hope that the connections we make with our onsite students virtually, will pave the way for their success when we meet them again back on campus.