This post is intended to help answer the most common questions from faculty and to highlight available resources to help prepare for Fall quarter. When in doubt, Ask Us!
Re-opening of buildings:
- The UW Tacoma Library (SNO and TLB) will not be open to faculty, students, staff or the public in Phase 2. The messages from the Director of the UW Tacoma Library (8/6) and Dean of University Libraries (7/29) outline the approach to reopening UW Tacoma Library and the UW Libraries.
- While the physical spaces are closed during Phase 2, the UW Tacoma Library Phased Re-opening Graphic provides clarity on what to expect in each Phase and what program and services the UW Tacoma Library is doing that support the mission of the Library and remote student learning.
- For the health and safety of our users and staff:
- Re-opening UW Tacoma Library spaces to individual study will happen on a very limited scale once the county and university are Phase 3. During Phase 2, we are in the process of evaluating potential limited locations with UW partners, but those spaces are not confirmed.
Access to physical items:
- Our partnership with HathiTrust Emergency Temporary Access Service is a key consideration in plans for reopening in order to maintain optimal access to millions of materials in a hybrid environment designed for remote learning. This blog post explains more.
- Curbside pick-up: Curbside pick-up is a priority for Phase 2, but will not be immediately available until safety and health protocols can be assessed and tested.
- Interlibrary Loan continues to fill requests for articles and book chapters. Any requests that cannot be filled with electronic resources will be requested from other libraries – this includes scans, but not physical materials at this time.
- No browsing or check-out of physical materials on site in SNO or TLB through Phase 4.
Textbooks/Course Reserves:
- Plan for the unknown. Because of the uncertainty and inability to predict when UW Tacoma Library buildings will reopen, we advise instructors to plan for online course readings and materials to the greatest extent possible for all of the reasons listed below.
- What is available now? This online resource for course materials outlines key considerations to help you choose the best resources available right now. Whenever possible, please use existing UW collections, including e-books, journal articles, streaming media, and open educational resources/open textbooks.
- When online isn’t possible: there is not an online equivalent for all physical items; and, when equivalents do exist, licensing them will take additional time, so they may not be available for course use immediately. In addition, accessing electronic resources for all academic disciplines is a challenge compounded by a publishing landscape that doesn’t support a fully online environment.
Work with your UW Tacoma Library subject librarian: Your subject librarian can help you to identify course materials that will be consistently available regardless of Libraries’ operations and access to physical materials.
Why choose alternatives to physical course materials?
- Ease of use. Existing e-resources are immediately available and avoid potential delays (sometimes of several weeks!) that may occur in trying to source and license new electronic materials for courses.
- More equitable access. In accordance with existing UW guidance, all classes (online or in-person) this fall should “ensure that all students can complete their coursework, even if they are unable to attend in-person classes due to illness or higher risk of health complications from the coronavirus.”
- Less strain on limited resources. Using existing alternatives limits additional expenditures from collections budgets and allows UW Tacoma Library staff to support a broader number of courses and researchers.
NOTE: It is important to consider that not all e-resources are accessible for all needs. Please see the following guidance to help select accessible course materials:
Links to UW Libraries Materials in UW Libraries Search: UW Libraries Search underwent maintenance on July 27, 2020. The permalinks (the short and persistent URL for individual items in UW Libraries Search) may break after the maintenance period. We ask that you check all of your course links to UW Libraries Search items to ensure they are still working properly and linking to the right items. If you need assistance with your links please contact your Libraries Liaison for assistance.