We wanted to find ways this quarter to learn what you — our students, staff, and faculty — need from the Library now that we’ve reopened our physical spaces. We’ve set up a whiteboard on the second floor of TLB, and are asking weekly questions that you can answer when you come and spend time in the Library!
We will use this site to track that feedback, and answer questions here on a regular basis. A QR code on the whiteboard will guide you to this site.
Thank you so much for your participation and energy as we learn and grow together.
Week of 11/15
What one change to our hours would help you the most? Indicate below with a ✔.
• Being open later on weeknights
• Being open Saturdays
• Being open Sundays
Comment: What are the hours? Thank you 🙂
Our Response: Thanks to the helpful staff with the assist! Our current hours are:
• Mon – Thur: 7:30am – 7:30pm
• Fri: 7:30am – 5pm
• Sat & Sun: Curbside only/No public access
Here are the results!
• Later hours received 8 votes
• Saturday hours received 18 votes
• Sunday hours received 12 votes
Thank you all for participating in our whiteboard poll, we sincerely appreciate all of your feedback! We are hiring and training new staff over winter break. With the reopening of the SNO building, we are not yet sure what additional hours we may be able to offer, but we appreciate student feedback as we plan for Winter Quarter.
Week of 11/15
Do you have a favorite library database? Which one?
Comment: I ♡ Academic Search Complete
Our Response: We do, too! Academic Search Complete is a great library database for scholarly resources in interdisciplinary research. Did you know you can access an excess of 8,500 full-text periodicals of which more than 7,300 are peer-reviewed journals? It’s a great place to start when you’re exploring your topic!
Comment: JSTOR
Our Response: JSTOR is another great interdisciplinary library database that is especially strong in the humanities and social sciences. It’s home to more than 12 million books, scholarly journal articles, and primary sources across 75 disciplines.
Comment: Nexus Uni
Our Response: This is a fan favorite of several of our UWT Librarians. You can access more than 17,000 legal publications, major news articles, and business sources in Nexus Uni. It’s a great choice for legal research!
Comment: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Our Response: PubMed is an amazing resource that’s accessible without having to go through the UW Libraries and it’s completely free. It’s great for anyone who is doing research in the biomedical, public health, nursing, social work, and medical ethics fields plus many more. It is home to an excess of 33 million citations (yes, million!), many of which link out to full-text resources. Powerful and unique filters make it an even more valuable tool. PubMed is truly a gem!
Comment: ERIC – Awesome for education research
Our Response: There are so many things to love about ERIC and you’re right, it’s awesome for education research! This library database contains articles, reports, books, teaching and curriculum guides, and so much more. One feature that we really like is its thesaurus, which contains the subject terms of the database. Being able to explore subject terms is a great way to get to know the “language” of the database. A good thesaurus is invaluable!
Comment: I ♡ Myself ☺
Our Response: Self and family care is so important! There are numerous campus resources that are available to support your academic success. We encourage you to know your options and seek help and resources when they are needed!
Week of 11/8
What services would you like to see in your Library?
Comment: Swimming pool w/ slide
Our Response: Wouldn’t that be awesome? While we don’t think we’ll be adding a pool with a slide to the Library anytime soon, you can still find a way to take a swim. Did you know that all active and enrolled UWT students who pay the quarterly University Y student fee receive a membership to the University Y Student Center? Here’s the even better news! Your membership to the University Y lets you use not only every YMCA location locally, but also any YMCA in the country. That’s right! Nationwide reciprocity!
Comment: Place comfortable love seats/booths near outlets, maybe? ☺
Our Response: You’re in luck! We have more soft seating on order for the Library! Keep your eyes peeled for our new seating to be added sometime during the winter quarter.
Comment: Open up large middle room for more study space?
Our Response: You found the TLB Atrium! This is an amazing space that is primarily used for events hosted by the offices that are housed in the Tioga Library and Snoqualmie Buildings. The UW Tacoma Library manages the Atrium event space and any questions about capacity, scheduling, or features can be directed to us at taclib@uw.edu!
Week of 11/1
What would your ideal hours for the library for Winter Quarter be?
Comment: ♡5am – 9pm♡
Comment: 7:30am – 10:00pm
Comment: 6am – 10pm
Comment: same (with an arrow pointing up to 6am – 10pm)
Our Response: We loved it when we had expanded hours, too! It gave us more time to help you with all of your library needs. Please know that your input on hours is highly valued! We’ll keep checking in with you as we plan for the Winter Quarter.
Week of 10/25
What’s your best library research tip for your peers? (Part 2)
Comment: Ask a librarian 4 guidance even before u think u need it!
Our Response: Yes! Librarians are here to help you at any point of the research process. We can help you formulate your research question. We can also help you broaden or narrow your existing topic. We can help you identify keywords to make your search more effective. Not sure what resources are available to you? We can help with that, too! From 24/7 chat to individual consultations, we’re here to help you search smarter, not harder.
Comment: Use Wiki: the links @ the bottom
Our Response: Wikipedia is a fun place to start, and you can do what we call citation chaining to connect to the resources used in that article. Interested in the background information that encyclopedias provide? You might want to check out Gale Ebooks, which is a full-text database of encyclopedias and resources for multidisciplinary research.
Comment: Don’t buy books, use 3rd party websites
Our Response: Sometimes you don’t need to buy books at all! Did you know that your Library proactively purchases any textbook that costs more than $75? We put these textbooks in our course reserves where they can be checked out on a first come, first served basis and most for four hours at a time. Don’t forget to also search the UW Libraries catalog! The UW Libraries is home to more than 9 million print and electronic books. If we don’t own what you’re looking for, we can still help you find it!
Comment: Link Google Scholar to UW Libraries
Our Response: You’re in luck! You can already search Google Scholar through a UW Libraries search. Here’s an example: Let’s say I’m looking for the third edition of Socio-economic complexities of smallholder resource-poor ruminant livestock production systems in Sub-Saharan Africa. I find that the UW Libraries doesn’t have it. In the menu down the left-hand side of my search results page, there is a box called ‘External Search’ where you can link out directly to both Google Scholar and WorldCat. When I clicked on the Google Scholar link, I was able to find my book.
But wait, there’s more! You can connect the UW Libraries to Google Scholar to see from Google Scholar what resources are available in the UW Libraries, too. There’s more information on how to configure that setting here. Such useful resources to expand your searching abilities!
Week of 10/11
What’s your best library research tip for your peers?
Comment: WorldCat is your friend
Our Response: Yes! WorldCat is an awesome tool that searches the holdings of over 10,000 libraries worldwide! It’s a great option when you need to look for resources outside of UW and Summit Libraries. Another great resource for scholarly resources in interdisciplinary research is Academic Source Complete. We love this as a jumping off point!
Comment: Take a bus to UW Seattle Libraries
Our Response: We adore our colleagues up in Seattle (and Bothell, too, for that matter). We’re three campuses, one Library — which means you can actually get the books from Seattle down to Tacoma without braving I-5 traffic. Here’s how to request materials!
Comment: Chat is awesome! There is always someone there to help!
Our Response: Thank you! Did you know that UW Librarians staff chat from 9-5 M-F, and that our co-op colleagues from around the country help us with weekend and night coverage? To access chat, click the big 24/7 help button our our library page, and type in your research question. We look forward to learning with you!
Comment: Cry quietly
Our Response: We understand that things are hard right now. UWT has amazing resources where you can find help: Psychological and Wellness Services (PAWS) on our campus provides confidential mental health counseling and related services for currently enrolled UW Tacoma students at no additional costs.
Week of 10/4
Sounds like study space is important! Where else on campus do you like to study? (And let us know if the Library is your favorite place to!)
Comment: Please communicate plans for extended hours during finals.
Our response: We hear you. Thanks for your question — hours and staffing are also on our mind as well as we observe how students are using our space and what their needs are! We will make sure we communicate with the campus when we have more clarity
Comments: TPS Building; Cherry Parks Breakout Rooms!
Our response: Awesome tips — keep ’em coming!
Week of 10/27:
How do you feel about being back in the Library and TLC [Learning Commons]?
Comment: All of the helpful, small study nooks are going. The library is great but I am uncertain about the open-floor plan.
Our response: Did you know there are some amazing study spaces (and views!) on TLB4 and that more furniture will be available in TLB soon? And wait until SNO is open after the construction is over! So many exciting improvements to your Library!
Comments: Awesome, Amazing, It’s Amazing.
Our response: We’re so happy. It is amazing to see YOU!
Comment. Adorable drawing of mitochondria.
Our response: Your art gives us joy!
Additions to the library that would make it better is the hours of operation. Being a transfer student from a larger university I am used to having the library open 24/7. This may not be cohesive to UWT but I would appreciate later hours in a building to come to campus and study.
Hi Makayla, thank you for reaching out. And welcome to UWT! We understand that study space on campuses are so important. We’ve never been a 24/7 library, but we have hopes to bring back our later evening hours once we are through the longer reopening process after a big construction project. In the meanwhile, SNO (Snoqualmie) will open in January, which will be a great space to add to your repertoire.