By Jason Wright
In response to the COVID-19 quarantine and subsequent shutdown of campus, the Georgia Tech Library adopted a number of online and in-person strategies to bring high-quality services and instruction to students, staff and faculty.
Numerically, the most impactful has been moving all library-led workshops online. The Library offers 20-30 classes a month in everything from data visualization, to multimedia instruction, to reference management. Typically, instructors see a maximum of 25 students per in-person workshop for subjects like Introduction to R Studio or Introduction to Python. However, since moving online, the cap for students has been lifted. Instructors are seeing in excess of 100 students per workshop. To see a full list of these workshops, click here.
A social media series featuring librarians introducing students and faculty to their favorite resources, plus those resources that have recently been expanded in response to the quarantine, is another innovation. The resources include Overdrive, Red Shelf, Bloomsbury Databases and Films on Demand, plus others each two times a week. To see the videos, visit the Library’s Instagram page.
Lastly, in the early days of the quarantine, the Library began loaning laptops to students in need so they can have the equipment they need to attend online classes. Faculty and staff expanded the program by using the inventory of lending laptops, plus Surface Pros earmarked for staff use. The program includes cleaning the machines and mailing them to students.
Pictured: Georgia Tech STEM Librarian Elizabeth Holdsworth speaks to students and faculty from her garden about ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, one of her favorite online resources. The video was posted to Instagram as part of the Library’s effort to reach students and faculty during the quarantine.
