OhioLINK is pleased to announce that print borrowing among member institutions will resume on August 10th. The statewide print lending service, which temporarily halted operations amid response to COVID-19, will again support students and faculty as they return to campus for fall. Statewide, patrons borrowed on average more than 25,000 print items per month from OhioLINK libraries during the eight and a half months that lending services were operational in fiscal year 2020.
“While print borrowing is dwarfed by our members’ online access to OhioLINK’s e-books and e-journal articles, there are books and printed materials that are simply not available digitally—especially in the humanities,” said OhioLINK Interim Executive Director Amy Pawlowski. “We are happy this vital OhioLINK service will once again be available to support scholarly research across the state.”
Print lending was the lone OhioLINK service adversely affected by COVID-19. As library buildings closed and instruction became virtual, OhioLINK members were able to rely on the consortium’s access to critical electronic scholarly resources and assistance for students through its eTutoring program, allowing a quick pivot to online instruction. In addition, OhioLINK quickly facilitated webinars and online discussions for its member community to share best practices and local solutions supporting continued library operations as part of the COVID-19 response.
Though the pandemic has pushed libraries to develop new ways of supporting student learning, the value of working together as a consortium continues—through the resources and member community. OhioLINK members recently shared their appreciation and gratitude at being part of the OhioLINK consortium. Selected comments follow:
“OhioLINK resources are the No. 1 reason BGSU has been able to effectively support a shift to online learning.”
– Bowling Green State University
“Our students, and often even more so, our faculty, could not do their research without OhioLINK resources.”
– Xavier University
“The pandemic has made our university administration realize that our ‘virtual’ library resources and services are vital to the students and mission of our university.”
– Shawnee State University
“OhioLINK’s webinars allowed us to crowdsource ideas for local implementation, where the number of technical staff are few.”
– University of Toledo
“OhioLINK has brought pertinent information to Ohio’s information community and has highlighted best practices from schools that are doing a good job managing the COVID-19 pivot.”
– University of Akron
“I’m thankful for the partnership OhioLINK eTutoring has provided. It’s such a valuable resource, especially during such a unique time for higher ed!”
– Kent State University
For more than 27 years, OhioLINK has provided access to online resources essential to research and learning at Ohio institutions of higher education. Ohio higher education students, faculty and staff interact with OhioLINK resources every 1.1 seconds.
For more COVID-19 related information, please visit the links below.
- Library Reopening Resources (For OhioLINK members; log-in required)
- REALM (Reopening Archives, Libraries, and Museums ) Information Hub: A COVID-19 Research Project
- Association for Library Collections and Technical Services’ Handling Library Materials and Collections During a Pandemic
Connecting libraries, learning and discovery. Established in 1992, the Ohio Library and Information Network (OhioLINK) is Ohio’s statewide academic library consortium serving 117 libraries, 88 institutions of higher education, the State Library of Ohio and more than 800,000 end users. Delivering both IT infrastructure and content negotiation, OhioLINK provides students, researchers, faculty, and staff with access to digital research collections rivaling top university libraries in the United States and internationally—at a fraction of the cost. OhioLINK also connects library services, print and digital collections among its member institutions and manages collaborative services, including eTutoring, statewide Affordable Learning textbook initiatives, and Open Educational Resources. A member of the Ohio Technology Consortium of the Ohio Department of Higher Education, OhioLINK creates a competitive advantage for its members and supports student and researcher success in the state of Ohio. Learn more at www.ohiolink.edu.
