Students in the Rincker Memorial Library
Concordia's Rincker Memorial Library staff has pivoted to continue accommodating the academic needs of students during this time of online-only class delivery.
“We have rich, online offerings that can be accessed 24/7 from the library’s webpage, portal tab and Blackboard, and all our librarians want to help,” said Director of Library Services Christian Himsel. For students who customarily visit the library and might not be accustomed to accessing library resources online, the “Getting Started Guide” orients them cuw.edu/home/getting-started-guide to all the library has to offer.
“We’ve extended all due dates and are flexible with our virtual support, and students should never hesitate to reach out with information needs. Hopefully, that’s one area of stress the library can help alleviate,” added Himsel. A 1987 alumnus, he began as CUW’s reference librarian in 2004, before being named director in 2008.
One major online resource that has proven quite popular is “Ask A Librarian” cuw.edu/library “In addition to that web form, in-depth, one-on-one assistance up to an hour can be scheduled via a Zoom chat,” noted Himsel, who stressed that utilizing Primo cuw.edu/library as a starting point can help students simplify research.
The Streaming Video & Multimedia Guide is another valuable resource for audiovisual instructional materials, and there is a new help section on the library portal tab that students can access by using their existing Concordia login, according to Himsel.
“I’ve been tremendously impressed with how our vendors and major publishers have stepped up to guarantee that our students can continue their studies with the resources they need,” said Kathy Malland, the library’s technical services coordinator. “It’s certainly challenging, but I enjoy seeing the best in everyone as we work together to get through this.”
“Everyone whom I have interacted with has shown concern and care for the well-being of everyone in the Concordia community,” echoed Maureen Schinner, digital initiatives librarian. “It’s been wonderful to see staff make an extra effort to ensure that students are supported and have what they need.”
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