New Normal Library Services

Posted onAuthorWeb Services Librarian

New Normal Library Services of CNU Learning Resource Center

In response to COVID19, Librarians globally are being forced to transition to an online-only environment, as many prominent schools, libraries, and universities are closing their campuses. Through this transition, all parties within the educational system are being challenged to quickly adapt to this new  environment, with librarians being responsible for ensuring library resources are available from a remote location.

Protocol/Guidelines on the Library Services in the New Normal

Overview/ Rationale

The year 2020 will be remembered as the year of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Around the world, hundreds of thousands of people died from the disease, schools and businesses shut their doors, wearing masks in public places became commonplace, and unemployment soared. Everyone and everything changed in ways large and small, and libraries were no exception. The pandemic has greatly impacted higher education, including academic libraries like The Cebu Normal University – Learning Resource Center… Read More..

Virtual Information Services –  this service will facilitate the library patron through non-physical contact transaction. 

    • Ask a Librarian in the library website and facebook page – Ask a Librarian is a Facebook-based library chat service (formerly Ask Minnie).   It is the virtual assistant or persona that library customers interact with, and an assigned librarian will respond to the queries posted.   The chat service started last July 2018 and was officially launched last November 10, 2020 and has been utilized by CNU faculty, alumni, students, and outside researchers since then. Facebook was used as the platform for this service as most of our users have a Facebook account and it is more convenient for them to send a message through Facebook messenger.
    • Book borrowing – Bona fide students, faculty & staff of CNU can borrow books and other materials from the Library.  The main public service point is the circulation desk, usually found near the main entrance or at the strategic area in the library. It serves as the service point to register for the patron account in the library database, check out, renew, and return library materials.  Library staff at circulation desk also provides basic search and reference services in the use of library and placement of information resources.
    • Document Delivery Service (DDS) – DDS is a new service of CNU-LRC which was launched last May 1, 2020 during the Covid-19 outbreak. The document delivery service handles articles and book chapter requests from journals, e-resources, printed books and other resources available at the CNU Learning Resource Center, as well as open access databases.  Please keep in mind that request should not be for the entire book or journal but for parts/articles.  Patron/client may include the title of the article/chapter/journal where it appeared, the place and date of publication, page numbers to be requested, and other pertinent details at the Specific Request field. These documents requested through the Document Delivery Service will be sent electronically via email. DDS is only exclusive to bona fide Normalites which includes the CNU faculty, students, and non-teaching staff.
    • Scanning Services –  For online request of scanned copy of article or chapter of a book, only 10% or less of the total volume of the printed material is allowed (or equivalent to 1 chapter of a portion of a book). For Theses and Dissertations, only the title page, table of contents and abstract are allowed to be scanned. Only the bona fide students, faculty and staff of Cebu Normal University can avail of this service. To avail of this service just fill-up the Document Delivery Service form . The material is protected by the copyright law and should not be printed, reproduced, or sold without permission from the author).
    • Request Access to E-resources – CNU LRC supports the instructional and research programs of the Cebu Normal University. The Library collects or provides access to materials in multiple formats, including electronic formats. This service is design to monitor the access of the e-resources subscribed by CNU LRC.

Online Resources

    • Access to Available Subscribed Print Periodical Articles – The library keeps an electronic copy of the title cover and table of contents of its print periodical subscriptions for online viewing and access. To notify the CNU community about its recently received subscription, the journal covers and table of contents were scanned, converted to pdf, and published on the official library website. The service officially started February 26, 2019. The electronic format can be accessed through the Periodical Subscriptions page/category under the menu for E-Resources/ Collection or via this
    • Access to Newspaper Clippings – The CNU LRC provides access to a valuable collection of newspaper clippings files. The periodicals section selects and maintains files containing articles from the various Philippine national, regional, and local publications that Cebu Normal University subscribes to.  Their research value is that they are relevant to the University’s programs/courses and cover current issues. The service was officially launched last January 7, 2021.  The newspaper clippings that have been uploaded are from 2019 to the present. The scanning of previous issues of newspaper clippings is currently ongoing.
    • Compilation of Open Education Resources (OER)– OER – “The term “Open Educational Resource(s)” / OER refers to educational resources (lesson plans, quizzes, syllabi, instructional modules, simulations, etc.) that are freely available for use, reuse, adaptation, and sharing.”
    • Compilation of Open Access materials – Open access (OA) means free access to information and unrestricted use of electronic resources for everyone. Any kind of digital content can be OA, from texts and data to software, audio, video, and multi-media.

Virtual Services for CNU Faculty & Staff only

    • Request for Library Orientation/ Instruction. Library Orientations are designed to introduce students and faculty to the system, collections, facilities and services offered by CNU – LRC. Meanwhile, Library instruction is to promote information literacy by teaching library users how to locate and access the information they need quickly and effectively including searching techniques and strategies.
    • Online Book Recommendation–  (Assistance/ Mechanism for the Procurement of the Book). This service is intended to give library customers access to resources that are specifically suited to their needs. To facilitate receipt of recommendations from our library clients through non-physical contact transactions in the effort to develop library collections, CNU faculty may recommend book/s for purchase via the library’s e-mail or through the “Online Book Reservation Form”