Thank you all for your valuable feedback!  Over 400 students responded to the Library questions on the 2020 Student Services Survey.  In addition to numerical scores, we received many helpful comments about how the Library could better serve you. We want to share with our community the improvements we have made and are planning that address your recommendations.

Below, you will find our plans grouped by the themes that emerged from the Student Services Survey, as well as a list of smaller improvements we have already made.  We are also sharing this with student leaders at All-Hill Council.  For the things highlighted below as being under development, we will post again when those resources are ready to use.

Easier off-site access to journals and books

You asked for more online resources and gave specific examples. We love that! We hope you will continue to communicate your resource needs with us through our Suggest a Purchase form and the Get It For Me service. Your responses and data from these services led the Collection Management team to add several new journals and online resources (see the list). We hope that these materials are useful to you, and that you will continue to engage with us on the resources you need.

Library website and catalog

Beginning Summer 2021, we will expand our Library Search bar to include full-text articles in the default search results. You will still have the option to narrow the results by type and location, or to search only the OHSU Library catalog. We hope this will provide quicker access to Library-provided content every time you search.

We want to make it easier for you to access the Library’s services and expertise.  To help you schedule an appointment with a Librarian more quickly, we added “Meet with a Librarian” under the “Contact the Library” link on the navigation bar on the Library’s home page. We are creating an online guide specifically designed for students that will pull together the resources most relevant to your academic success.  Also in the works: brief video tutorials on navigating the Library website, finding books and articles, searching the literature, and more.  The guide and the first set of tutorials will be ready to welcome new and returning students to OHSU this Fall.

Physical spaces

During modified operations, students have been able to meet with OHSU librarians virtually.  While we’re looking forward to welcoming you to the Library’s spaces this Fall, we expect many of you prefer the convenience and flexibility of virtual appointments.  To support this, we will be creating private spaces, complete with technology, dedicated to virtual consultations with librarians and other student services at the Graduate Learning Resource Center (LRC) in the Robertson Life Sciences Building (RLSB).

Noise in the Library remains a challenge, as you each use the spaces differently. We are looking into possible acoustical improvements to help mitigate noise, particularly between the group rooms. We provide earplugs on the supply table in the BICC 4th floor 24-hour space and at the LRC to help you manage issues with noise.  We added signage with a QR code and a URL to the Library’s Contact Us page so that you can let us know if supplies are running low.

Small improvements

We have also made changes to respond to your suggestions and to address challenges arising this year.

Access to Books

• More time: OHSU-owned books that are not on Course Reserve now check out for 90 days at a time, renew automatically if no one else has requested the book, and do not incur fines!  Summit books–books requested from libraries in the Orbis Cascade Alliance–now allow one 6-week renewal if no one else has requested the book, for a total checkout time of 12 weeks.
• More ways: You can schedule a time to pickup your books, or we can send them via Campus Mail if you have access to a Campus Mail box.  We can check a book out to you and put it in a lockbox at the BICC or the RLSB so that you can pick it up in the evening or over a weekend.  We can also mail books to OHSU students outside the Portland Metro area.  Contact us if you need help figuring out which option is best for you, or if you’re interested in checking out an item from the Equipment Collection.

Spaces and Technology

• When you need them: Specialty software computer stations are now reservable, and we extended the reservation options for Library spaces. You can make a software station reservation or reserve a group room at BICC or LRC up to 90 days in advance for six hours at a time.
• More support: We have developed a new support process that will allow us to address printer and computer problems more quickly at the LRC in the RLSB. We added updated signage both at the LRC and in BICC to our printers with a QR code and a URL to the Library’s Contact Us page to make it easier to report technical issues.
• More options: We will also be setting up monitor-only stations at the LRC and in the BICC 4th floor 24-hour space where you can connect a laptop.  We are adding a large display screen with adapter cables in the Struble Room (BICC 433), so that it has the same set up as the other group rooms.

We welcome further feedback.  If you have a specific question, please use Contact Us so that we can respond to your particular situation. General feedback is welcome via our anonymous Suggestion Box.  Thank you again and stay tuned!

Kris Alpi, University Librarian, on behalf of the entire Library team