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SLU Libraries Update Hours, Services for Remote Access

03/17/2020

The Saint Louis University Libraries have updated their hours and services to provide continuity of service and access to students, faculty and staff members as SLU adjusts its operations in light of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

SLU's library staff members are committed to providing uninterrupted access to the robust digital services and content you’ve come to expect.

Pius XII Memorial Library Information

Online Resources
  • Online materials including databases, e-journals, and e-books remain accessible and our librarians and library staff will remain available for service via email, chat, and other virtual mediums.
Books and Printed Resources
  • Due dates on SLU print materials have been extended until the end of the semester. 
Research Services for Students and Faculty Members
  • SLU librarians can help you navigate our vast library on online resources for your research and coursework.
  • Our chat service remains available, and is the fastest way to get assistance. It will continue to be staffed by SLU librarians during the day, and by contract librarians from around the country overnight and on the weekends.
  • SLU librarians will continue to provide research and instruction services remotely. You can contact the research librarian for your department directly through email. Librarians are prepared to meet with students and faculty via phone, Zoom, and/or Skype.
Library Instruction
  • Research and Instruction librarians are still available to incorporate library instruction into your courses, even if you had not previously planned to do so.
  • This can be in the form of joining a synchronous session of your class via Zoom, Skype, etc., or creating a Panopto video lecture for students to view asynchronously.
  • Librarians may also create research guides specifically for your course and/or share relevant guides and video tutorials that have already been created. 
Access to Course Materials
 
  • If there are physical course materials your students no longer have access to, please submit a purchase request or email your subject librarian, and we will attempt to license an e-book or streaming video to meet your needs.
  • If we are unable to license the material needed, we will suggest submitting a request to add it to eReserves or other alternate access options, such as Open Library.
  • Research Librarians can also provide ideas for materials we already license that may meet your instructional needs, and can provide you with a permanent URL for any licensed material that will give students direct access from off campus.
Interlibrary Loan Services
 
  • The Interlibrary Loan Department of the Pius XII Memorial Library will continue to provide service to our SLU faculty, staff, and students while classes are no longer in person or if the physical library closes.
  • For loans or copies from non-digitized items, we are constantly monitoring lists which note which libraries remain open during this public health crisis.
  • While open, we will provide scans of chapters and articles from any hardcopies within Pius or Searls Hall.
  • If we are required to work remotely, we will still be able to provide pdfs for our patrons.
  • We can access our digital collection of books and journals.
  • Through publishers’ webpages, we can make immediate purchases of articles, journal issues, and chapters of many recent publications.
  • Our ILLiad program also has an application for making purchases that arrive within two (2) hours.
  • As many libraries in the county are closing or limiting services, we will reach out to international libraries to provide pdfs. We already have relationships with libraries in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and Korea, to name a few. Most of these libraries respond within 24 hours.
  • We also have established relationships with organizations throughout the world to obtain copies of hard to find items.
  • Years of experience has led to the ability to use foreign resources, which allow for digital copies or purchases. 
Requests for SLU-Owned Print Materials
 
  • While the Pius Library building remains open, students and faculty in the area can still use the materials. If they do not wish to spend a long time in a large, public place, they can search for materials in the Library Catalog and use the request feature to have books pulled for them. We plan to pull books twice a day, but with fewer student workers, wait times may be longer for this service.
  • All SLU print materials currently checked out to SLU patrons have been renewed until May 4, 2020.
Further Interlibrary Loan Resources
 
  • Interlibrary Loan materials have been renewed until May 5, 2020. This does not apply to items from MOBIUS institutions or to SLU items currently checked out to MOBIUS patrons.
  • Updates will be posted if the situation changes regarding MOBIUS materials.
  • While the library remains open, items can be returned to the exterior drop boxes at Pius Library as well as to any MOBIUS member institution.
  • Please check individual library hours as many MOBIUS libraries are closing or restricting access to visitors.

Library staff members have created, and continue to update, a guide for remote library resources and services, along with a list of FAQs that will help answer additional questions from both students and faculty.

Currently, the Pius XII Memorial Library and the Medical Center Library remain open but the two libraries have restricted access to only the SLU Community (anyone with a SLU ID).

However, as the situation warrants, hours may be further reduced and library services will be provided with minimal staff.

If the libraries do close, our remote services will remain fully operational.

Visit SLU's Libraries

Medical Center Library Information

Updated Hours
  • To prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, we are revising daily library hours to 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. 
  • The Medical Center Library will be closed on the weekend.
  • These hours remain in effect until further notice. 
Remote Library Services and Online Access 
  • As coursework has moved to online formats, the Medical Center Library has developed a guide for remote access
  • We expect to provide uninterrupted access to online databases, e-journals, and e-books. Our librarians and library staff will be available for service via e-mail, chat, and other online services. Due dates on SLU print materials have been extended until the end of the semester.
COVID-19 Resources
  • We have created a web page of up-to-date COVID-19 resources, including current articles, clinical guidelines, and best practices. We will be updating this page on a regular basis. 
Research Services
Library Instruction
  • With appropriate advance notice, we can provide library instruction via Zoom or Skype. We can create a Research Guide specifically for your course or share relevant guides and video tutorials that have already been created.
Online Access to Course Materials
  • The libraries provide a full online array of online materials (e-books and e-journals) that can be used for instructional purposes.
  • You can request that materials be added to eReserves. This works best for articles or book chapters.
Interlibrary Loan

Vincent C. Immel Law Library Information

Updated Hours
  • The law library has suspended all in-person services. 
  • Access to the law library space and print collection is available to SLU students, faculty, and staff via card swipe access during Scott Hall's building hours which are currently 6 a.m. to midnight (12 a.m.)
Remote Access
  • The vast majority of the law library's electronic resources are available remotely.  They may be accessed via the law library's databases page and the library catalog
  • A large collection of online study aids is also available.  For assistance with remote access, please contact lawref@slu.edu.
Remote Research Services
  • Research instruction and support is available from the reference librarians via email at lawref@slu.edu
  • The account will be monitored Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to noon, and from 1 to 4 p.m., and on Sundays from noon to 6 p.m. 
  • Depending on the nature of the question or request, assistance via phone or Zoom may be preferable but please send your initial request via email.
Course Materials
  • If you are a law faculty member with concerns about print materials you have placed on course reserve, please contact your library liaison or lawref@slu.edu
  • The library will work with you to arrange for an appropriate digital option.
Interlibrary Loan
  • Our ability to borrow and provide access to material electronically will be limited by service disruptions at our partner libraries.  Law faculty should contact their library liaison for assistance.

Thank you for your understanding and flexibility as we work together to limit the exposure and spread of COVID-19.  Please stay safe and healthy.