Available Online

With the craziness of school, work and daily life, finding time to get to the library can be tough.

Luckily, the OSU Library knows this and has created several ways for students to continue learning and using the library without walking through Edmon Low’s big brass doors.

The library provides an abundance of online services and resources to students at Oklahoma State. Anywhere Library Access allows students who are off campus to simply log on using their OSU email and password. They can then access thousands of databases, articles, books and journals that are online or can be requested and picked up at the library.

Teryn Moorman, the OSU Library event communications intern, said she is thankful for the library’s online access, especially during her busy pre-finals and finals weeks.

“I can complete assignments from the comfort of my own home,” Teryn said. “I can also keep learning over breaks!”

Document Delivery is another favorite among students. The library is home to millions of books, and I feel extremely fortunate to have this resource at the tips of my fingers. However, while books are a resource that we have tons of, time is not. Document Delivery makes the potentially time-intensive task of finding a book stress-free. Students can go to the library’s website and request the book they need. The book will be retrieved and placed at the Circulation Desk for students to grab on the way to the next activity in their hectic schedules.

Even with the plethora of books at the library, sometimes it just doesn’t have the book you’re looking for. Not to worry, the library planned for this too. Interlibrary Services allows students to go online and request books, articles, journals and more! If available, ILS simply borrows the requested material from another library or institution and, when it arrives, places it at the Circulation Desk to be picked up.

Alex Cooper, a graduate student at OSU, uses Document Delivery and ILS regularly.

“ILS and Doc Delivery are great, especially when I’m in a hurry,” Alex said. “I like being able to just go pick the book up. It saves me a lot of time.”

But it doesn’t stop there. Students can go online to book study rooms, browse the library’s digital collections and even renew books. Citation and research guides, digital maps, databases and more are also available online.

Personally, I use the study room reservation and book renewal services the most. I find the online study room reservation system particularly convenient because when it comes to group projects, finding somewhere on campus to get together is tough. Reserving a room online ensures that my group will have a quiet place to work, and it only takes about 30 seconds to make the reservation! It couldn’t be easier.

The services I’ve mentioned are just the tip of the iceberg. They are there to facilitate learning and make students’ lives just a bit simpler. I’m incredibly thankful to have these services available to me, and I know my experience at OSU would have been a lot different without the Edmon Low Library and its resources.

If you ever have questions about the online services and resources the library offers, you can always chat with someone at the library. Don’t worry, you can do that online too.

Posted by Jenny Berry, electronic communications intern

Going Green for Academics

When constructing a library of the future, minor changes to the interior can have a major effect on the atmosphere. Adjusting wall colors and seating arrangements can help boost productivity, but there is another option less frequently considered in university libraries. This is integrating plant life into the interior of the building.

Studies conducted on the effect of plants on learning and work environments have shown a positive correlation between the presence of natural elements and the productivity of students and workers. A study at a Taiwanese junior high school in 2008 showed plants affecting the work environment through subtle plant placement. Students in the work areas containing plants showed stronger feelings of comfort and friendliness as opposed to when no plants were present. This resulted in fewer reports of sick leave and more positive behavior patterns.

According to an additional study on a Texas university campus in 2009, “interior plants can reduce eye irritation and stress, motivate employees, improve concentration, and even reduce air impurities.” It also proved plants could be a reasonable alternative to windows in some cases.

The University of Cambridge has recently taken this plant life discovery into consideration and placed plants in their library in 2016 to assist students with idea generation, problem-solving skills and overall wellness. The plants placed in Cambridge’s Betty & Gordon Moore Library are shown below.

As demonstrated by the Home and Garden TV network, there are many low-maintenance plants that are perfect for indoors. Large plants, such as the Rubber Plant and Snake Plant, could be placed in pots in areas where exterior windows are not visible to students. For example, they could live in the Math Learning & Success Center on the fifth floor and by Quiet Study tables on the third floor. Smaller selections like Umbrella Trees and Philodendrons could live near areas with higher traffic like the computer stations on the first floor.

While the addition of plants would take space that would otherwise be clear, it could provide health and wellness benefits to OSU students while simultaneously boosting morale and productivity in the OSU Library. When students are feeling overwhelmed with schoolwork, a bit of green may be exactly what they need in order to flourish.

Post by Jennifer Barnett, E-Communications intern for OSU Library Communications