WEST archiving activities & resources for library services during and after COVID-19

With the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and resulting healthcare concerns, as well as the widespread and potentially long term closures that WEST libraries are experiencing, the WEST project team encourages any member institutions that are still open and operating to pause physical archiving activities, including contributing materials to Archive Builders for gap-filling. It is currently unclear when staff will be able to return to their campuses and process contributed materials. WEST continues to monitor this crisis closely, and will remain in conversation with members as the situation unfolds to provide support and manage expectations.

Additionally, the following resources may be of interest as libraries look to short- and long-term solutions for access to resources and collection maintenance:

RapidILL to support institutions affected by COVID-19: Ex Libris has created a “COVID-19” pod within RapidILL which “offer[s] libraries the opportunity to join a special RapidILL borrowing service for electronic articles and book chapters at no cost or commitment.”

Mitigating COVID-19 When Managing Paper-Based, Circulating, and Other Types of Collections: This IMLS-hosted webinar from March 30, 2020, was led by two experts from the Centers for Disease Control who present a “discussion of how libraries, archives, and museums can help mitigate COVID-19 when working with paper-based, circulating, and other types of collections.” This page includes links to a record and a transcript of the webinar.

COVID-19 and OCLC Services: To help subscribing libraries manage their OCLC product operations, OCLC has created a a guide for updating statuses and workflows in various products to ensure that libraries are broadcasting accurate information about current operations and managing their collections and services in ways that make sense for extended closure periods. OCLC is offering suggestions for managing EZProxy, FirstSearch, ILLiad, and others, including the necessary steps to make these updates and best practices to consider. 

Statement on the Global COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Library Services and Resources: The International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC) issued a statement encouraging information services providers to adopt a range of responses to the COVID-19 crisis in order to keep their materials and content accessible to library users. This page includes resources for identifying information services providers that are responding to the crisis and what changes they are making in order to provide continuous access to content.