Virtual(ly) Overnight: Providing Resources and Services in the era of COVID-19

Abstract

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, on Monday March 16th, 2020 at 4:00pm the Health Sciences Library at the Northern Ontario School Medicine (NOSM) closed their physical spaces until further notice - becoming an exclusively virtual library overnight. It was imperative for the library to provide continuity of services to users - many of them preparing for the spread of COVID-19 to the resource limited North. The library operated virtually in many aspects prior to COVID-19. It regularly supports NOSM members at the school’s two campuses, but also learners, faculty and staff spread over 843,853 square kilometers of Northern Ontario Canada. With the closure of the library spaces however, the library was required to suspend physically dependent programming and reconsider operations and service delivery with all staff working from home. This case study will outline library operations prior to COVID-19 that have supported this transformation; the imperative component of messaging continuity of services to library users; the transition to staff working remotely; and the implementation of new tools and guides to support users virtually during the era of COVID-19.