Intern Report #3

Virtual book cartoon

The City Tech Library has always been available to students as a physical space for study and research. Now, while acting as a remote resource during the Covid-19 quarantine, how can the library best support City Tech students? Providing online materials is more important than ever, so my current assignment is to work with library faculty on updating and expanding the library’s virtual tutorials. The first phase of this project has been evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the library’s tutorials currently available here and here.

The second phase has been researching what kinds of online tutorials are provided by other libraries. I looked at the websites of libraries in the CUNY and SUNY systems, and then academic libraries nationwide, to find the best examples available. The quality and content of academic libraries’ instructional videos vary widely. Some are innovative and entertaining, but others are repetitive and dull. By watching these online tutorials, we are learning what works and what doesn’t from other libraries. The next phase of the project will be taking what we’ve learned to develop new online resources for City Tech students. Stay tuned!