Now that finals are quickly approaching, the Paul Meek Library has made modifications to its hours to better benefit the students at UTM.
The most obvious adjustment has been its extension of hours, available online and also located on the front doors of the library.
“Extended hours are more for providing a study hall. You won’t have all the same resources,” said Jim Nance, Head of ILL/Government Documents.
Nance also shared some of the resources available to students who may be working on a paper.
“Many electronic resources are available online from the dorms,” Nance said.
Georgia Basket, Head of Cataloging, also shared a few of the amenities in the library.
“We have the 24-hour computer lab and coffee shop, which are available day and night for a quiet study place,” Basket said.
Heidi Busch, Head of Media Services, explained how the extension of hours gives students limited access in Media Services.
“There will be no sales: no flash drives, no paper. But you can come in and rent a laptop,” Busch said.
Nance also shared some advice concerning students who may have waited until the last minute to work on an important paper.
“[We recommend] strong coffee and an acceptance of [the possibility of] a lower grade. One thing we do recommend is, don’t plagiarize, it’s not worth taking the chance,” Nance said.
Periodicals Librarian Michael Busbee also explained that there is a very convenient feature for the library.
“We have a lot of electronic resources that should help, the extended hours and the reference desk. We have a chat window available on the website. When the Reference Desk is open, the Desk Chat is open. Desk Chat is faster than email,” Busbee said.
Desk Chat is a one-on-one conversation between a student with a question and a librarian with an answer. If students are willing to work hard, these librarians are happy to help with any questions students may have.
Lauren Delaney, a Student Worker in the library, explained her strategy for working on research papers.
“For a research paper [I’m doing] on Tolkien, I [have gone] onto our Database. EBSCO Host is my go-to. It just depends on what type of research paper you’re doing,” Delaney said.
Nance also said that the databases are beneficial for students, with summaries of each article called abstracts.
“The abstracts are very helpful,” Nance said.
