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covid image COVID-19: Updates on library services and operations | U of T Coronavirus (COVID-19) FAQs

Get help from the UTSC Library for your online teaching, learning and research

Support for instructors | Support for students | Support for researchers | Information on COVID-19

Support for instructors

UTSC library provides a variety of online services to support remote instruction. Questions? Please speak to your Liaison Librarian.   

  • Online course reserves: Course reserves will continue for e-resources only. Scanning of print materials, such as book chapters, is suspended until further notice. 

    • Please send course readings lists to readinglist-library@utsc.utoronto.ca.

    • Our Syllabus Service will review your course materials for coverage by the University of Toronto's Fair Dealing Guidelines or an existing license, and negotiate copyright clearance for any items that exceed our current licences. 

    • Support of textbooks remains a challenge for libraries in an online environment. We are working with instructors to explore and identify viable textbook alternatives.

    • We may be able to provide previously scanned materials in compliance with Fair Dealing Guidelines and licensing permissions.

    • Contact your Liaison Librarian if you would like support in identifying e-resources for your course readings.

  • Online video resources:

  • Research Guides: 

    • Contact your Liaison Librarian to request customized research guides for your courses, to help students find and use appropriate resources for their research assignments.

    • If you do not require a customized guide, but would still like your students to access the library, turn on the Library Resources menu item in your course Quercus pages so that students can access subject-based research guides.

  • Online library instruction:

    • Liaison librarians may be able to provide research skill instruction for your online courses using resources such as Quercus modules, quizzes, instructional videos, online-drop-ins, or participating in discussion boards. Contact your Liaison Librarian to discuss possible options.

  • Research help for your students:

  • MyMedia:

    • Use the MyMedia media repository for streaming your lectures. Your MyMedia streams can be placed in your Quercus course page.

  • Copyright & online instruction:

  • Data analysis software:

    • There are many software options for you and your students to consider while off campus.

For many additional resources and strategies, please see the UTSC Academic Continuity 2020 page and the Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation's Continuity Planning page.

Support for students

Library services & resources

  • Borrowing:   

    • As of March 2020, there is no need to return your books at this time. All loans will be extended and no late fines charged. See Library COVID-19 Updates for the latest information on due dates.

    • Interlibrary Loan will continue for e-resources only. Due dates for print Interlibrary Loan items have been extended. See Library COVID-19 Updates for the latest information on due dates.

  • Research help:  

  •  Research Guides: 

    • Look for Library Resources on the menu of your Quercus course pages for subject- or course-specific Research Guides.

    • Check the Library’s Research Guides page to find guides by course code, but subject, or search by topic.

  • Citation:

  • Data analysis software:

  • Assignment Planner:  

    • This tool helps you break down your assignment or project into manageable steps.

    • If you log in and supply an email address, it will also email you a reminder one week before the assignment is due.

Online entertainment and diversions

  • Check out Criterion on Demand to access thousands of films. It’s like Netflix, but free! There are recently added films, like the Academy-award winning film Parasite, that you can stream from wherever you are (UTORid login required). 

  • Take a look at other online video resources from the Media Commons that can be streamed online, like Medici TV, with classical music videos including opera, ballet, and symphonies.

Support for researchers 

Stay on track with your research activities using these resources from the University of Toronto Libraries: 

Find online research materials and manage sources

While U of T library buildings are closed, we can provide access to many digital materials to support your research, including eBooks, online journal article databases, primary source databases, and streaming videos.  

Looking for books and articles not at U of T or held in closed libraries? Try placing an Interlibrary Loan request. Our expert staff will try to find an electronic copy for you, if one exists. Some publishers are also providing expanded access to their e-resources during this time, which may include books, journals, primary sources, and multi-media collections. Contact your Liaison Librarian for more information.  

Please contact your Liaison Librarian to discuss research strategies in depth. You can also browse the Libraries’ online research guides for advice, useful tools, and links to the best resources for your subject area. 

Need help collecting citations from online databases, managing and organizing your sources, or creating bibliographies in well-known citation styles? Try using citation management software! 

Organize and manage research data 

Research data management 

Research data management can keep your data organized and help you address potential granting or publishing requirements. To get started, review the steps below: 

Data analysis software  

The Map & Data Library negotiates and administers access to several different data analysis tools. Additional information is available on their statistical software page. 

  • U of T researchers can now get a copy of NVivo for free. You can also request a copy of ArcGIS for your own computer or use ArcGIS Online. 

There are also several open source software options to explore, such as R & RStudio, QGIS, JASP; free academic versions of popular software such as SAS University Edition or Tableau Desktop; and free trial offers, some of which have extended free trial periods due to this unique circumstance (SPSS for example has extended their free trial period into June).

Need something else? Contact your Liaison Librarian or the UTSC Library’s Digital Scholarship Unit with additional questions.

Increase research visibility and comply with funding requirements 

Open Access (OA) refers to scholarly research that is freely available online, without cost or licensing restrictions. Making your research openly accessible increases its visibility, helps to advance research in your field, and allows more people across the globe to benefit from the important work that you do. Many grants and funding agencies also have policies that require recipients to make their research openly accessible.  

Deposit your papers to TSpace  

Depositing your research in TSpace, U of T’s institutional repository, is one way to publish OA and comply with funding requirements, including the Tri-Agency Open Access Policy. Visit the First Time Users page or Help and FAQs to learn more. 

Open Access (OA) support from University of Toronto Libraries 

There are a wide variety of open access options available to researchers. Follow our steps on how to publish OA and find out how the Libraries can provide support to determine which is best for you. Make sure you know your rights as an author before you publish! 

Measure your research impact 

An author's impact within their field or discipline has traditionally been measured using the number of times their academic publications are cited by other researchers. There are several ways your impact can be measured. Because of this, a simple way to illustrate your impact is to create a complete list of your publications and the number of times they have been cited. For more information, visit our research impact and bibliometrics guides.  

Manage your researcher identity  

Have you set up a Researcher ID? Creating and maintaining an online presence has numerous benefits. These tools can help to:  

  • Identify your unique work and increase its discoverability.   

  • Eliminate publication misattribution.  

  • Improve efficiency by preventing a researcher from entering in data more than once. 

  • Build a professional network of researchers with similar interests.  

  • Provide more accurate metrics. 

In 2017 the University of Toronto Libraries joined ORCID-CA, the ORCID Consortium in Canada.  

If you do not have an ORCID profile, now is a great time to set up one! 

Track the literature with current awareness profiles 

Current awareness searches can help you keep up with the newest research in your field, as well as to broaden your view by finding research in other fields. Many databases allow you create a search on a topic or researcher and set up alerts for when new literature matching the search has been added to the database. Some databases also allow you to create alerts to let you know when a paper is cited. 

If you need any help setting up an alert, review this guide on setting up current awareness profiles for more info or contact your Liaison Librarian.  

Need more help? Contact us: 

 

Information on COVID-19