SpringyCamp Summer 2021

Phil Cheeseman and Stephen Robinson, Lancaster University (UK) 

At the beginning of the global pandemic and with the onset of the first UK lockdown, Springshare products became core to our effective transition to fully online services. The rapid uptake of online enquiries and live chat through LibAnswers kept our communities of students connected and engaged in their learning. The introduction of LibCal seats enabled us to provide Covid-safe study environments and be one of the first academic libraries to reopen in the country. The value of LibAnswers and LibCal was widely recognised by others across the University and led to an institution-wide project to roll out of LibCal events calendars and appointments. During this academic year over 800 faculty staff have become users, managing academic appointments and online classes. Use has extended beyond the class, including managing asymptomatic covid testing appointments, bookings for delivery of Christmas dinners to students on campus and a wide range of social activities that have kept our campus alive. In addition to integrations with Microsoft Teams, we have used APIs to integrate bookings with student timetables and our campus Mazemap. Meanwhile, LibGuides has been extended to cover decolonisation activity, Author events and community projects as part of our equality and diversity programme and LibChat has been extended to provide registry, IT, employment and student support services. In this presentation we'll share our journey and successes over the past year, as well as our ambitions for the future.

Product Covered: LibCal & LibGuides