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Watson Library Launches New Website and Public Library Partnership

Enhancements Feature Search Capabilities and Access to Leisure Fiction from WPL On August 1, the Watson Library launched its new website just in time for the start of the new academic year.  The new site is intended to give Wilmington College students, faculty, and staff a clean and simple interface for finding the research they need.  Because Wilmington College is a charter member of the Ohio Private Academic Libraries (OPAL) and OhioLink, an objective of the new site is to leverage resources provided from these memberships. Along with new searching capabilities, the site is also the home of the Watson Library Copyright Resource Center, various subject and course specific guides, and serves as a portal to current and future digital collections for the college. Library Director Michael Wells said, "Still, this new version of the site is only the beginning." Indeed, the project plan over the next few months includes:
  • Adding interactive forms that will allow you to submit purchase requests, course reserve information, and receive information more easily via Inter-library loan (ILL).
  • A survey tool that will allow us to get your feedback on how we are doing, and to better learn what you would like to see from the library in the future.
  • Setting up a more streamlined process for authenticating to our online resources when off campus.  (No more entering a barcode with 0's in front of your number, just a username and password.)
  • Upgrading our existing EBSCO Discovery (EDS) platform and EBSCO Publication Finder to allow you to have easier access to the most current academic research.
  • Building out more robust subject and class guides allowing for better service to our students, faculty, and staff.
"Going forward, the Watson Library plans to expand on digital capabilities from this new web platform, but exciting new face-to-face improvements are also in the works," Wells added. Currently, the library is establishing a new partnership with the Wilmington Public Library. The WPL has agreed to provide a small collection of fiction leisure reading material in the Watson Library for student use with a public library card. By signing up for a public library card, students and faculty will not only be able to check out books, but they will also get access to the Kanopy and Hoopla streaming platforms, along with Overdrive eBooks. These two streaming platforms alone contain hundreds of academic documentaries and other useful resources. Watson Library and WPL Staff will be hosting a library card sign-up event on August 25th.  Please plan to stop over at the Pyle Center on August 25th from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to sign up for a public library card.