Suite of COVID-19 Resources for Librarians
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Updated April, 28, 2020
As schools, libraries and different workplaces shut down all over Africa and in other climes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, AfLIA is supporting librarians with information about platforms that can aid the provision of online services. Librarians can also direct their user communities to these sites for reading purposes, distant learning and online interactions including meetings. The list is not exhaustive but it’s a good starting point. “When we share, everyone wins”. Mobile reading platforms for adults, children and scholars that can be easily accessed by all. Librarians can recommend the sites to their users. The sites for this section are arranged alphabetically.
| Reading platforms | Web address | Summary |
| African Storybook | https://www.africanstorybook.org/ | Easy to access digital storybooks and other reading materials for children’s literacy, enjoyment and imagination. |
| Anybooks | https://www.anybooks.app | The platform is a treasure trove of bestseller novels of different genres with quite a number of biographies, educational and motivational books. The app is easy to install and navigate. |
| Book dash | https://bookdash.org | This site has colourfully illustrated books that children will fall in love with. |
| Global Digital Library | www.digitallibrary.io/ | Has beautifully illustrated books for children of different ages in English and different African languages including Hausa, IsiNdebele, Kambi and Shona among others. The site also has Read Aloud books that children can listen to. |
| StoryWeaver | http://storyweaver.org.in | This is a digital repository of stories and other reading materials for children. AfLIA has a Library on this site with children’s stories in different African languages. |
| World Digital Library | https://www.wdl.org/ | Has close to 20,000 resources about countries from 8000 BC to present times. The resources are contributions from many Institutions including the Library of Congress and UNESCO. They can be followed on Twitter for news on new additions @WDLorg |
| Worldreader | https://read.worldreader.org | This site has books and stories for children that support the curriculum of many African countries. |
| Booklist | https://www.booklistonline.com/ | Booklist Online has granted full and free access to a powerful collection of digital books for readers whether or not one is subscriber. |
| Gallica BNF |
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ | Gallica BNF grants access to free ebooks in French. |
| Manybooks FR |
https://manybooks.net/search-book?language%5Bfr%5D=fr | Manybooks FR also grants access to an array of free ebooks in French. |
| Audible |
https://stories.audible.com/ | Free access to stream and listen to an incredible collection of stories, including titles across six different languages, that will help them continue dreaming, learning, and just being kids. |
Beyond reading for leisure, children and young people can continue learning as more African countries close down schools. Here are sites with educational content for young people. This section is arranged alphabetically.
| Resources | Web address | Summary |
| Byjus | https://byjus.com/ | This platform has videos, tests, quizzes, games, interactive lessons and much more for young people to download and learn at home. It is presently providing free access. The content is aligned to India’s curriculum. |
| Discovery Education | https://app.discoveryeducation.com/ | Contains instructional resources about viruses and outbreaks. The site puts young people through on the science behind viruses, history, updates and essential guidelines on staying healthy during outbreaks. |
| Khan Academy | https://www.khanacademy.org/ | This site has schedules for children and young people aged between 4-18yrs to keep them learning even though schools are closed. The platform enables students to learn at their own pace, filling in gaps that closure of schools would have widened. |
| LabXchange | https://www.labxchange.org/ | LabXchange brings together high-quality content from a variety of sources in the form of online learning assets, including videos, assessments, and simulations. The platform promises resources for everyone – teachers, parents, students. |
| Mindspark | http://mindspark.in/ | This computer-based online self-learning site is presently offering 60 days free access to students to improve on Mathematics as a subject. |
| One Course | https://onebillion.org/ | This site is for children with a comprehensive course in different modules to help children learn how to read, write as well as to understand numbers. |
| Siyavula | http://www.siyavula.com/ | The content in this site is aligned with South Africa’s curriculum in Mathematics and Science. Free, open resources are also available on the site. |
| Ubongo | https://ubongo.org | Children love watching TV. This site uses entertainment such as cartoons with African backgrounds and characters to deliver effective localised learning. |
| ULesson | https://ulesson.com | The platform is tailored mainly for Nigeria’s secondary school curriculum in Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics. |
| Ustad mobile | https://www.ustadmobile.com/lms/ | This platform can deliver educational content without Internet or WiFi once set up. |
Library users may be workers, lecturers and others whose workplaces have been shut down due to the pandemic irrespective of an ongoing project. Librarians can advise them on platforms for live and interactive meetings such as:
| Platform | Web address | Summary |
| Google Hangouts | https://hangouts.google.com | This is a standalone Google product that enables teams to collaborate easily and efficiently as it allows video conferencing, screen sharing with chat features. |
| Lark | https://larksuite.com | This is a collaborative platform for work that combines chat, calendar and document features. |
| Skype | https://www.sktpe.com | This is an application that has features for video chats, voice calls and messaging. |
| Teams | https://teams.microsoft.com | This site includes support for 300 persons to chat, meet, call and/or collaborate |
| Zoom | https://zoom.us | The platform has features that support video conferencing, web conferencing and webinars. It is useful for teaching and can be used for free for 40mins or for longer periods with subscription. |
Self-isolation or staying indoors without going to work or school can bring on idleness and boredom for many people. The Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS) platforms listed below can be used by Librarians and others to be occupied – learning and gaining more skills and qualifications.
| MOOCs Platform | Web address | Summary |
| Alison | https://alison.com | This site has free online courses and certificates. |
| Coursera | www.coursera.org | The platform has courses on modern day concepts and skills-suites from Yale University, University of Michigan, and Stanford University among others. |
| Other sites for MOOCs are Canvas (https://www.canvas.net) edX (https://www.canvas.net) Future learn (https://www.futurelearn.com) Saylor (https://www.saylor.org) Udemy (https://www.udemy.com) UoPeople University of the People (https://www.uopeople.edu) | ||
Libraries serve the teaching communities too. In these uncertain times of COVID-19 shutdown, Librarians can help teachers at different levels of education to create digital content for their students with these tools.
| Tools | Web address | Summary |
| Buncee | https://www.edu.buncee.com | This site is useful as a creation and presentation tool. It allows learners of all ages to visualize, express and present concepts. |
| Kaltura | https://corp.kaltura.com | This site has features for the creation of videos for learning experiences. |
| Nearpod | https://nearpod.com | The site comes in handy for creating engaging and informative learning content |
| Squigl | https://squiglit.com | This is an interesting site that transforms text into engaging animations thereby making learning easier even when not in the classroom. |
Furthermore, the world is uniting to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. In the face of urgent threats to humans, Open Access to up to date, reliable scientific knowledge and research is a sure way of sharing needed information to stop the pandemic. AfLIA has compiled and will continue to update free resources on COVID-19 from notable publishers who hitherto had most of their content behind paywalls.
- https://novel-coronavirus.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/
- https://www.tandfonline.com/action/doSearch?AllField=%22coronavirus%22
- https://www.springernature.com/gp/researchers/campaigns/coronavirus
- https://www.elsevier.com/connect/coronavirus-information-center
- https://s.docworkspace.com/d/AFYwjz7NhZMgoOiXo5ydFA (from SAGE)
- https://www.lexisnexis.com/en-us/about-us/media/press-release.page?id=1584340441681141
- https://www.bmj.com/coronavirus
- https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/promo/coronavirus.htm
- https://www.cambridge.org/core/browse-subjects/medicine/coronavirus-free-access-collection
- https://www.igi-global.com/newsroom/archive/race-vaccine-coronavirus/4398/
- https://www.thelancet.com/coronavirus
- https://clarivate.com/coronavirus-resources/
- https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.mi.44.100190.001511
Also, Digital editions of Library Journal and School Library Journal are now free. For Library Journal
Go to https://t.co/vA6sj1BVIG
Email: access@libraryjournal.com
Password: LJfullaccess1
For School Library Journal – Go to https://t.co/qgA6fxyYJM:
Email: access@slj.com
Password: SLJfullaccess1
To view the current and back digital editions (PDFs of the print issues), please go to the homepages of Library Journal and School Library Journal. Click “ACCESS DIGITIZED EDITION” in the upper left-hand corner. Please, you will need to log-out from one journal’s digitized edition first before accessing another one.
Springer has generously made available over 400 scientific books for free for educators, students and academics affected by coronavirus lockdown to help support higher education institutions around the world during the global lockdown. Attached is a link to tons of great materials, especially in statistics, machine learning and data science. In addition, a number of German-language Springer medical training books on emergency nursing are freely accessible. These books will be available via SpringerLink until at least the end of July.
DOWNLOAD FULL BOOK LIST HERE (pdf)
For more details visit here.
Teleworking has become the new normal following lockdown decisions by many governments to curb the spread of the COVID-19. Working from home or away from conventional workspaces does not come easy as it imply adjusting psychologically and socially to be productive in an unfamiliar work environment. Here are some simple best practices/guidelines for teleworking put together in French and English by African Regional Services – ARS, to help you.
TELEWORKING – BEST PRACTICES | TÉLÉTRAVAIL – LES BONNES PRACTIQUES
AfLIA will keep on providing resources that will assist librarians to effectively serve their user communities online.