Happy Reading Day, Titans! For the last installment of the Finals Toolkit, we’re sharing relaxing and stress-relieving activities. Taking breaks and moments to rest can help you return to your studying or writing feeling refreshed and revitalized. Don’t forget, you can also check out our earlier tools and tips from part 1 and part 2 of the Finals Toolkit!

• Browse: Take in some art! Browse the collections in Artstor, Saskia Digital Art Images, and IWU’s campus art collection.
• Listen: Enjoy some instrumental background music from The Classical Music Library, Smithsonian Global Sound, and Popular Music Library.
• Read: Use your IWU ID card to check out a book to read for fun from the library’s popular reading collection, located on the first floor of the library near the Library Services Desk.
• Visit the Self-Care Station: Find coloring sheets, LEGOs, origami, dorm-friendly recipes, and other wellness resources in the Self-Care Station on the first floor of The Ames Library.
• Watch: See performances like A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Swan Lake from the comfort of your own room, thanks to Digital Theatre+, or watch a documentary on a topic that interests you from the PBS Video Collection.

Bonus finals week reminders: You can reserve a study or project room in the library and print your projects and papers using one of the library’s five printers.

We hope you’re able to finish well, take care of yourselves, and enjoy the upcoming break. Good luck during finals week–you’ve got this!

Finals can be a stressful time, so this week, we’re filling your Finals Toolkit with ways to take care of yourself, resources for practicing mindfulness and relaxing during breaks, and a reminder of the importance of sleep. We’re also sharing a few extra tools as you put finishing touches on projects and papers.

• Counseling & Consultation Services (CCS): Check out CCS’s resources for students, take a confidential online screening, or make an appointment to talk to a counselor.
• Self-care apps: Check out our Self-Care LibGuide for a list of meditation apps like Shine. Or, try a coloring app like Paint by Number Coloring Games as a way to relax.
• Self-Care Station: Visit the Self-Care Station on the entry level of The Ames Library for relaxing activities, mindfulness resources, and to share an encouraging note with your fellow Titans.
• Sleep: It may feel like studying is more important than sleep, but research tells us that’s not the case. Several studies compare sleep deprivation to intoxication–a study of 19-26 year olds found that their performance on tasks after being awake for 20 hours was equivalent to having a blood alcohol concentration of 0.10%. Try establishing a wind-down routine, avoiding screens right before bed, and remember to make sleep a priority.
• Sunbox light therapy lamps: Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) affects millions of people, and one way of coping with SAD is to use light therapy. There are Sunbox light therapy lamps on the 3rd and 4th floors of The Ames Library–try spending 20-30 minutes with a Sunbox lamp to help lift your mood.
• Titan Pantry: Take what food you need from the Titan Pantry, located in the Hansen Student Center (in the lockers by the main floor restrooms). The Titan Pantry is free and anonymous.
• Take regular breaks: Set a timer for 10 minutes and stretch, go for a walk or other form of exercise, relax your jaw, get a drink of water, talk to a friend, or do something that brings you joy.
• Ask a Librarian Chat: Monday-Friday, from 1-4 pm, a librarian is online and ready to help answer your questions!
• Citation refresher: Working on your citations page? Let MegaSearch help you! (Click image below to enlarge.)

Next week, visit the Finals Toolkit for relaxing activities and stress-busters. You’re doing great!

Finals week is right around the corner, and The Ames Library is here to help you finish the semester strong! We’ll be sharing resources for planning study sessions and finishing assignments, taking care of yourself (and getting plenty of sleep!), and finding ways to unwind.

The end of the semester goes by fast. Take some time now to prepare for the next few weeks with these tools, which can help you plan ahead for exams and final projects. Your future self will thank you!

• Schedule an appointment with a librarian: Librarians can meet with you for 15, 30, or 60 minutes, either in person or on Zoom, and can help with brainstorming keywords to finding sources for a research paper. Choose “Ames Librarians” from the dropdown menu to make an appointment.
• Schedule an appointment at the Writing Center: Writing Center tutors can help you organize your thoughts for your final papers. Choose “Writing Center | Tutoring Services” from the dropdown menu to make an appointment.
• Reserve a study room: You can book a study room or project room in the library up to one month in advance. Reserve your finals study space now!
• Review Research & Course Guides: Now is a great time to review the library’s Research & Course Guides, where you’ll find information to help you research, tips for using the library, citation tools, and more. Search by subject (like biology or English) or for a specific course.
• Renew your library materials: Think you might need that library book until after finals are over? Extend the due date by renewing it!
• Request books or articles with I-Share and ILLiad: If the book or article you need isn’t available from The Ames Library, don’t worry! It’s easy to request articles to be delivered to you electronically via ILLiad or to request books from other I-Share libraries (you’ll be notified when they arrive and can pick them up at the Library Services Desk). It’s fast, but it’s not immediate, so planning your ILLiad and I-Share requests sooner rather than later is recommended.

Next week, we’ll be sharing strategies for taking care of yourself!

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is experiencing intermittent access issues when being used off campus. Oxford is aware of the issue and working to resolve the problem. If you cannot access OED and are being asked to pay for a subscription, please clear your browser’s cache, close the window, and try accessing OED again. If the problem persists after clearing the cache, please submit a Report a Problem form, and we will follow up with you via email. Thanks for your patience!

Due to necessary testing, library electronic resources will be down Saturday, July 29, from 10-11 p.m. Library electronic resources, including databases, journals, and ebooks, may not be available during this time. Thank you for understanding!

If you encounter an error with library electronic resources once testing is complete, please submit a Report a Problem form, and library staff will get back to you via email.

The Ames Library has resources to help IWU students, staff, and faculty stay informed and entertained this summer:

New York Times Audio:

As part of the library’s digital subscription to The New York Times, you also have access to New York Times Audio, a new app that NYT describes as the “audio front page.” Before using the app, be sure you have created an NYT account via The Ames Library by visiting this link and signing up with your @iwu.edu email address (find more registration details here). You can then download and log into the NYT Audio app as well as NYT News app.

The Economist app:

IWU students, staff, and faculty have access to The Economist via The Ames Library, and that includes The Economist app. To use the app, make sure you have signed up for an account on economist.com using your @iwu.edu email address, then download the app from your preferred app store. Login to the app with your @iwu.edu email address and the password you created for The Economist.

Popular Reading Collection:

There are over 300 print books in The Ames Library’s Popular Reading Collection–a great place to find a good summer read! The collection is located on the first floor of the library, and thanks to a new feature in MegaSearch, you can also browse the collection online. Visit the Collections Discovery page to see what is available, then stop by the library to check it out. Be sure to browse the fantastic titles found in the Diverse Book Awards collections and Minor Myers, jr. Honors Collection as well.

You’re almost there, Titans! We’re getting close to the finish line for the spring semester. Check out our Finals Toolkit blog posts to help you prepare for finals and take care of yourself in the process.

• Finals Toolkit, Part 1: Finish Smart
• Finals Toolkit, Part 2: Finish Strong
• Finals Toolkit, Part 3: Finish Well

Be sure to stop by the Self-Care Station on the first floor of The Ames Library for a mindful study break!

Update: The issue affecting library accounts has been resolved. You should now be able to login to your library account to renew or request items, view your loans, or save to your MegaSearch favorites.

Please contact circ@iwu.edu if you experience any problems when logging into your account. Thank you for your patience!

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Due to an issue with our library systems, users cannot login to their library accounts. If you try to login to your library account to renew or request items, view your loans, or save to your MegaSearch favorites, you will see the error message, “The login process has failed. Please refer to the library for assistance.”

Please contact circ@iwu.edu for assistance with renewing or requesting items while accounts are inaccessible. We apologize for the inconvenience and will update this post as necessary. Thank you for your patience!

The Ames Library will be closed from Friday, December 23, through Monday, January 2.

You may continue to submit I-Share and ILLiad requests while the library is closed, but please note that requests placed during that time will be processed starting January 3. Requests submitted close to December 23 may not arrive until after January 3.

Remember, The Ames Library’s online journals, articles, media, ebooks, and databases remain available to you when the library is closed!