Cal State San Bernardino’s John M. Pfau Library offers a number of services that include online training, textbook and equipment loaning programs, and workshops to help students, faculty and staff in their studies, research and teaching.

Virtual Library Multimedia Center

The Pfau Library’s Virtual Multimedia Center offers video production assistance to students who are creating videos for class assignments. Students can access free media production resources, quick how-to videos, and a media services specialist who will answer questions live via one-on-one online workshops. 

The center lends an array of equipment, including iPads, cameras, camcorders, tripods, lighting kits, microphones, projectors, screens and more. All current CSUSB students, faculty and staff with a valid Coyote ID can borrow these items for free, contactless. Equipment is only available for checkout on Thursdays and must be returned the following Monday. This schedule allows time to disinfect and quarantine borrowed devices. Visit the Audio Visual Equipment webpage to learn how to request equipment online. 

Laptop Lending Program

The Pfau Library continues to lend laptops on an extended basis. In order to promote physical distancing and to reduce lines, students must fill out a reservation form. Laptop reservations are limited to students who do not have access to technology resources at home. Palm Desert Campus students can pick up laptops at the PDC.  

Workshops

Student-focused workshops are offered throughout the semester on a variety of topics, from finding e-books to citing sources. Check the library’s workshop calendar for dates and times and to register.

Recorded workshops, including those on citation styles, can be accessed at any time. 

If you’re a faculty member and would like to offer your students extra credit for attending a workshop, students will have the opportunity to provide their professor’s name and email address, and the librarian who taught the workshop will confirm attendance. 

Tailored workshops, either synchronous or asynchronous, can be requested using the Library Instruction Request form. Please note that requests should be made at least one week in advance to allow our librarians time to collaborate with you.

Summary of Online Services 

  • “Ask a Librarian” chat service. CSUSB librarians are available to answer research and library-related questions Monday-Friday (10 a.m.- 6.pm.); Saturday (10 a.m.-2 p.m.); no service on Sunday. For 24/7 help outside of these hours, click “24-hour Ask A Librarian (Non-CSUSB Librarians).”
  • Reference phone line (answered via Jabber): 909-537-5091. Same hours as “Ask a Librarian.”
  • Circulation Staff available Monday-Friday (8 a.m.- 4 p.m.); Saturday (9 a.m.- 4 p.m.); no service on Sunday. Call 909-537-5090. Answered via Jabber.
  • Schedule a research appointment with librarian subject specialists (30-minute consultation via Zoom with screen sharing capability).
  • Email a Librarian (answered within 24 hours).
  • Video tutorials for students (beginning, intermediate and advanced). Each research tutorial concludes with a quiz, and students receive a certificate of completion that they can download.
  • Text a question (quick, non-research questions): 909-542-8990.
  • “Ask Special Collections” chat feature.
  • ScholarWorks (online access to a range of digital content).
  • Helpful Library Guides: 

Visit Library Guides to view the whole collection.

Textbooks, contactless pickup, CSU+, and Interlibrary Loan

The Pfau Library continues to make every effort to obtain both print and electronic textbooks, funding permitting. Throughout the COVID-19 campus closure, required textbooks available for library purchase were acquired. Unfortunately, some publishers do not sell e-textbooks to libraries. In those cases, purchase of the e-textbook is not possible. 

Normally, purchased print textbooks are placed on Course Reserves and are available for two-hour checkout. Currently, these materials are not available for checkout, but limited scanning is available at the instructor’s request. Get tips on finding textbooks from the library at Textbooks: Student Information.

Books from the library’s main collection can be requested online for contactless pickup from lockers located in the library’s north breezeway, across from the CGI building. Patrons who request items for delivery to PDC will receive an email when items are available for pickup from PDC lockers. 

The CSU+ service, where books from another CSU library can be delivered for free to CSUSB, has resumed. There may be delays, however, in processing requests due to quarantine procedures that protect members of the campus community. Books requested through CSU+ will be available for pickup in the same place and contactless manner as for main collection books. 

The Interlibrary Loan department continues to process requests for journal articles and book chapters. 

Email circ@csusb.edu for questions about your library account; ill@csusb.edu for Interlibrary Loan inquiries; and rlumley@csusb.edu for PDC Library-related questions.

For the latest updates and additional information on library operations, visit Pfau Library Services During the Campus Closure.