Ask a Librarian
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Ask a Librarian is Florida's statewide collaborative live virtual reference service. Ask a Librarian began as a partnership between the College Center for Library Automation (CCLA) and the Tampa Bay Library Consortium (TBLC). Ask a Librarian was funded initially in 2002-2003 with Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds as a pilot project of the Florida Electronic Library. Ask a Librarian is currently an official service of the Florida Electronic Library. The service was activated on July 28, 2003.[1] Ask a Librarian currently has 103 participating libraries,[2] including 49 public libraries and library systems,[3] K-12 libraries,[4] and 48 college libraries[5] (four state universities, Florida's 28 community colleges, and private colleges). On August 19, 2007, Ask a Librarian answered Its 100,000th question. As of February 2011, Ask a Librarian has logged over 274,000 live virtual reference sessions and e-mail questions.[6]
The service provides all of Florida's citizens with live virtual reference services via local library customized web sites from 10 am to midnight EST Sunday through Thursday, and from 10 am to 5 pm EST Friday and Saturday. Participating libraries utilize the software to provide local live virtual reference services to their patrons. An e-mail form is available to patrons 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. All e-mail is answered by the local participating library.
Ask a Librarian Mobile debuted in January 2008. It provides email reference service to mobile devices.
On October 1, 2008, Ask a Librarian migrated to InstantService, a SaaS provider of e chat and email management solutions, to provide its new software platform,[7] enabling Ask a Librarian to continue its year to year growth and serve more patrons. InstantService is now part of the Oracle/ATG Live Help solution.[8]
[edit] References
- ^ http://info.askalibrarian.org/aboutaskalibrarian.asp
- ^ Participating libraries
- ^ http://info.askalibrarian.org/participatinglibs_public.asp
- ^ http://info.askalibrarian.org/participatinglibs_K-12.asp
- ^ http://info.askalibrarian.org/participatinglibs_college.asp
- ^ [1]
- ^ http://info.askalibrarian.org/vendorinformation.asp
- ^ http://info.askalibrarian.org/statistics
[edit] External links
- Ask a Librarian
- Ask a Librarian 2007-2008 Annual Report (PDF)
- Ask a Librarian Blog
- Ask a Librarian Mobile
- Ask a Librarian News and Information
- Ask a Librarian Online Patron Demo
- College Center for Library Automation
- Florida Electronic Library
- Tampa Bay Library Consortium
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