ASK A LIBRARIAN ANYTHING: "Ask a Librarian is a national online enquiry service for the general public provided by public library reference staff.
All the library authorities involved have volunteered to take part.
At present 44 libraries are participating and are answering questions for one day approximately every six weeks.
The service is coordinated by Earl, the consortium for public library networking. Access is through a form on the Ask a Librarian web site from which the questions are routed automatically to a different library each day. The service has been operating for six months and its success is currently being evaluated with a view to planning future developments. "
snip
Many of the questions received relate to genealogical or local history enquiries. Users of the service, particularly those from overseas, find it difficult to know where to start their research, especially as some knowledge of local authority areas is required to identify the appropriate collection.
Referrals from the participants have succeeded in getting many people to the starting point they need and for enquirers from overseas the ability to provide an email contact or fax number is invaluable.
All the library authorities involved have volunteered to take part.
At present 44 libraries are participating and are answering questions for one day approximately every six weeks.
The service is coordinated by Earl, the consortium for public library networking. Access is through a form on the Ask a Librarian web site from which the questions are routed automatically to a different library each day. The service has been operating for six months and its success is currently being evaluated with a view to planning future developments. "
snip
Many of the questions received relate to genealogical or local history enquiries. Users of the service, particularly those from overseas, find it difficult to know where to start their research, especially as some knowledge of local authority areas is required to identify the appropriate collection.
Referrals from the participants have succeeded in getting many people to the starting point they need and for enquirers from overseas the ability to provide an email contact or fax number is invaluable.
posted by Hugh W at 3:01 pm
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