The University Library has launched a pilot program that allows members of the Yale community to communicate with Yale reference librarians in real time over the World Wide Web (WWW).
Titled "Ask! live," the new interactive library reference service is now available to all Yale faculty, students, staff and alumni.
It is designed to help individuals who want to ask a reference librarian a question when they are not near a phone, don't want to disconnect from the Internet to place a call or don't want to give up their library workstation to go to the reference desk. The service works from any Internet-connected computer -- both on and off campus.
Librarians can help individuals find books in Orbis, navigate the Yale Library's many electronic sources, identify resources on the Internet and answer questions about users' research. "Ask!" allows users to exchange text messages with the librarian simply by typing. Librarians can also send live WWW pages to a user's screen, and both the user and the librarian can view and interact on the same WWW page. At the end of the session, users get an e-mail transcript of the session that includes a list of the WWW pages that were suggested.
To use the service, select the link for "Ask! a librarian" on the WWW page at www.library.yale.edu/ and then select "Ask! live." The service will be available 1-5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday; 1-11 p.m. Wednesday; and 5-11 p.m. Sunday.
"Ask! live" is a collaborative pilot project of reference staff from throughout the Yale University Library system. The pilot will be conducted from October 2002 through June 2003.
"We are pleased and excited to be testing this new reference service," says University Librarian Alice Prochaska. "The pilot of 'Ask! live' is a perfect example of the Yale Library's continuing efforts to use technology to enhance the ways we support our many users. I encourage members of the Yale community to take advantage of this innovative service between now and June."
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