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April 13, 2009

Connecting with librarians, beyond the campus

Saturday, April 11, 2009
Last updated: Saturday April 11, 2009, 10:35 AM
BY BARBARA BOUCICAUT
NorthJersey.com
STAFF WRITER
WAYNE — The William Paterson University library has set up an "Ask a Reference Question" instant messaging service for students, and the public, to chat with a librarian through a live feed on the library’s Internet homepage.

The service is an alternative to QandANJ.org, which is a nationwide "Connect to a Librarian" instant messaging option based out of New Jersey library system. But unlike QandANJ, users of the WPU service are not required to have a library card, and people can access local information from a local source.

"The goal of all these services is to make things easier for students and more visible," said reference librarian Tony Joachim. "It’s a great way of getting in touch with us in the easiest way possible."

The program was introduced in 2007 as free software, which had to be downloaded onto a user’s computer. The university library then had to be added to a "buddy list" for live chatting. Now, Joachim says, the William Paterson library uses Meebo, a free online tool that allows users access to multiple online chatting devices without the hassle of separate windows and downloads.

Because Meebo is Web based, it allows librarians to chat from anywhere outside the library when students need information.

"Our intention was to provide a service to our community," said Richard Kearney, the electronic resources librarian. He said the service helped during the winter break, when the library is usually closed. Staff members volunteered their time during the break to help the students enrolled in online winter courses.

The reference desk is receiving three to four questions a week, said Joachim, but if it catches on, library staff will analyze usage time to keep the service running smoothly.

The reference desk is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and noon to 10 p.m. on Sundays. A staff of 11 reference librarians is available throughout the week to answer any question the students or anyone may have.

"They always say, go where your patrons are," Joachim said.

E-mail: boucicaut@northjersey.com

Posted by tumulty at April 13, 2009 8:51 AM

Comments

This is great publicity for William Paterson! Unfortunately, they got a lot of info about QandANJ wrong :-( You don't need a library card to use QandANJ.org if you are in New Jersey. If the system doesn't recognize the customer's computer IP address as being in NJ, it will prompt them for a NJ library card. Also, they refer to the service as a "a nationwide 'Connect to a Librarian' instant messaging option based out of New Jersey library system." QandANJ is a chat service, which is different from IM in that you can push web pages to the customer during a chat session, instead of just a URL. Also, QandANJ is a New Jersey service that is only backed up by other libraries nationally as part of a 24/7 Cooperative effort with other OCLC QuestionPoint libraries. A slight difference, but an important distinction since our main goal with QandANJ is for NJ librarians to help NJ customers.

Thanks!
Beth Cackowski
QandANJ.org Project Coordinator

Posted by: Beth [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 14, 2009 10:58 AM

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