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Begun in the Fall of 2001, LIVE CHAT allows students, faculty,
and staff to ask questions online and get answers online in real-time
from reference librarians at academic libraries from across the
nation. As part of an expanded service contract through the Utah
Academic Library Consortium, the service is now available 24 hours-a-day,
365 days-a-year.
“With so many of the library’s resources now available
online and accessible remotely at all hours of the day, we felt
it important to offer reference support for those products at
all hours of the day,” explains Leslie Haas, Head of Reference
at the Marriott Library, “The Live Chat program allows us
to assist students through real-time, interactive online sessions,
just as though the person were standing right in front of the
reference desk. We can walk students through their search strategies,
“push” (send) materials to them via computer, and
answer general reference questions related to collections and
library services.”
“By pooling our people resources with several other libraries
across the nation (32 libraries to be exact), we are able to offer
this wonderful service to our students at a very reasonable annual
cost,” comments Library Director Sarah Michalak, “LIVE
CHAT is one example of how we strive to offer the best in technology
while maintaining the human touch through customer service.”
Topics such as how to use the Library’s catalog, where
to begin your research, or how to connect from off campus are
examples of what can be answered by online librarians (in addition
to sources of quotes...)
To “chat” with a librarian online, simply click on
the LIVE CHAT icon on the Marriott’s home page: http://www.lib.utah.edu.
Want to know more about this service? Contact Marriott Library
Reference Head Leslie Haas at 585-9190.
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