Have a quick question? Just text a librarian!
Jamie Bell
Issue date: 8/11/09 Section: Announcements
The Criss Library now offers a texting service for students, in which they may text brief questions to a librarian and receive a response within 10 minutes.
The text-a-librarian feature is part of a national trial by libraries across the United States. It is designed to assist students using the technologies they are most comfortable with.
"We are trying to meet the information needs of students where they are, " said Linda Parker, an associate professor and social sciences reference librarian at the Criss Library. "We want to understand how students seek information."
The service is best used for short reference questions that are 160 characters or less, Parker said. Students can text their question to (309) 222-7740 and are asked to begin their question with "UNO" so the library can track the number of students using the service.
The text will be sent to one of many librarians across the nation. Site-specific questions - such as those referring to library hours - can be asked, as long as it can be accessed nationwide, Parker said.
The service is better suited for what Parker calls "quick-reference questions." These could be the location of a restaurant, biographical information, the author of a particular book or various other sorts of miscellaneous questions.
It is similar to Google's texting service, however, it is answered by a real person rather than an automated machine. It is also more academic than finding out the latest sports scores, weather updates and movie showings. Standard text messaging fees do apply.
The librarian texting service is available from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays, and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. You won't get a response on Sundays.
"We're excited," Parker said. "We are examining how we provide info to faculty, staff and students and are looking for the best combination of possible technologies."
Students aren't sure if the new feature will be popular but see some possible benefits, such as when they are away from home or school and can't access search engines for information.
The text-a-librarian feature is part of a national trial by libraries across the United States. It is designed to assist students using the technologies they are most comfortable with.
"We are trying to meet the information needs of students where they are, " said Linda Parker, an associate professor and social sciences reference librarian at the Criss Library. "We want to understand how students seek information."
The service is best used for short reference questions that are 160 characters or less, Parker said. Students can text their question to (309) 222-7740 and are asked to begin their question with "UNO" so the library can track the number of students using the service.
The text will be sent to one of many librarians across the nation. Site-specific questions - such as those referring to library hours - can be asked, as long as it can be accessed nationwide, Parker said.
The service is better suited for what Parker calls "quick-reference questions." These could be the location of a restaurant, biographical information, the author of a particular book or various other sorts of miscellaneous questions.
It is similar to Google's texting service, however, it is answered by a real person rather than an automated machine. It is also more academic than finding out the latest sports scores, weather updates and movie showings. Standard text messaging fees do apply.
The librarian texting service is available from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays, and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. You won't get a response on Sundays.
"We're excited," Parker said. "We are examining how we provide info to faculty, staff and students and are looking for the best combination of possible technologies."
Students aren't sure if the new feature will be popular but see some possible benefits, such as when they are away from home or school and can't access search engines for information.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
tomfeinberg
Writing a Thesis
posted 11/16/09 @ 4:47 AM CST
"We are trying to meet the information needs of students where they are," great idea!
Post a Comment