Media Releases

MEDIA RELEASE - Monday, 13 January 2003

The virtual reference desk is at your location now

Australians, whether in capital cities, regional centres or in remote locations, are now able to access information quickly and easily with a new library service AskNow! online answers Australia-wide.

AskNow!, a collaborative service provided by the Council of Australian State Libraries – the state and territory libraries of Australia and the National Library, is a virtual reference desk where answers are provided immediately by librarians expertly searching library catalogues, databases and the Internet. Key features are that the process occurs in real time using chat software, and its ease of use by anyone with Internet access.

Customers click on the AskNow! icon, prominently displayed on all participating web sites or go directly to www.asknow.gov.au. A librarian will ‘chat’ online with the customer to answer the enquiry. A highlight of the service is that the librarian can ‘push’ web pages to a customer’s PC, so sites can be co-browsed, with customers guided through the search as both enquirer and librarian view the same pages.

AskNow! is available Monday to Friday from 9am to 8pm EST. Staff from participating libraries take turns at answering the queries, so customers receive answers from varying locations.

Fran Wilson, Manager Information Services, National Library of Australia and AskNow! Project Manager said, “In today’s fast paced climate libraries are only too pleased to offer this electronic service, which has harnessed the capabilities of the Internet. AskNow! demonstrates the commitment of libraries to constantly improving their customer services and providing equity of access to information.

“Clients have the satisfaction of interacting with a librarian and it’s a way of building new and different relationships with our customers. Librarians are skilled searchers on the Internet and with the vast quantities of information available we can find the information quickly and from reliable sources.

“The range of questions and the locations and ages of the AskNow! users are diverse. People in regional and remote Australia are particularly happy with the service because sometimes access to research materials is limited. Usage has been high since the earliest days of the project showing the need for this kind of innovation,” she said.

Media contact:
Yvonne Kennedy,
Director Communications and Marketing,
National Library of Australia,
Telephone: (02) 6262 1353 or 0411 753 891
Email: ykennedy@nla.gov.au

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