Students with a burning, library-related question can now receive prompt answers without leaving their dorm room, apartment or Cybrary workstation. The University Libraries unveiled their "Instant Librarian" chat room services for regular use Sept. 10 after a trial period last spring.
The "Instant Librarian" chat room is based on the premise that most college students frequently use AOL Instant Messenger and similar messaging services. UB librarians thought employing a mode of communication students use and like would be a good way to facilitate communication between them, according to Judith Adams-Volpe, director of Lockwood Library and university and external relations for the University Libraries.
The Instant Librarian chat room was set up to answer all library-related questions. "A lot of the questions we have had back in the spring trial were where the students should go to get information about a certain topic; what database to use; what type of information do they need, whether it be a statistic or something else; where to do research for a paper that has been assigned," explained Adams-Volpe.
The idea of a chat room was also derived from student reluctance to leave their workstations and ask for assistance at the reference/information desks when using Cybrary computers.
"The librarian on duty has the responsibility, during certain hours, to watch the chat room for questions and answer them so presumably everybody does get an instant response," said Adams-Volpe.
During the chat room's trial run it was "accessed moderately," said Adams-Volpe.
Jill Hackenberg, Instant Librarian coordinator, anticipates the chat room being "really popular because if you have a question or something, you don't have to get in a car and travel some distance, and you also wouldn't have to make a long distance call if you needed to know something."
Although the service is still in its infancy and unknown compared to many other of the libraries' services, some students have already begun to utilize it.
"I believe the Instant Librarian is an excellent source for students so they can get valuable information wherever they are," said Christa Greenberg, coordinator of undergraduate studies. Greenberg added, "We have used it in the department looking for research articles and for some of the pilot studies that have been done."
Instant Librarian can be accessed by entering the University Libraries' Web site, http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/IM, and clicking the red entry button. Its current hours of operation are posted on the site.
