[OPLINLIST] State Library Launches 24/7 Virtual Reference Service

[Jane Byrnes]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:	Jane Byrnes, Public Information		or	Bob
Carterette
		614-644-6875					216-623-2854
		jbyrnes@sloma.state.oh.us <mailto:jbyrnes@sloma.state.oh.us>
bob@cpl.org <mailto:bob@cpl.org> 


State Library Launches 24/7 Virtual Reference Service

May 17, 2004 - Columbus, OH - Beginning in September, every resident in the
state of Ohio will be able to get answers to questions through a 24/7
virtual reference service available from home, work, school, or a library.
Thanks to a $936,000 grant from the Federal Institute of Museum and Library
Services (IMLS) awarded by the State Library of Ohio, a 24/7 virtual
reference service will be launched for residents throughout the state of
Ohio. The service will be called KnowItNow 24x7. It is an expansion of the
virtual reference service currently being offered to libraries around the
state by the Cleveland Public Library, the busiest virtual reference service
in the nation. 

Librarians around the state will staff the service during regular library
hours and the Northern Ohio Library Association (NOLA) will coordinate
staffing the service with librarians during the night when libraries are
closed. Then, last-minute homework assignments, late night business reports,
and medical information needed at midnight will no longer be problematic.
The answers will be as close as your home computer. 

There are three primary partners in the project: Cleveland Public Library,
the Northern Ohio Library Association (NOLA), and Cuyahoga County Public
Library. These partners were selected because of their expertise in managing
virtual reference services serving Ohio's libraries and citizens.
Collectively, the three partners provide virtual reference services to 38%
of Ohio's population and have been doing so for a number of years. 

NOLA's AskUsNow 24/7 virtual reference service and the Ask-A-Pro service
offered by Cuyahoga County Public Library will be folded into the expanded
KnowItNow 24x7 virtual reference service. The statewide service will include
current offerings to Cleveland Public Library's existing accounts. These
offerings include HomeworkNow; ReadThisNow; Metrohealth's 24/7 answering
service staffed by RNs; and, the FirstCallForHelp service sponsored by the
United Way Services of Greater Cleveland. It will also include a Genealogy
service that is currently part of the Cuyahoga County Public Library's
virtual reference offerings.

Cuyahoga County Public Library will serve as fiscal agent for administering
the grant funds and facilitate the development of marketing tools for
libraries around the state in promoting the service. Cleveland Public
Library will be responsible for the technology involved in the service. And,
NOLA, with its 30 years of experience in continuing education, will
coordinate training of library staff around the state. The service will have
periodical evaluations of internal and external customers.