Pitt Launches New "Ask-a-Librarian Live" Interactive Service
PITTSBURGH—University of Pittsburgh library users now can participate in a real-time interactive session with a librarian with just a click of the mouse.
"Ask-a-Librarian Live" is a new, free digital reference service offered from noon to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays by the University Library System (ULS). It is designed to assist patrons who do not want to physically come into the library with issues ranging from renewing a book to researching a complex topic.
Users can log on to ULS home page (www.library.pitt.edu) and click the
Ask-a-Librarian Live button to initiate a real-time chat with a University librarian, who can show the patron how to use the more than 500 full-text databases and can instantly send information to the patron's computer.
"Why take any old piece of information off the Web when you can have an expert help you find a definitive answer?" says Elizabeth Mahoney, coordinator of the ULS digital reference services. "The user can be sure this information is accurate."
When the live service is unavailable, there is an automatic default to the e-mail
Ask-a-Librarian service. All patrons may use the e-mail service, but "Ask-a-Librarian Live" is available only to those with a Pitt computer account and password.
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