Libraries in the region are invited to join the Ask Us 24/7 Virtual Chat service, coordinated by the Western NY Library Resources Council (WNYLRC). The Ramapo Catskill Library System joined the service last year and several  academic libraries in this region plan to join the service this summer. If you are interested in learning more about this service, SENYLRC is hosting a demonstration on June 3, 2009. More information is below.

Some highlights of the Ask Us 24/7 service:

  • Ask Us 24/7  http://www.askus247.org/ is a virtual chat service that connects people with reference librarians.
  • Ask Us 24/7 participates in QuestionPoint’s nation-wide virtual reference cooperative.
  • Ask Us 24/7 is available 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.
  • Ask Us 24/7 participants answer question for patrons and other Ask Us 24/7 participating libraries as well as for other libraries across the country participating in the nation -wide cooperative.
  • Ask us 24/7 participants provide over 40 hours on the nation-wide virtual desk.
  • Fewer virtual desk hours required than attempting it on your own.
  • Use of state-of-the-art chat and follow-up software for conducting the service.
  • Sophisticated reporting and statistical tools.
  • Librarians offer their patrons the ability to chat with a librarian any time of the day, any day of the week.


Cost to join Ask Us 24/7

WNYLRC offers reasonable pricing for this service and there are two possible ways for libraries to join:

1. Your library can join directly with WNYLRC. There are two fees for joining Ask Us 24/7. There is a one time set-up fee that is based upon librarian FTE and a annual participant fee based upon the library’s materials budget. Both fees are on a sliding scale. To give you an idea of the price, for a library with 7-10 librarian FTE, the one time set-up fee is $350 and if the library’s materials budget is between $500,000 and $999,999,  then the annual participant fee is $1,225.00. Please contact me <killian@senylrc.org> if you would like the exact price for your library.

2. WNYLRC provided SENYLRC with a regional rate for Ask Us 24/7, which could allow for any library in the region to join at a reduced rate. However, there has to be sufficient participation for the cost of this regional contract to be viable. If there are enough libraries interested in this service, then SENYLRC will consider partially subsidizing the service for all libraries to participate under the regional contract.

Opportunity to learn more about the Ask Us 24/7 service

Southeastern is hosting a Ask Us 24/7 Demonstration

Date:      Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Time:      10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Fee:        No charge
Speaker: Jaclyn McKewan, Special Projects Librarian, Western New York Library Resources Council

Demo description:
Maybe you’ve heard about Ask Us 24/7, New York State’s Virtual Reference Service, but you’re not sure if you want to join, and need more information – this session is just for you! You’ll learn about how the service works, the benefits to your library, and see a demo of an actual chat. If you do decide to join after all, you can still attend our full-fledged training session the next day if there’s room, or arrangements can be made for training at a later date.

Please register for this demo online. Registration: http://www.senylrc.org/reg/

Is your library interested in joining?

If your library is interested in joining this service, we would like to hear from you. In order for us to pursue the regional pricing and the possibility of a subsidy, we need to know how much interest there is in Ask Us 24/7 from the region’s libraries. I would appreciate it if you would email me directly at <killian@senylrc.org> by June 15th if your library has any interest in joining Ask Us 24/7.