Professional Reading Shelf
Source: National Library of Australia Gateways
An Update: AskNow, Australia’s National Collaborative Reference Service
From the article, An initiative of the Council of Australian State Libraries (CASL), AskNow! is a 12-month pilot to test the potential for collaboration, and to assess and evaluate the demand, for this type of service�in addition to exploring issues of staffing and sustainability. AskNow! uses 24/7 reference software provided by the Metropolitan Cooperative Library System (MCLS) in the United States, hosted on their server. In the beginning, two �seats� were licensed, allowing for two librarians to operate the service concurrently. AskNow! went live on 26 August 2002, with no marketing or promotion, and received 45 inquiries. Usage for the next four months was constant, at around 30�40 inquiries per day and around 700 per month. This allowed the service to be bedded down, and for staff to become familiar with a totally new way of delivering reference. User demographics and satisfaction with the service is assessed through an exit survey. The most popular age group in these early months was those aged between 35 and 49. It was pleasing to note that 41 per cent of users were living in regional areas.

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