October
31, 2003 - Second Anniversary
September
11, 2003
- Your Life Doesn't Keep Regular Hours...
September
26, 2002
- First Anniversary
August
23, 2002 - Award winner
January
28, 2002
- Hours expand to 24/7
September
17, 2001
- Q and A NJ goes live
QandANJ
CELEBRATES SECOND ANNIVERSARY AND RECEIVES LIBRARY SERVICE AWARD
Gibbsboro, NJ (October 31, 2003)
QandANJ celebrated its second full year of service on October 1, 2003. For the occasion, State Librarian Norma Blake presented an award for their excellent service to
the residents of New Jersey to each of QandANJ’s 37 participating libraries.
During a special luncheon ceremony, Ms. Blake thanked the participating libraries and
their staffing librarians for all they have done "to make QandANJ one of the most
important library services in New Jersey and the best Live Reference Service in the
United States."
Photos of QandANJ library project managers accepting Library Service Award plaques
are online at <http://www.sjrlc.org/pictures/qandanj>.
QandANJ raced towards its second anniversary still in the "customers served" lead.
Questions answered in September 2003 were double the number in September 2002; usage in October 2003 is 40% higher than October 2002.
Two years into the service, Mount Laurel Library project manager Kelly Davenport
marvels at how much she and her staff have learned and improved as virtual reference
librarians--not simply in terms of technology and reference but in interpersonal skills as
well. After just two months with QandANJ, UMDNJ-Smith Library project manager Peggy Dreker is impressed with how she and her staff have become smarter librarians.
"Moving between a medical student with a question about women and the BRCA gene to
a QandANJ customer asking how to remove an old ink stain from sneakers has made us
offer better all around services. QandANJ has also made us more in touch with current
issues."
Increased customer awareness and experienced virtual librarians set the stage for
QandANJ’s next year of service.
The following participating member libraries of the New Jersey Library Network
provide the staff that makes QandANJ happen:
Atlantic City Public Library, Burlington County College Library, Burlington County
Library, Camden County Library, Centenary College Library, Cherry Hill Public Library,
Cumberland County Library, East Brunswick Public Library, Gloucester County College Library, Gloucester County Library, Hunterdon County Library, Mercer County
Library, Middlesex Community College Library, Middletown Public Library, Millburn
Public Library, Monmouth County Library, Montclair Public Library, Mount Laurel Library, New Brunswick Free Public Library, New Jersey City
University Guarini Library, New Jersey State Library, Newark Public Library, Ocean
County Library, Old Bridge Public Library, Piscataway Public Library, Princeton Public
Library, Ruth L. Rockwood Memorial Library at Livingston (starting fall 2003), Somerset County Library, South Brunswick Public Library, University of Medicine &
Dentistry of New Jersey Health Sciences Library at Stratford, University of Medicine &
Dentistry of New Jersey Smith Library of Health Sciences (Newark), Vineland Public
Library, Wayne Public Library, West Deptford Public Library, West Orange Public Library, William Paterson
University Cheng Library, and Woodbridge Public Library.
For more information, please contact Karen Hyman, Executive Director, South Jersey
Regional Library Cooperative, at 856-346-1222 or email <hyman@sjrlc.org>.
See also <http://www.qandanj.org/description/>.
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Happy
"Answer-versary"!
New Jersey celebrates one year of librarians’ online question-answer service
Gibbsboro, NJ, September 26, 2002 - What a difference one year and 15,000 answers make.
October 1st, 2002, marks the first anniversary of Q and A NJ, an
innovative, exciting and FREE service that information-hungry New Jerseyans have made one of the busiest in the world. Accessible on the Web at
www.QandANJ.org, it lets the user connect online, in real time, with a knowledgeable librarian for help with any topic or information need. Except for a
few major national holidays, Q and A NJ is accessible every hour of every day so
that Garden Staters can get reliable, speedy answers to their questions from the
professionals entrusted to provide them--experienced reference librarians working in participating libraries throughout the state.
One point that’s not subject to question: New Jerseyans want to know about
nearly every imaginable subject--and they want to know NOW. Used by adults of all ages and school-age children alike, Q and A NJ has fielded the full
gamut of queries: from business lookups and real estate prices to term paper topic
research and job-hunting help. Answers come during a while-you-wait chat with a librarian who sends information directly to the questioner’s computer during
their online session. The information may take the form of an approved Web site, an online database record, an excerpt from a book, or even data packaged
into a customized format.
New for Fall 2002: Q and A NJ is the first--and currently only--statewide virtual reference service in the United States. And now it’s making a good thing even better: Live Homework Help from qualified tutors joined the service offerings in
September 2002. Tutors can proofread a short paper or even help solve a math problem. To try out any of the Q and A NJ services, log onto
www.QandANJ.org.
After a spectacularly successful inaugural year, Q and A NJ users compare their
online sessions to an in-person visit to the library--with a few positive differences: This public service lets them stay at their office desks, is open at 2
a.m., doesn’t require changing to street wear from pajamas, and keeps them dry
during rain and snowstorms. Besides convenience, they cite the quality of the service: the one-on-one interaction with a live person instead of a
recorded message or static Web page, professional help finding the answer, and the
quickness of the answers.
Q and A NJ-participating libraries are proud to make a difference in the
intellectual life of the statewide community and to help break even more new ground as Q and A NJ enters its second year of service. The following member
libraries graciously give their time to serve users from around the state as well
as their local communities:
Atlantic City Free Public Library,
Burlington County College Library, Burlington County Library, Camden County Library,
Cherry Hill Free Public Library, Cumberland County Library, East Brunswick Public Library,
Educational Information & Resource Center (EIRC), Gloucester County College Library,
Gloucester County Library, Hunterdon County Library, Mercer County Library, Middletown Public Library,
Millburn Public Library, Monmouth County Library, Montclair Public Library, Mount Laurel Library,
New Brunswick Free Public Library, New Jersey Nightline, New Jersey State Library,
Newark Public Library, Ocean County Library, Old Bridge Public Library, Piscataway Public Library,
Princeton Public Library, Somerset County Library, South Brunswick Public Library,
UMDNJ Health Sciences Library in Stratford, Vineland Public Library, Wayne Public Library,
West Deptford Public Library, West Orange Public Library, Woodbridge Public Library.
Q and A NJ is supported by the New Jersey State Library with federal Library
Services and Technology Act funds and administered by the South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative, a state tax-funded service of the New Jersey
Library Network.
Happy "Answer-versary" to Q and A NJ!
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QandANJ
LIBRARIAN WINS SECOND SAMUEL SWETT GREEN AWARD FOR BEST VIRTUAL
REFERENCE TRANSACTION. Click
here for Press Release.
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OPEN ALL NIGHT: "Q AND A NJ" LIVE ONLINE INFORMATION SERVICE EXPANDS TO 24 HOURS
GIBBSBORO, NJ, January 28, 2002 - It's 2 a.m. and you've got a craving for eggplant-but not to eat it. The idle query posed by your dining partner at the Italian restaurant has been bothering you all evening: Just how many different kinds of eggplant are there, anyway? You looked on the Internet but got mired down in useless Web sites. And now it's the middle of the night, and doggone it if you can't get to sleep without satisfying your curiosity. Maddening, isn't it?
Not anymore. Q and A NJ-the virtual reference service that lets New Jerseyans connect online with professional librarians who send the most relevant Web sites and other information directly to your computer while you wait-now serves up what you need, when you need it, like an all-night diner. But there's never a check to pay because every real-time chat with an information professional is absolutely free.
A live service for only four months, Q and A NJ expands to 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as of January 28. A network of participating New Jersey libraries, now 26 up from 18 and still growing, staffs the cyberdesk
from 9 a.m.-11 p.m. Overnight service is provided by librarians at LSSI, the Maryland-based software provider for the service.
Here's how Q and A NJ works: New Jersey residents go to www.QandANJ.org and are connected with an experienced librarian using state-of-the-art software. He or she then searches the Internet, evaluates and selects from Web sites and specialized databases, and sends the most on-target information directly to your computer screen. Whether it's a niggling vegetable question or something more critical, the Q and A staff will address questions on virtually any subject-job hunting, health, homework, hobbies, science, business, trivia, you name it, and all within a few minutes.
The Q and A New Jersey Live Online Reference Project rolled out with just ten participating libraries in southern New Jersey, but State Library funding "turned it into a statewide project with national significance," said South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative executive director Karen Hyman. "This is a cutting edge service that puts libraries in the forefront," according to Carol Nersinger, Head of Library Development at the New Jersey State Library. "We have trained information professionals and we're taking library service to where the people are."
Participating libraries and services on board as of January 28 are:
Atlantic City Free Public
Library, Burlington County College Library, Burlington County Library, Camden County Library,
Cherry Hill Free Public Library, Cumberland County Library, East Brunswick Public Library,
Educational Information & Resource Center (EIRC), Gloucester County College Library,
Gloucester County Library, Middletown Public Library, Millburn Public Library, Monmouth County Library,
New Jersey Nightline - based at the East Brunswick Public Library, New Jersey State Library,
Newark Public Library, Ocean County Library, Piscataway Public Library, Princeton Public Library,
Somerset County Library, South Brunswick Public Library, UMDNJ Health Sciences Library in Stratford,
Vineland Public Library, West Deptford Public Library, West Orange Public Library ,
Woodbridge Public Library.
Q and A NJ is supported by the New Jersey State Library with federal Library Services and Technology Act funds and administered by the South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative, a state tax-funded service of the New Jersey Library Network.
Some food for thought: Whether it's eggplant or aeronautics, 10 p.m. or the crack of dawn, you can satisfy your need to know now.
Q and A NJ. We never close. And you never have to leave a tip.
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WHY ASK JEEVES? NEW
JERSEY LIBRARY NETWORK LAUNCHES LIVE, ONLINE INFORMATION SERVICE.
GIBBSBORO, NJ,
September 17, 2001 -
Move over, Yahoo. Why ask Jeeves? Meet Q and A NJ.org, combining the information smarts of
librarians with the speed and convenience of the Internet.
When you start a session at www.QandANJ.org, a librarian will chat with you in real-time, using
technology that combines Internet chat with the ability to instantly send web sites and other
information directly to your computer. Professional librarians from Southern and Central New Jersey
libraries in the New Jersey Library Network will staff Q and A NJ on the Web. Unlike other "expert"
sites on the Web, there is no charge to use this service.
Starting October 1, Q and A NJ will be live Monday through Thursday from 1:00 PM to 11:00 PM and Friday
1:00 to 5:00 PM. Hours will expand as additional libraries are added to the project throughout the
fall and winter to provide shared staffing from an anticipated 50 libraries statewide. Q and A NJ will be the first web-based, live reference service
delivered on a statewide basis.
"People may be thinking, I can get the information I need by myself on the Internet or by calling the
library," says Karen Hyman, director of the South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative, "but Q and A NJ
enhances that experience by allowing the librarian to escort you to the best Internet sites including fee-based sites unavailable
to the general public -- from the comfort and convenience of your home, school, or office. This is a great opportunity to have an
expert show you how to navigate the Web and find information that is credible, reliable, and up to
date."
Peter Bromberg, a 34-year-old librarian from Voorhees, worked the reference desk at the Camden County Library for four years, answering questions
like "How can I become a licensed physician’s assistant?" "When is the proper time to transplant asparagus?" and "Where can I get a map of Europe in 1919?" Using Q and A NJ he will field the same
kinds of questions at a "virtual reference desk" where people will ask questions and get instant
answers online.
Current participants who will staff the service include: Atlantic City Free Public Library,
Burlington County College Library, Burlington County Library, Camden County Library, Cherry Hill Free
Public Library, Cumberland County Library, East Brunswick Public Library, Educational Information &
Resource Center (Sewell), Gloucester County College Library, Gloucester County Library, Middletown Public
Library, Monmouth County Library, New Jersey Nightline, New Jersey State Library, Ocean County Library, Princeton Public
Library, University of Medicine and Dentistry on New Jersey Health Sciences Library in Stratford, Vineland
Public Library, West Deptford Public Library.
Q and A NJ is administered by the South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative, a state tax-funded
service of the New Jersey Library Network and supported by Federal Library Services and Technology
Act funds administered by the New Jersey State Library. Headquartered in
Gibbsboro, the South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative is an
organization of over 550 academic, public, school and special libraries in the southern seven counties and
is one of four library cooperatives in New Jersey.
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