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Brrrrr, the icy temperatures and snow drifts may be keeping patrons indoors, but they still have lots of research and reference questions they need answers to. Our Reference on Call librarians have been busy helping patrons in cyberspace via 24/7 Reference. The kinds of questions run the gamut. The questions keep coming, sometimes three or four at a time. ROC librarians handle anything from your average book reserves, to the name of a quote at the beginning of a book (epigraph). Which continent touches both the northern and southern, eastern and western hemispheres; and what is the fastest reproducing cell in the body? Did Punxutawney Bill see his shadow on Groundhog Day, 2002? Yes, he did! Many of our patrons let us know that the librarians in their local towns suggested they try our service. Many thanks to you if you are one of those librarians helping to spread the word about Reference on Call.
If you haven't thought about it, let your patrons, especially students, know this free service is available. The ROC advantage to you is that it is a supplement to the services you already provide. Our librarians are available to assist students until 11:00pm on weeknights, Sundays until 9:00pm and all day on most holidays. 24/7 live reference chat allows them to interact with librarians 24 hours a day, and of course, the regional databases are always accessible. It is easy to create a link from your homepage to Reference On Call http://www.referenceoncall.org. This is the best way to make the service useful to your patrons, and it will enhance your services without added effort on your library's part! Remember that we are always available to meet with you or your students to show you ways you can get the most out of this service. Feel free to contact me at or 781-944-0840. Reference on Call is provided by NMRLS through state funding administered by the MBLC in co-operation with your local library.
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