Suffolk County Public Libraries are pleased to announce a major expansion of their Live Librarian Chat Service.
The Live Librarian service is a way for Suffolk public library users to open a one-on-one chat session with a real live librarian, online via an Internet connection. The service hours have been expanded to:
Sunday 5-11 PM and Monday-Thursday 3-11PM
To ask a question, patrons merely go to their library home page, which they can find at http://www.suffolk.lib.ny.us/suffolklibs.php. Each library provides a direct link to the Live Librarian service from their website. Click on the "Man in the Moon" logo. No downloads or special plug-ins are necessary. The librarian has special software which can 'push' information, such as a webpage, directly onto your computer desktop.
This means that the next time you need an encyclopedia, magazine,or newspaper article at a time when it's impossible or inconvenient to visit the library, you can 'instant message' your question and have an answer sent, usually within minutes. This saves you the time it would take to rummage through possibly hundreds of search engine results. The librarian is able to get into subscription databases and do an advanced search, as though you were in the library. When we find the answer to your reference question, it can be 'pushed' right onto your computer screen, or e-mailed to whatever address you specify.
No commuting, no photocopying, no dealing with not-quite-right search engine results. This is personalized service, tailored to meet your real-time information needs, and to help simplify an increasingly cluttered online environment.