Get online answers 24/7 through new library service

December 17, 2013

Starting Aug. 19, asking a Washington State University librarian for help with a research topic, citation styles or other resources will be just as convenient as searching the Web anytime day or night.

WSU Libraries has joined Ask-WA, a service coordinated by the Washington State Library in participation with libraries statewide. WSU faculty, students and staff can get a quality answer within minutes, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, through the website at http://libraries.wsu.edu/ask.

Ask 24/7

WSU Libraries’ staff members answer chat questions weekdays 10 a.m.-4 p.m. All other hours—4 p.m.-10 a.m. Monday-Friday and all day Saturday and Sunday—chat questions are answered by librarians from other academic institutions who have access to WSU’s policies, catalog and library guides. They use their professional expertise to answer questions or refer them to other experts.

In 2012, college students and faculty statewide asked 16,430 questions using Ask-WA.

“Now that WSU Libraries are part of the statewide cooperative service, our library users can get help all of the hours they are searching for information, not just when the library is open,” said Marilyn Von Seggern, WSU Libraries’ government information librarian. “Other academic libraries in the state have shown how useful and convenient Ask-WA is for their library users.”

For more information, contact Jane Scales (scales@wsu.edu), WSU Libraries’ electronic projects librarian.