West Virginia University Libraries are among 31 institutions across the nation participating in a pilot program to provide virtual reference services to people seeking government information.
The Government Information Online service allows researchers to go online and ask questions or seek information about state and federal government. Patrons access the service through a link on the WVU Libraries Web page (www.libraries.wvu.edu) or directly athttp://govtinfo.org/. From this site users can e-mail a question or engage in a real-time chat session with a librarian.
More and more citizens are seeking information about government programs, services and policies, and this virtual reference service makes it easy for Internet users to get that information quickly from qualified reference specialists all over America,said Penny Pugh, head reference librarian at the Downtown Campus Library.
While researchers can continue to visit the WVU Libraries in person to obtain such information, I am pleased that those with Internet access can use this exciting new service to pose questions directly to government information specialists,she added.
Pugh is coordinating a team of librarians from WVU that includes Christine Chang, Kelly Diamond, Hilary Fredette and Barbara Lagodna. They share responsibilities with colleagues at the 30 other libraries to respond to e-mail inquiries and answer questions in a chat format. The site promises responses within 48 hours for e-mails. Immediate assistance, however, is available by chatting online with a government information librarian. The schedule is 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday.
WVU Libraries are a regional depository for state and federal documents. While all participating institutions are federal depositories, only a few serve as depositories for their state.
The pilot program, which runs through this spring, is being overseen by the Illinois State Library, in collaboration with the University of Illinois at Chicago. The service utilizes the QuestionPoint software of the Online Computer Library Center.
If the pilot program is successful, Pugh said the library will consider becoming part of a permanent virtual government information reference service.