The University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries system is participating in a free new service called AskColorado that will answer reference questions around the clock via the Internet.
The service allows anyone in the state to use the Web to ask questions 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without waiting. Using a chat format and online information resources, library staff volunteers answer questions immediately, help find information and point people in the right direction.
According to Jennifer Knievel, reference librarian and CU-Boulder AskColorado coordinator, this service will help to offset the recent reduction in library hours around holidays due to budget constraints. "And our staff are helping to provide this service directly by working some of the online reference desk hours," she said.
The service is provided by more than 40 Colorado libraries, including the state library, and is available in English and Spanish.
The first year is funded through a Library Services and Technology Act grant administered by the Colorado State Library, a unit of the Colorado Department of Education. Libraries also are contributing money and staff time to help defray the costs.
Anyone can access AskColorado at . Users of the CU-Boulder online catalog at also can get to the service through the e-Resources A-Z List, then C for Colorado Virtual Library, then the AskColorado link on the right of the masthead.
On the CU-Boulder Libraries Web site at www-libraries.colorado.edu, AskColorado can be accessed through the "Libraries Information" menu item on the front page, then A, then AskColorado; or directly to www-libraries.colorado.edu/about/askcolorado.htm.