Virtual Reference Opportunities!

AskUs 24 7 Virtual Reference: In 2009, SCRLC became a consortial member of the AskUs 24/7 virtual reference collaborative. Our Council continues to participate, which lowers costs for SCRLC libraries wanting to be part of the service. If you were not able to join last year, you can still participate. Joining through SCRLC saves you the set-up charge and the “population served” fee—you pay only the yearly administrative cost, which is based on your materials budget (print and electronic). We can also provide free, on-demand AskUs 24/7 learning opportunities for SCRLC participants. For complete information about AskUs 24/7, please visit http://www.askus247.org/info.

Materials Budget Range Administration Fee
$0 - $49,999 $ 230.00
$50,000 - $99,999 $ 290.00
$100,000 - $249,999 $ 410.00
$250,000 - $499,999 $ 650.00
$500,000 - $999,999 $ 1,100.00
$1,000,000-$1,499,999 $1,700.00
$1,500,000 - $1,999,999 $ 2,300.00
$2,000,000 - $2,499,999 $ 2,900.00
$2,500,000 - $2,999,999 $ 3,500.00
$3,000,000 - $3,499,999 $ 4,100.00
$3,500,000 - $3,999,999 $ 4,700.00
$4,000,000 - $4,499,999 $ 5,300.00
$4,500,000 - $4,999,999 $ 5,900.00
$5,000,000 + $ 6,200.00

SCRLC AskUs 24/7 participants: Cornell University, Corning Museum of Glass, Finger Lakes Library System, SUNY Cortland, SUNY Delhi, SUNY Oneonta, Tompkins-Cortland Community College, and Wells College.

My Info Quest: Txt 4 Answers: SCRLC continues to partner in the My Info Quest collaborative SMS text reference pilot project. The pilot phase runs through the end of 2010. Participating libraries contribute staff time (on the desk—usually an hour or two per week). There is no other cost at this time; fees are expected to be very minimal after the pilot phase ends in December (i.e., less than $200). Librarians do not need to know how to “text” to participate. The questions are texted by users via mobile device and sent through the Altarama interface to a Gmail account. The librarian on the desk sees only the Gmail account. The learning curve is practically nonexistent and we can provide free training. Nearly 70 libraries from around the country and Canada are participating, and it is a great opportunity to explore a collaborative library approach to our increasingly mobile device-populated world! The hours of service constantly expand and are currently Mondays through Thursdays from 9AM-11PM, Saturdays 9AM-9PM, Sundays 10AM-7PM eastern time.
Note: Libraries participating in AskUs 24/7 will soon have another text reference option. Mosio and OCLC recently announced development of an application programming interface (API) to integrate Mosio’s Text a Librarian with QuestionPoint, OCLC’s virtual reference software. QuestionPoint users will get a discounted price on the Text a Librarian product (using this product will be entirely optional for each library).

If you are interested in joining either AskUs 24/7 or My Info Quest, please contact Mary-Carol Lindbloom @ mclindbloom@scrlc.org 607-273-9106