Dear libraries of Washington State,

Are your users on the internet? I’m willing to bet that a lot of them are.

Do they use chat software to communicate? IM tools like ICQ and AIM have been around since 1996/1997 (respectively), and companies like Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! all provide IM services. Chat and IM aren’t new, and lots of people use them to communicate with friends, family, and colleagues.

Chat and email are probably the two most-used methods for online communication.

So, can your users employ these methods to contact your library? To ask you questions? To tap into your expertise?

Make it easier for them.

Join Ask-WA, Washington’s Statewide Virtual Reference Cooperative, and collaborate with more than sixty library systems throughout Washington State that are providing live, 24/7 chat reference to their users.

Starting in 2010, the Washington State Library is picking up the tab for this fantastic service (thanks to IMLS), which means that participating in Ask-WA, and providing 24/7 chat reference to your users, will be completely free. Zero $. Nada. That’s a pretty good price.

Want to find out more? Ready to jump aboard?

Check out the Ask-WA project page, located at http://www.secstate.wa.gov/quicklinks/askwa/.

Tags: 24/7, AIM, ask, Ask-Wa, Ask-Wa, askalibrarian, chat, chat reference, chat with a librarian, cooperative, email, free, ICQ, IM, instant messaging, library cooperative, online communication, questions, reference, reference cooperative, virtual reference, VR

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