Ask-a-Librarian Service

The Ask-a-Librarian Service is a new way for students and other members of the Centre College community to get fundamental research help when and where they need it. Can you still stop by the reference desk and ask a question? Absolutely! We love that! But if you’re away from the library and have a quick question that can be easily answered by a reference librarian, you now have the option of using several of the widely-recognized instant messaging networks to get an answer on the spot!

Meebo is a free web-based instant messaging service that allows you to chat with your friends who are using any of the major IM networks (MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, AIM, and Google Chat), all from a single interface.

The difference between Meebo and other chat networks like MSN, Yahoo, and AIM is that the Meebo chat window can be embedded in web pages. This provides you with a quick and easy method of communicating with a reference librarian, whether you have an account with other chat services or not. For Centre College students, faculty and staff who do have other accounts, you have the option of using your favorite service to chat with us, or you can simply use the Meebo service right from our homepage.

Simply go to the library's homepage and look for the Meebo widget on the right side of the page. After checking to make sure a reference librarian is online (the Meebo window always displays a status message), just start typing your question! When we're online and logged into our Meebo account, we get alerts when we receive messages from any of the chat services we have accounts for, including Meebo. In other words, any chat question that comes in from any and all of the services we're registered to use will automatically pop up in our Meebo console, where we can respond to everyone's questions in one place. Be assured that your question will only be seen by the librarian who is monitoring Meebo at that moment. Even if other people are asking questions at the same time, they can't see your questions, and you won't be able to see theirs.

Good to know: Although you can chat us anonymously using Meebo (you'll get a "nickname" when you type a message), if you click on the nickname and type in your real name, it helps us distinguish who's who when we're chatting more than one person at a time. If you want to leave a question for us when we're offline, please be sure to provide us with a way to contact you later with an answer.

Only current students, faculty and staff are eligible to use the new service.

The library has IM accounts for the four services you see below. Simply follow the chat provider's instructions for adding the library's screen or user names:

	Yahoo	ReferenceCentre
	MSN	ReferenceCentre
	ICQ	ReferenceCentre
	AIM/iChat	CentreLib

Call (238-5280) or email Lesley Jackson, Reference and Electronic Resources Librarian, for more information.

Last updated August 11, 2010