Volume 1, No. 1

Welcome to the new newsletter for providers and fans of KnowItNow (KIN), Ohio's 24x7 virtual reference service staffed by Ohioans for Ohioans. This will be a medium for sharing statistics, helpful resources, searching tips, and other information including comments from all of you. Email your comments, questions, advice, and other contributions to comments@knowitnow.org.

Coordinator's Corner: Kith of KIN

Many people have heard the expression "kith and kin," an old-fashioned way of saying "friends and relatives." If you look up "kith" in the Oxford English Dictionary, you'll find that it's a fine English word dating back over 1000 years meaning "The persons who are known or familiar, taken collectively; one's friends, fellow-countrymen, or neighbours." Taken collectively, we are all necessary for providing KnowItNow service, but we tend to be isolated in our own departments, branches, and libraries (or even in our homes when it comes to the AfterDark librarians).

As statewide KnowItNow Coordinator, I plan on making it easier for all of us to:

• share information among ourselves
• offer feedback to each other to help resolve common difficulties
• give encouragement to each other when the going gets rough
• share equitably in the burden of providing the best virtual reference service possible for all residents of the Buckeye State

I was a KnowItNow provider in the Literature Department of Cleveland Public Library for four years prior to being named KnowItNow Coordinator. I've experienced first-hand the stress of providing real-time KnowItNow service to multiple patrons simultaneously. However, I still think KnowItNow is a valuable service. KnowItNow is no different than someone emailing us, phoning us, sending a letter to us, or speaking to us. As the National Center for Education Statistics states, a reference question "may come in person, by phone, by fax, or by mail, electronic mail, or through live or networked electronic reference service from an adult, a young adult, or a child." Our service uses technology, but that is not what it is. It is simply a way of providing reference service.

So, what I'm saying is that we are all kith of KIN. Each individual KnowItNow provider has a valuable contribution to make. KnowItNow is successful when we all strive to be (and encourage each other to be) the best front-line reference service providers we can be, both in-person and online.

Don Boozer
KnowItNow Coordinator

March 2008 Statistics

The following chart shows the Top 20 KnowItNow providers who answered the most questions last month.

These twenty KnowItNow providers (approximately 12% of the total) answered 53.8% of all KnowItNow questions last month. Congratulations and keep up the great work! KnowItNow could not exist without you.

If we combine the KIN providers from Cleveland Public Library, AfterDark, and Dayton, the chart looks like this...

The following chart shows the twenty libraries whose patrons asked the most questions using KnowItNow last month.

RESOURCE OF THE MONTH
Money & Politics

The Ohio Primary is behind us, but we're still in the throes of the elections. We also have another contest coming in November. In light of this, you might have some patrons ask "Who contributed to [fill in the blank]'s campaign?" or "Where did [fill in the blank] get all their money to run?" The state has a wonderful resource for answering this about Ohio candidates:
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/campaignfinance/campaignFinance.aspx?Section=116

Or simply go to the Ohio Secretary of State's page and click on Campaign Finance in the menu at the left side. This page has a database of candidates and their campaigns (Search Candidates and Committees).

For national elections, try the Federal Election Commission homepage at http://www.fec.gov/.

To suggest a Resource of the Month, please email comments@knowitnow.org.

KnowItNow Staff

Don Boozer, KnowItNow Coordinator Brian Leszcz, KnowItNow Website Coordinator Noah Himes, KnowItNow AfterDark Coordinator ...and KnowItNow providers across Ohio!

Contribute comments and questions to comments@knowitnow.org. If you or your friends would like to sign-up for KnowItNow updates, just go to updates.knowitnow.org and click on Sign up for the latest KnowItNow news.