Volume 3, No. 3
Coordinator's Corner: Mythbusting Misconceptions
In talking with librarians around the state, I have found that there are some widespread misconceptions about KnowItNow24x7. I've decided to address some of these below to provide rebuttals to those who may hold these beliefs. Current members of the KIN24x7 answering team may also use these as talking points to share with colleagues who have not yet begun to serve patrons coming in through KIN24x7:
It costs money for a library to be part of KnowItNow24x7.
False: This is one of the misconceptions that surprised me the most. KIN24x7 is funded through an LSTA grant awarded by the State Library of Ohio. The only cost to local libraries is the contribution of staff time to monitor incoming requests for information from patrons. Software, training, and support are offered free-of-charge to participating libraries.
KnowItNow24x7 doesn't allow a library to serve its local patrons first.
False: Local patrons can now be routed to their local library from that library's KIN24x7 link for live, local virtual reference during regular hours. Soon, local patrons entering their zip code at www.knowitnow.org will also be able to be routed to their local service. After the library closes for the day, patrons would be routed to others in the KIN24x7 network to provide seamless after-hours service. For more on this "local queue" option, click here.
KnowItNow24x7 has a staff of people who answer all those questions.
False: Of the almost 550,000 sessions on KIN24x7 since September 2004, the majority have been handled by librarians answering questions as part of their regular duties at libraries around the state. 80% of Ohio public libraries do not provide librarians to help answer questions on the statewide service. The freelance AfterDark librarians, supervised by NEO-RLS, handle 20-25% of KIN24x7 sessions.
My library doesn't answer questions on KnowItNow24x7 so we can't put the link to it on our web site.
False: KIN24x7 is a statewide service. As such, every resident should have quick and easy access to the service through a link to www.knowitnow.org on their local library's homepage (whether their library is a provider or not). KIN24x7 icons are available here. That being said, the 20% of libraries that do answer questions on the service would greatly appreciate more participation from those who don't.
It's just kids fooling around on KnowItNow24x7.
False: From September 2008 through July 2009, only 3.9% of all sessions on KIN24x7 were coded by librarians as "Pranks."
Students can get tutored on KnowItNow24x7.
False: KIN24x7 had a contract with an online, live tutoring service; however, due to financial constraints, this service was discontinued in 2007. Since that time, only librarians staff the service. This does not mean that students can't get help with homework; but only that it is the same kind of help librarians have always given at the reference desk: suggesting search strategies, helping to find authoritative information, giving referrals to local resources, etc.
I didn't get involved with KnowItNow24x7 in the beginning so I can't be involved now.
False: KIN24x7 can integrate new participants at any time. There are also a number of new developments with KIN24x7 in the past year, so if you haven't looked at joining the answering team in the past, now is a good time to take a second look!
Don Boozer
KnowItNow24x7 Coordinator
KIN24x7 Seeking New Logo
KnowItNow24x7, Ohio's statewide online reference service, is seeking to rebrand and redesign its logo. The statewide service will celebrate its fifth anniversary on Sept. 7, 2009, and a new logo will serve to take the organization into its sixth year and beyond. Ohio graphic designers in public, academic, and special libraries, as well as other institutions (including graphic design students), are invited to submit logos to be considered as the new identity of KnowItNow24x7. A detailed, 7-page Logo Redesign/Rebranding Project Prospectus is available online on the Marketing Materials page of the KnowItNow24x7 Provider site. Please read the entire prospectus before submitting any logos to be considered. Deadline for submissions is October 31, 2009, at 11:59 pm.
Logos will be accepted as in-kind contributions to KnowItNow24x7, and the winning design will be credited to the submitting institution (and designer or design team) on the Marketing Materials page of the KnowItNow24x7 Provider site.
If there are any questions, feel free to email support@knowitnow.org. Good luck, and we look forward to seeing the designs! (This announcement is available for wide distribution throughout Ohio, so feel free to re-post on applicable listservs and message boards.)
Reminder: Contacting KIN24x7 Support
KIN24x7 librarians are reminded to check out the Contact Us page at the Provider site (Requires a Provider page account to view). This page, along with Sections VII and VIII of the KnowItNow24x7 Provider Handbook, provides valuable information on how (and when) to contact KIN24x7 technical support. (NOTE: These policies do not affect the AfterDark librarians' procedures for contacting the AfterDark Coordinator during their shifts.)
A Sampling of KIN24x7 Survey Comments from August 2009
The following are a sample of kudos from the Patron Surveys from August. Note especially the two first-time users and their positive reaction!
- Thank you so much for this service! Tony helped me find a book that I have been trying to remember for years!
- I do appreciate this sevice very much. I am almost home-bound and iot gives me great pleasure to know I am chatting with someone who knows where to look for impoortant information I need while I am studying for my BA in Health Care Administration. I hope we can keep this going on with the way the economy is going. I need this type of assistance. Thank you and all of the people who run this.
- Pam at UC was extremely helpful. I wish I had tried to contact this help site yesterday when my frustration began. Great Help!
- ad.sam was super helpful, and gave me some great book recomendations! I can't wait to check them out!
- I asked an incredibly difficult question. I'd already searched the Internet using Google and Yahoo!, and I'd also already done a Lexis-Nexis search, and a search using Academic Search Premier. The librarian came up with some really good advice about governmental sources that might have the information I'm after but which might not have the information online at this time. I believe this service you offer is incredibly valuable, and I spread the word about it every chance I get.
- This is an extremely helpful service! It saves hours of looking around aimlessly.
- This is the first time that I used the KnowItNow feature, and I was very pleased with the experience. Thank you.
- i love how instant the service is. Alot of times people say they will be at your service when ever you need them but they never really come through but you guys have! Thanks
- this was my first time using this service--it is great to have when studying on the weekend and other resources are closed, or one cannot achieve the answers one is looking for on one's own. Thank you.
- This is a great service. I work in marketing and need a lot of statistics and other information that is difficult to encounter. I find your service extremely valuable and such a time saver. Thank you for providing your services!
- thanks alot A+++ ill be back through out the school year and ill also make sure to tell my friends when they dont understand something good job guys great help
- I had a tough question and both librarians that helped me were awesome. I plan on using this service again!!
Statistics: August 2009
This month, we look at the top 25 institutions by total number of sessions handled for August 2009. All the active accounts for the month for each institution (and AfterDark) were tallied together to come up with the institution totals. Next, each total was divided by the number of active accounts to come up with the number of sessions handled per capita.
| Institution/Organization | Number of Sessions Handled | Average per Librarian |
| Totals for NEO-RLS (AfterDark) | 1242 | 26.4 |
| Totals for Cleveland Public Library | 823 | 58.8 |
| Totals for Cuyahoga County Public Library | 204 | 7.3 |
| Totals for Columbus Metropolitan Library | 58 | 14.5 |
| Totals for Columbus State Community College | 50 | 16.7 |
| Totals for Logan County District Library | 47 | 47 |
| Totals for Lorain Public Library System | 42 | 42 |
| Totals for Worthington Libraries | 39 | 39 |
| Totals for Avon Lake Public Library | 30 | 10 |
| Totals for Toledo-Lucas County Public Library | 30 | 30 |
| Totals for Ashtabula County District Library | 29 | 29 |
| Totals for Oberlin College | 29 | 9.7 |
| Totals for Orrville Public Library | 29 | 29 |
| Totals for University of Cincinnati | 25 | 4.2 |
| Totals for Public Library of Youngstown & Mahoning County | 23 | 7.7 |
| Totals for Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County | 22 | 2.75 |
| Totals for Wright State University | 22 | 5.5 |
| Totals for Mansfield/Richland County Public Library | 18 | 18 |
| Totals for Dayton Metro Library | 16 | 16 |
| Totals for Elyria Public Library | 15 | 15 |
| Totals for Lane Public Library | 15 | 5 |
| Totals for Ohio Wesleyan University | 15 | 5 |
| Totals for Southern State Community College | 15 | 7.5 |
| Totals for Twinsburg Public Library | 15 | 15 |
| Totals for Westlake Porter Public Library | 15 | 15 |
As always, everyone's contribution to KIN24x7 is greatly appreciated!
ONLINE RESOURCES OF THE MONTH: Truth
"...the search for truth is more precious than its possession." - Albert Einstein (quoting Gotthold Lessing), Science, New Series (May 24, 1940), p. 488.
Where do you turn when a patron asks if the mass emailing they received is true? Was that sound byte accurate? Is that computer virus notice you got reliable? The sites below are excellent online resources for separating reality from fiction (and outright scams):
- Snopes.com at www.snopes.com - Since 1995, David and Barbara Mikkelson have made Snopes.com the place on the Internet to go if you want to de-bunk urban legends and other similar hoaxes. (The name "Snopes" comes from the works of William Faulkner.)
- MediaMatters at www.mediamatters.org - What Snopes.com does for urban legends, MediaMatters does for news coverage and commentary.
- TruthOrFiction at www.truthorfiction.com - Similar to Snopes.com, TruthOrFiction has been de-bunking mass emails, hoaxes, and urban legends since 1999. It is the work of Rich Buhler.
- Scambusters at www.scambusters.org - Jim and Audri Lanford have been debunking internet scams for well over a decade.
- Literary Contest Caution at windpub.com/literary.scams - Although narrowly focused, this site provides helpful information on steering library patrons away from "become a published author"-kinds of scams.
- McAfee Virus Info at home.mcafee.com/VirusInfo - Not sure whether that email alerting you to a new computer virus is legit? McAfee's site is an authoritative source for assessing your risk.
KnowItNow24x7 Staff
Don Boozer, KnowItNow24x7 Coordinator
Brian Leszcz, KnowItNow24x7 Web Services Coordinator
Noah Himes, KnowItNow24x7 AfterDark Coordinator
Megan Mitchell, OhioLINK Liaison and Reference Librarian, Oberlin College
...and KnowItNow24x7 agents across Ohio!
The KnowItNow24x7 Newsletter highlights news, resources, and statistics for providers and fans of Ohio's 24x7 virtual reference service. Email your comments, questions, advice, helpful resources, and other contributions to support@knowitnow.org.
If you or your friends would like to sign-up for KnowItNow24x7 updates, just go to updates.knowitnow.org and click on Sign up for the latest KnowItNow news.