[Libs-Or] l-net turns 9, answers 200,000th question

[Caleb Tucker-Raymond]

Hello!

Today, April 16th, L-net turns 9 years old. L-net lets anyone who lives,
works or goes to school in Oregon ask questions by live chat, text
messaging or email, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Just last Tuesday, April 10th at 5:51pm, a student at Central Oregon
Community College asked the 200,000th question on our statewide reference
service:

"Hello, I need some help narrowing a broad topic to a defined research
question. my broad topic is 'DNA Fingerprinting' "


In this question, the librarian expertly interviewed the patron and got her
ready to start searching for resources for her paper:

So much has changed in 9 years! When we started, we were a handful of
libraries offering chat service a few hours a week. We are now open 24/7
through the help of 40 Oregon libraries. Our 200,000th question was
answered by Sam, one of our volunteers who give their personal time, a few
hours a week, to helping Oregonians get access to authoritative information
through libraries.

So much has stayed the same! We are returning to our original name,
Answerland, this fall. We are still supported financially by the Oregon
State Library and by the hard work and goodwill of innumerable staff at
Oregon libraries, who contribute to answering questions, to our advisory
board, event planning and other teams, and by referring patrons our way.

And yes, patrons still need help when they are working online, and library
workers are still some of the best people to serve them.

Caleb Tucker-Raymond

Statewide Reference Service Coordinator
Multnomah County Library
(503) 988-5438
calebt at multco.us
www.oregonlibraries.net
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