http://www.qandanj.org for 24/7 reference help from New Jersey librarians! [
Description]
>The New Jersey State Library has implemented a geolocation
software, called Quova, on QandANJ.org. What that does is allow anyone who
is connecting to the service from a NJ IP address to be automatically
authenticated. If a NJ customer is accessing the service from outside of the
state, they will be prompted for a NJ library card number.
New Jersey is also part of the QuestionPoint 24/7 Cooperative, so we answer
questions from all over the country, too!
Question Point the Library Coop that helps answer your questions no matter where you live.
New Jersey's statewide virtual reference service acts the same way as
Oregon's L-net service, or Pennsylvania's "Ask Here PA," or Maryland's "Ask
Us Now!" services, etc. We all use QuestionPoint as our service provider and
we're all part of the 24/7 Cooperative where we provide back-up for each
other's services. The only difference with New Jersey is that we have an
authentication model that allows only NJ customers coming from an IP address
that is located in NJ, or those who have NJ library barcode, to enter the
QuestionPoint queue from a NJ site. If a NJ customer does not have a library
barcode and is accessing QandANJ.org from out-of-state, they are prompted to
visit our "Get a Library Card Online" site
(
https://wwwe.auto-graphics.com/njlc/index.aspx) to find out which library
they belong to and to see if their library is part of the "Get a Library
Card Online" program. If they are able to apply for a card online, the
system with immediately generate a temporary barcode number that will allow
them to use all state databases and QandANJ.org for two weeks while they
wait for their card in the mail. Most customers, however, do not have to go
through this process since they are automatically authenticated by
geographic location.
So, when a QandANJ.org librarian is logged on to chat, they answer any NJ
chat that comes in, first (Chat questions are identified by which state or
service they came in from). If there aren't any NJ questions in the chat
queue, they pick up questions from other states. I know that this is how
most other statewide virtual reference services work.
Youth Vs. Adults in Gadget Wars
By MARTHA IRVINE, AP National Writer San Francisco Chronicle Tuesday, January 22, 2008
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/01/22/national/a110139S14.DTL
Scott Seigal was awakened one recent early morning by a cell phone
text message. It was from his girlfriend's mother. His friends'
parents have posted greetings on his MySpace page for all the world to
see. And his 72-year-old grandmother sends him online instant messages
every day so they can better stay in touch while he's at college.
"It's nice that adults know SOME things," says Seigal, an 18-year-old
freshman at Binghamton University in New York....Increasingly,
however, he and other young people are feeling uncomfortable about
their elders encroaching on what many young adults and teens consider
their technological turf. [article continues]