About KnowItNow24x7

KnowItNow24x7 is an online reference service for the citizens and residents of Ohio brought to you by the State Library of Ohio and libraries throughout the state. Professional librarians are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to answer your reference questions and to assist you in finding information. The service is the busiest of its kind in the United States. OhioLINK formed a partnership with KnowItNow24x7 in April 2008 to provide online reference service to their students. The OhioLINK service is named KnowItNow Academic.

Contents

How does KnowItNow24x7 work?

Once logged on with your Ohio ZIP code (or institution, in the case of KnowItNow Academic), you and a librarian engage in an online chat session. The librarian will share their expertise and provide high-quality, authoritative web sites and online database resources via web addresses within the chat.

If you provide your email address on the Please tell us about your question page, you will receive in your email a copy of your conversation including all links to the resources shared with you.

Help with questions on any subject is available during all hours. Librarians in specific subject areas are available from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm, Monday through Saturday. You can chat with these specialists by choosing the appropriate subject from the menu on the Please tell us about your question page:

Questions in these specialties may be asked anytime but may be referred to specialists for next day response if necessary.

If you choose the topic of your question when subject specialists are online (i.e., 9:00 am to 5:30 pm, Monday through Saturday), you will automatically be routed to the appropriate librarian covering that subject area. After 5:30, Monday through Saturday, the topics from which you can choose are "General Questions" and "Reading Recommendations."

In addition to chatting live, you also have the option to leave a message which will be answered by a librarian by email, usually within the same business day. The leave-a-message option is available after you click "Connect to a librarian" on the Please tell us about your question page. Another option for receiving information is to contact one of the KnowItNow24x7 instant messaging libraries listed at www.knowitnow.org/im.php.

Back to Contents

What can KnowItNow24x7 do for me?

Whether you're a college student needing help with a research paper, a middle school student needing ideas for your science fair project, or anyone looking for suggestions for a good book to read, KnowItNow24x7 is here to help you find what you are looking for. Although KnowItNow24x7 librarians cannot provide tutoring assistance, they can provide authoritative, helpful information to get you heading in the right direction for homework assignments and research projects.

But you don't have to be a student to use KnowItNow24x7! The librarians staffing our service are also able to help with any information you might be looking for, whether it be for work, home, or just to answer your curiosity.

Back to Contents

Does my library participate in KnowItNow24x7?

There are a variety of levels of KnowItNow24x7 participation:

Back to Contents

How is KnowItNow24x7 funded?

KnowItNow24x7 is made available free-of-charge to all citizens and residents of Ohio through a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) awarded by the State Library of Ohio.

Back to Contents

Who staffs KnowItNow24x7?

During regular hours, librarians working in public, academic, and special libraries around the state staff KnowItNow24x7 and handle questions as part of their regular reference duties. Overnight and during some daytime and early evening hours, librarians working outside libraries provide online reference service. These librarians work in various places throughout Ohio and are supervised by the Northeast Ohio Regional Library System (NEO-RLS) based in Warren.

Back to Contents

When is the KnowItNow24x7 service available?

KnowItNow24x7 is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, except for the following holidays:

Subject specialists are available 9:00am to 5:30pm, Monday through Saturday.

KnowItNow Academic is available 9:00 am to 9:00 pm, Monday through Thursday, and 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Friday. Outside those hours, students are routed to public or after-hours librarians who are able to serve them.

Back to Contents

Additional Information

Disclaimer

KnowItNow24x7 was established to provide timely, authoritative answers to factual questions and guidance in conducting personal research using the World Wide Web, library-provided databases, and the collections of libraries staffing the service (referred to as Libraries below).

Every effort is made to provide accurate information; however, the Libraries do not control the content of resources used. The user agrees to hold the Libraries harmless from any claims, losses, damages, obligations, or liabilities relating to the use of information obtained from this service.

The provision of any factual information or materials, and the identification of other web sites that may be useful in obtaining additional information regarding legal or medical issues cannot be construed as advice. Only a professional practitioner can provide specific advice and direction in resolving legal and/or medical issues.

Back to Contents

Copyright

The Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the reproduction, distribution, adaptation, public performance, and public display of copyrighted material. Responsibility for any possible copyright infringement lies solely with the user; the Library disclaims any responsibility or liability resulting thereof.

Contacting KnowItNow24x7 Administration

If you have further questions or comments about KnowItNow24x7, you may email support (at) knowitnow (dot) org.

Back to Contents

January 2010

KnowItNow24x7 logo.

About KnowItNow24x7 | Participating Libraries
Code of Conduct | Privacy Policy

State Library of Ohio Institute of Museum and Library Services