[WEB4LIB] E-mail Reference, Part 2

[Catherine Delia]

While we have no formal e-mail reference system and no "site" set up for it we do provide our patrons an e-mail address to use for questions of any kind. We just did a web-based electronic resources survey and one of the questions we asked was:  

What is your preferred method of communication with the Library?
Phone  13
E-mail   85
In-person  53
U.S. Mail   0

Most people say they want to use e-mail, but does that actually happen? We set up our main library at gwumc.edu e-mail address last fall. Since 9/26/98 we have received 86 messages. Most messages were not from our primary clientele either, but people who came across the address and had a question for a library. One thing that definately impacts use is advertisement and if nothing else, our survey let people know that it is available. The e-mail address is displayed on every page on our website. http://www.gwumc.edu/library

Catherine

Catherine Delia
Electronic Resources Coordinator
Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library
George Washington University Medical Center
2300 Eye St. NW, Washington, DC 20037
202/994-1647 (voice) ** 202/223-3691 (fax)
mlbced at gwumc.edu or deliac at gwu.edu

>>> "Sloan, Bernie" <bernies at uillinois.edu> 03/31 10:14 AM >>>

I haven't yet found the time to thoughtfully summarize the 100+ 
responses to my "Why don't people use e-mail reference?" thread.
In 10+ years of participating in Internet discussion groups, I don't
think I've ever received a bigger (or better) response to a question
I've posted. I hope to summarize responses in the near future.

In the meantime, as another part of my research, I am looking for 
examples of library Web sites that offer e-mail reference services.
I've managed to gather URLs for a couple dozen sites, but I would
really like to compile a longer list of such sites.

I'd appreciate receiving URLs for library e-mail reference service Web
sites. I'm planning on using the sites in my research, but I'd also
like to create a list of e-mail reference sites, so that people would
have ready access to examples of how others set up their sites.
If you send me a URL, but do not want it to appear on the list,
please be sure to let me know.

Bernie Sloan
Senior Library Information Systems Consultant
University of Illinois Office for Planning & Budgeting
338 Henry Administration Building
506 S. Wright Street
Urbana, IL  61801
Phone: (217) 333-4895  
Fax: (217) 333-6355
Email: bernies at uillinois.edu