State touts online reference service
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Just over two years ago, Pennsylvania started up an online reference service to give citizens access to librarians across the state.
Today, state Education Secretary Gerald Zahorchak announced that the service is the fastest growing of its kind in the country, handling 300 to 500 requests per day.
At a press conference in Oakland's Carnegie Library, Mr. Zahorchak asked the database its 125,000th question -- a request for the text of President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and Farewell Address.
The service, Ask Here PA, is accessible 24 hours a day at www.askherepa.org. It is staffed by librarians from more than 70 libraries across the state.
Clare Zales, Pennsylvania state librarian, said that the service is on pace to be the most-used online state reference service in the nation. About 15 states have similar programs.
First Published December 1, 2008 4:05 pm
