Chat with a Librarian FAQs

Ask a Librarian is brought to you by the University of Arkansas Libraries and participating members of the the Greater Western Library Alliance.

Questions are answered by librarians from the University of Arkansas, the University of Southern California, Iowa State University, and the University of Hawaii, as well as several hundred other participating academic libraries.

Participating institutions have pooled their resources to cover as many hours as possible. This chat service is in addition to existing services (in person, phone, and e-mail), and currently the Reference Department at the University of Arkansas Libraries offers approximately ninety hours per week of reference service at its desk. We are working hard with our partners to offer the best service to our patrons, irrespective of the location of the patron and the librarian.

You may ask any question, but the service is best suited to straightforward questions that do not involve extensive searching. In-depth research questions, especially those that require heavy use of print sources, are outside the scope of this service. For in-depth help, you may wish to contact your subject specialist.

No. Ask a Librarian works with most Web browsers (Internet Explorer 5 and above, Netscape 6 and above, Mozilla, FireFox, and Safari).

It is a good idea to refrain from using the "back" button in your browser while you are chatting with a librarian.

You may need to turn off any pop-up blockers during the session.

In Internet Explorer / Windows XP:

In Google Toolbar:

In Netscape 7 and above:

In FireFox:

Heavy demand at a particular time may make it impossible for the librarians on duty to answer questions quickly. We apologize for any inconvenience. However, as long as you submit a question, you should receive follow-up from the University of Arkansas, even if you log out before receiving an answer.