An Introduction to KnowItNow24x7

• A free service for all residents of Ohio• Funded through a federal grant awarded by the State Library of Ohio• No library card needed!• Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week• Chatting with a real librarian who can help find authoritative information online• Librarians can also show students how to find resources

What is KnowItNow24x7?

• What information do I need?• Are the answers in my textbook?• Is the assignment to give my opinion or reaction?• Do I need a straightforward fact?

Before logging on

• One that has you stumped• Questions about a good book to read• A question about finding information online that isn’t in your textbook or located in library books you’ve read.

What makes a good question for KnowItNow24x7?

• Type in complete sentences(not just keywords).

• Be specific.•Do you need a book, article, or web site?• Where have you looked already?•Typos are alright.

Formulating your question

Good:I need reviews of The Hunger Games?

Not-So-Good:Is Hunger Games a good book?

Questions: Good & Not-So-Good

Good:I’m looking for Washington’s speech at the end of his presidency. I checked whitehouse.gov.

Not-So-Good:a speech by Washington

Questions: Good & Not-So-Good

Good:3 articles (NOT WEBSITES) on Ohio wetlands. Must be 2005 to now and 3 pages each.

Not-So-Good:Info on wetlands

Questions: Good & Not-So-Good

So, how does KnowItNow24x7 work?

Connecting with a librarianKnowItNow24x7 is available online at

www.knowitnow.org

or through many libraries’ web sites.

Connecting with a librarianThe homepage of the service looks like

this…

Enter Your Zip Code

After entering your Ohio ZIP Code, you’ll see…

Enter information about yourself and

your question

Choosing your correct grade level will help the librarian tailor

resources to your needs

Choosing your topic will connect you to a librarian with expertise

in that subject area

After filling in your information, click here to connect to a

librarian

This is the page you will see while waiting for a librarian to pick up your question for a chat.

Note that you have the option to leave a message for a reply by email if you can’t wait for a live session.

This shows you that the librarian is typing a message to you…

This shows that the librarian has sent a web page to you…

Links to web resources sent in the chat will open up a new tab or

browser window when they are clicked

Here the conversation continues to grow with more

resources being sent…

Links to resources from the Ohio Web Library’s statewide databases can also

be sent through the chat

Click here when done!

You can also choose to stay connected as long as you need to after the librarian disconnects.

This will give you access to your conversation and all links that were sent.

After you’re all finished, you can click the End button.

You’ll have the opportunity to provide feedback after your

session ends as well…

…and that’s the end. Just close this window when you’re finished.

Top TenThings Librarians Want

Students to Knowabout KnowItNow24x7

#10

Please be polite and courteous.Say "please" and "thank you" and let your librarian

know when he or she has helped you!

#9Please provide as much information as

possible when asking your question.Let us know what grade you are in, how much information

you need, and whether the information needs to be a specific format, like an article or website.

#8

If you’ve already searched for information yourself, please let us know what

you’ve done so we can start from there.

#7

We want you to learn how to find the best information yourself, too. So, we’ll

show you or tell you what we’re doing so you can try it later on your own.

#6We work as fast as we can, but finding good information online can take time.

Please try to be patient while we work.It's not uncommon for a session

to last as long as 10 – 15 minutes.

#5

We enjoy chatting with you, but we are very busy.

Unfortunately, we can’t spend too much time chatting about things other than your question.

#4Let us know if we didn’t find what you

really needed on the first try.We’re glad to keep searching.

Try to give us more specific information about what you’re looking for.

#3We'd prefer to not give you our vital

statistics.We prefer to keep our genders, our real names, our

ages, and where we live private(and you should, too, when you’re online!)

#2

We can't do your homework for you.For one thing, your teachers wouldn't appreciate that. We

can help you find information so YOU can do your homework. You'll need to read and think about the

information we send you so you can come up with the answers you need.

#1

Yes, we are real people (not robots). Librarians from around the state staff

KnowItNow24x7. Freelance Ohio librarians working from home staff the service overnight.

Thank you for using KnowItNow24x7!

We look forward to answering your questions online, anytime.