You may have noticed a friendly green icon on the right of the library’s homepage, with the inviting words: “Chat with a librarian.”
When you click this icon, a pop-up window will instantly appear, and – at any time of day or night – a qualified librarian will join the chat.
How, one wonders, does the Graduate Center keep its librarians available for 24 hours/7 days a week?
This seamless availability is not fueled by endless cups of coffee, but instead – through an international library consortium! Through a partnership across the United States and several other countries, librarians from other academic institutions can assist with questions here at the Graduate Center (and vice versa), therefore allowing students a more well-rounded access to reference assistance.
There are many ways to use this service to your advantage. To get a better idea, here are just a few of the questions we’ve received in the past:
- I’m writing about Scholarly Communication in the Humanities and Academia and how it is changing. I’m not sure which database would be a good place for me to start my research, can you help?
- I read about alumni having access to the library and borrowing books. How can I find out what my lending privileges are?
- I’m trying to do research on a Herald Tribune article from 1963. Do we have access to digital copies, or is there a way I can request it to be scanned and sent to me through ILL?
As the semester rolls to an end, please keep “Chat with a Librarian” in mind. It’s a great way to get in touch with a librarian instantly, and resolve issues you might have while accessing databases remotely, or otherwise pursuing your summer research queries.