[December 7, 2005] - The Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services and Providence Public Library are pleased to announce a new agreement for funding the Statewide Reference Resource Center at Providence Public Library in Fiscal Year 2006. In the months ahead, Providence Public Library (PPL) will expand its delivery of electronic reference service to include access to the World Book Online Reference Center for all cardholders of the RI public library automated network (CLAN) and online (email and chat) reference services for all Rhode Island residents. These new offerings, as well as ongoing Statewide Reference Resource Center (SRRC) services, will be promoted through the development of a new SRRC web site, hosted and maintained by PPL.

The SRRC will continue to address Rhode Islanders' changing reference needs utilizing evolving technology and methods of delivering responses. Over the past five years PPL has expanded the number, depth and breadth of its electronic database offerings and added new services such as Ask a Librarian email and Instant Answers live chat reference, available through the state government web portal RI.gov. In a survey of Rhode Island public library directors conducted by the Office of Library and Information Services (OLIS) in June 2005, respondents rated telephone reference, databases, and Internet/email reference as the highest priority services that should be offered by the SRRC. Statistics provided by PPL indicate that the use of traditional in-person and telephone reference services by libraries and the general public is declining, while the use of online reference services is increasing dramatically.

This year’s SRRC funding agreement addresses the changing reference needs of both the general public and Rhode Island libraries, while continuing to support traditional reference services. Following a thorough review of reference trends and the unique needs of Rhode Islanders and Rhode Island libraries, OLIS and PPL developed the agreement to provide more electronic access to SRRC services, and to expand telephone service by six hours a week. In addition, a popular and highly requested reference resource, the World Book Online Reference Center, will be made available to all CLAN cardholders across the state.

OLIS and PPL will jointly launch the official SRRC web site in January 2006. The SRRC website will be hosted and supported by PPL and available directly at www.askRI.org. Initial askri.org features will include access to the World Book Online Reference Center and direct links to the expanded Ask a Librarian (email) and Instant Answers (chat) reference services that are currently available only at RI.gov. Other website content will include the electronic reference services currently provided by PPL reference staff to all libraries that are members of the Library of Rhode Island (LORI) network and the public.

Expanded telephone reference and chat service will be available Monday through Saturday, as follows: Monday 9am-8pm, Tuesday 9am-6pm, Wednesday 9am-6pm, Thursday 9am-8pm, and Friday and Saturday 9am-5:30pm.

Providence Public Library serves as the Statewide Reference Resource Center with state funding provided via the Office of Library and Information Services. The goal of the program is to provide quality reference services to all LORI member libraries and to all residents of Rhode Island. State funding for the SRRC in FY2006 is $924,116, a 5% increase from FY2005.

View the 2006 Contract.

More about AskRI.