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Boston Public Library Press Release News and Events |
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Boston Public Library Enters Pilot Project: “Ask a Government Information Librarian” Through its Government Documents Department, the Boston Public Library is one of 33 libraries throughout the country and the only New England library to participate in a pilot project to offer government information reference services via virtual chat.
“This wonderful service, which is provided by our city’s world class library, will be a useful and creative tool for everyone who is interested in learning about government,” Mayor Thomas M. Menino said. The purpose of the chat is to offer users an opportunity to have professional help locating government information online. Users may either submit an e-mail request to which a librarian will reply, or by a virtual, interactive chat session in which the librarian immediately responds to government-oriented questions. The Boston Public Library’s Government Documents Department is a designated Regional Depository and holds the largest official collection of government documents in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. To access the “Ask a Government Information Librarian” visit http://www.bpl.org/research/govdocs/index.htm or http://govtinfo.org/ . The pilot project will run through the end of November.
For more than 150 years, the Boston Public Library has pioneered public library service in America with revolutionary ideas and famous firsts. Established in 1848, the BPL was the first publicly supported municipal library in America, the first public library to lend books, the first to have a branch library and the first to have a children’s room. Today, the BPL boasts 27 neighborhood branches, free Internet access, two unique restaurants, an award-winning website www.bpl.org and an on-line store featuring reproductions of the BPL’s priceless photographs and artwork. Each year, the BPL hosts nearly 5000 programs, answers more than one million reference questions and serves millions of people in its National Historic Landmark McKim Building in Copley Square. All of its programs and exhibits are free and open to the public. At the Boston Public Library, books are just the beginning! -30- Prepared by the Boston Public Library's Communications Office. For more information about news, programs and events at the BPL, call 617-859-2212 or send a message to the Communications Office. |
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