Who can use this service?
Email reference service is available to JMU faculty, staff, and
students. An effort will be made to answer questions from the
general public, however priority will be assigned to requests
from the JMU community.
What kind of questions can I ask?
-
"Ready Reference" questions. May include addresses,
phone numbers, or brief factual information.
- Citation verification.
- Guidance in the use of information resources, including strategies for database
searching.
Help in searching JMU Library Catalog.
-
Guidance on how to begin research for a term paper or class project.
What kind of questions can't I ask?
-
Request for books, articles, or other library materials. Look
for book or journal titles in
JMU Library Catalog.
JMU faculty, staff, and students can use Interlibrary Loan
to request books or articles not available at JMU.
-
Requests for lists of article citations.
(We can guide you to appropriate resources and help
you formulate searches.)
How quickly can I expect an answer?
Within 24 hours on weekdays. We will make an effort to respond within
24 hours on weekends, however response time may increase on
weekends due to staffing concerns.
What's really happening when I submit my question?
The text of your question is sent in an email message to
the Public Services Desk at Carrier Library. A reference librarian will
review your question and respond directly to you. You
can then correspond directly with that librarian.
A note on confidentiality.
Messages sent via Ask A Librarian are kept confidential by library staff. However, users should be advised that messages are only as private and secure as other JMU e-mail messages. Questions may be re-used in order to evaluate services and collections, or to create FAQ pages, but in such cases, will have all identifying information removed.
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