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InfoAnytime to the Rescue

Librarians sleep at night. Students don’t always. They may be working on that critical paper at 2am, and have a research problem that can’t wait for the library to open at 8:30. Solving that problem is the idea behind InfoAnytime, a service offered by the Connecticut Library Consortium. The University of Hartford is one of dozens of libraries across the state testing the service, which began operation in August. It’s available with a click on the InfoAnytime logo that appears many places on our web site.   when they need it. InfoAnytime isn’t a replacement for University librarians, who know the students,the faculty, and frequently the assignments. It’s a way of continuing to offer service when we go home at the end of the day. In its first four months of service, InfoAnytime has been used about 45 times by the University of Hartford community. The average chat session is 17 minutes long.
Library staff can review complete transcripts of the chat sessions between our students and InfoAnytime librarians. We can assess the value of the service, how often it’s being used, what kinds of problems students are having that we might be able to address through improved instruction or design

InfoAnytime offers live online “chat” with professional librarians. Those librarians have access to information about the resources available to the Libraries’ users, and can direct researchers to the appropriate database and then help them to find articles; or help them to search for a book; or to place an interlibrary loan request. Any question students can ask during the day may occur to them at night. Now they have a way of getting an answer

of our website, and so forth. We cannot identify who is using the service. That information is hidden to protect patron privacy.
Along with the Connecticut Library Consortium, the Libraries will be assessing the value of InfoAnytime in the spring, and deciding whether to continue to offer it next year.
We welcome feedback from students and others who have used the service.
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The Operas and Lieder of Richard Strauss
Variously called “the most vital and successful of the successors of Wagner” and the founder of 20th-century opera, Richard Strauss wrote some 15 operas and over 200 songs. This five-session course, taught by Julius Elias, emeritus professor of the University of Connecticut, will look at four operas -- Salome, Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier and Ariadne auf Naxos, and a selection of the best of Strauss’s songs. Mondays, April 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, 4:30-6:00 pm. Cost $100 (Fellows $75)

Irish-American Writers of the 20th and 21st Centuries: Does the Hyphen Signify?
Kathleen McGrory, former president of Hartford College for Women, will conduct an eclectic survey of writers whose genes and citizenship are both Irish and American (among them Flannery O’Connor, Kate Chopin, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James and the McCourt brothers). Is their hyphenated ethnic title justified by their works? What is Irish and what is American in their writings? Wednesdays, April 25, May 2, 9, 16, 23, 4:30-6:00 pm. Cost $100 (Fellows $75)
   Getting Started on Writing Your Life Story
Does your family ask about your life? Do you have an interesting story to tell? Creative writing professor Teresa Stores will conduct a workshop in the spring on writing one’s autobiography. Her workshop will give tips and ideas on how to get started on a writing project and will explore with participants what they have to say and how to say it most effectively. Saturday, May 12, 9:30-12:30 (followed by lunch). Cost $65 (Fellows $50), including lunch.

Become a Fellow of the President’s College
Fellows have many privileges, including lower registration fees for President’s College courses, parking on campus, borrowing privileges at the library, and many discounts. By signing up you also show your support for the College and its future – and help give us the working capital we need to bring you our many outstanding programs. The cost is just $100 for the academic year 2006-2007.

For more information call 860-768-4350, e-mail Humphrey Tonkin,or view The President's College web site.
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