Text A Librarian is a component of Sims Memorial Library’s Ask A Librarian service
that enables Southeastern students, faculty and staff to send questions to and receive
answers from librarians at Sims Library by using the text message feature of their
cell phones.
Who can use the service? This service is available to all Southeastern students, faculty and staff. When should you use the service? The service is good for asking quick, simple questions that can be answered in short
responses (160 characters or less). Questions that require lengthier responses should
be directed to the Ask A Librarian e-mail reference service. Questions that require
immediate answers should be directed to our 24/7 Ask A Librarian Live chat reference
service. These services are available at http://www.selu.edu/library/askref/. What do you need to use the service? To use the service, you will need a cell phone that is capable of sending and receiving
international text-messages. What does the service cost? Sims Library does not charge for this service or receive revenue from any cell phone
provider. Cell phone providers generally charge customers for sending and/or receiving
text messages. These charges vary from plan to plan and from telephone provider to
provider. For details on charges, check with your cell phone service provider.
Alltell
AT&T Wireless
Sprint/Nextel
T-Mobile
Verizon
Sims Library and Southeastern Louisiana University do not assume any responsibility
for any charges your cell phone provider may assess you for sending or receiving messages
while using this service.
What information should I supply?
All that is required is a question typed as a text message on your phone. However,
for best results, you should also supply your W# along with your question. This will
enable us to send an e-mail to your campus e-mail account when we have additional
information, URL’s and documents to send to you that exceed the limited text message
space.
How long does it take to get a response?
We will try and respond to your question within 2-3 hours (during library hours).
Questions received when the library is closed will be answered after the library reopens.
If you do not receive a response to your request within 24 hours, it may be due to
a telecommunication problem, so you may want to resubmit your question to
Ask A Librarian
via chat or e-mail. The Library is not responsible for text messages that are not
received by the Library or delays due to telecommunications carrier or Internet connectivity
delays or failures.
What type of response will I get?
When you request information by sending a text message to the Library’s Ask A Librarian
service, you give permission to Sims Memorial Library to respond to your request by
sending you text messages. Responses will be sent as text messages to the phone you
used to initiate the request. All text message replies from the Library will show
on your cell phone as coming from 985-222-2377. Responses will also be sent to your
e-mail account if you supply one. Text message replies from the Library to your cell
phone may arrive as multiple text messages. However, any responses that would exceed
2 text messages in length will generally be sent to your e-mail account if you provide
one.
Privacy Statement
Your privacy is important to us, and Sims Library is committed to protecting the
privacy of users of our collections and services. The Ask A Librarian service collects
limited personal information in order to respond to questions submitted by patrons
and gather general usage and quality statistics. All text messages sent to and from
the Ask A Librarian service are directed through standard telecommunication and Internet
channels. Concerns about your privacy should be directed to
Beth Stahr
.
Your Technology Fee at Work
The Text A Librarian service uses a dedicated text messaging telephone number and
EmailSMS conversion software. Startup and first year subscription costs for the text
messaging service were funded through a 2005 Student Technology Fee Small Project
Grant.
