About the 24/7-IM Service

You don't need any special plug-ins or software, you just login with a library or home internet connection with any browser and a real live librarian can guide you to your academic library's online resources!?

Sound too good to be true? Here are the facts:

When you click on "Ask a Question Now!", you're actually activating a connection with your computer and the attending librarian's through a dynamic server. It does take a couple of seconds for the connections to complete so there can be a delay. Generally though, the wait time should be minimal.

On the Librarian end, the University of Utah & Dixie State College are part of a system of librarians from a large consortium of libraries throughout the United States. When you start a chat session, you could literally be talking with someone a thousand miles away, or someone in your own academic library. Through the service, the librarian is prompted that someone is waiting and he/she will be able to immediately connect with you. Please note that on some occasions a chat session will already be going and you may have to wait. If not, the librarian will 'pick up' just like a phone call and begin the session.

Fill in the short form (including your question) and click "connect" and a dialogue will begin. If you are unfamiliar with internet 'chat', everything you "send" will show up like a script as well as what the librarian types in response. The advantage of this is that you can review the conversation. The service doesn't end with text exchange, however. A librarian can also guide you in a combined session through any resource available to your academic library on the web! This can get tricky as you will both have control over the navigation of a shared browser. If you would like to be directly shown how to use a database or complex online resource, this guidance is handy.

You can disconnect at any time but we do ask that you acknowledge your leaving the chat session with a 'good-bye' so the librarian doesn't mistakenly keep the connection open.