Research and information guidance have long been a core part of library services. However, in the age of the Internet and instant access to information, answer-seekers have become increasingly adept at locating facts and data on their own. Yet as the general public faces frequent information overload, often puzzling among questionable sources and varying qualities of information on the Internet and social media, today's libraries offer are reaffirming their traditional function of helping everyone from students to researchers to trivia buffs in navigating the fast-flowing Information Superhighway to seek out reliable and accurate sources.
The Estes Valley Library offers assistance with research and reference questions in a variety of pathways: in person, by phone, and by email to firstname.lastname@example.org
In addition, the Estes Valley Library is a member of statewide service called Ask Colorado, through which the public may interact with a research librarian in a live online chat format. This free service is staffed most hours of the day, seven days a week. The Ask Colorado librarians are trained to help the public in navigating the Internet along with other library-specific sources to help in finding facts, data, and other information. Students of all ages are frequent users of the service, receiving assistance with information for homework and research needs.
Ask Colorado has been called "a human-powered search engine". Librarians from the Estes Valley Library are among those who staff the service during a regularly-scheduled shift each week.
The service is funded through a combination of local contributions from Colorado libraries and federal funds provided by the Colorado State Library through the Library Services and Technology Act.
To find out more, call the library at (970) 586-8116, or simply click the "Ask" button at estesvalleylibrary.org