HAVE you ever needed the answer to a tricky question but been failed by your lack of computer skills?
Fear not – librarians are online to do the searching for you.
And staff at Huddersfield Library are part of the international Enquire internet service to answer your difficult queries in minutes.
Kirklees librarians joined the free service – which uses instant messaging to solve your enquiries – when the scheme was launched in the UK in 2005.
Now they work round-the-clock shifts with hundreds of librarians from across the UK and the US, where the service originated.
From a handful of enquiries a day in 2005, the service – which is also called Ask A Librarian – answered over 5,000 questions in October.
Queries vary from general knowledge to where to find financial advice – or sitar lessons.
Answers are monitored for quality control.
And to take advantage of local knowledge and archives, local enquiries are directed to local libraries.
Such enquiries account for approximately one-third of all questions.
But it isn’t just enquiries from Brits that Huddersfield librarians receive.
Librarian Jane Rose, who has worked for Enquire since Huddersfield Library joined the service in 2005, has answered questions from people from as far afield as Pakistan and Jamaica.
Ms Rose said: “I love it.
“It’s exciting and it puts libraries out on the cutting edge and it’s great for the customer.
“Most people don’t have the techniques to get the most from their searches, but librarians are experts at searching for information.
“It’s much busier than when we started.
“We also pick up enquiries from the United States when the American libraries are shut.
“That can be nerve-wracking because I understand British institutions but I don’t understand those quite as well in the US!
“The feedback we get is overwhelmingly positive.
“Since we started the service has gone from strength to strength,” Ms Rose added.
To take advantage of Enquire visit: www.peoplesnetwork.gov.uk and click the ‘Enquire’ link.
We asked three tricky questions.
1) What is the Yiddish word for a person who has bad luck?
Answer we received: schlimazel (correct). Time taken: 1 minute
2) What is the minimum meat content needed for a sausage for it to be legally called a ‘sausage’ in the UK?
Answer we received: Enquire referred us to an official document with the correct answer (42% for pork sausages, 30% for other types of meat). Time taken: 6 min 30 sec
3) What is the fastest speed limit on a European motorway, excluding the Autobahn?
Answer we received: Enquire referred us to two websites with the correct answer. Several European countries have a 130km/h (81mph) limit.
Some websites claim Poland has a 140km/h limit, but this is contradicted by trusted sources. Time taken: 4 min 30 sec.
