Introduction to HomeworkNow Online Reference Service

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Introduction to HomeworkNow Online Reference
Service

• How to use HomeworkNow effectively by formulating
  a good question, interacting with a librarian,
  and using the information sent to complete an
  assignment

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Contents

• Overview of HomeworkNow
• Identify information need
• Formulate Question
• Connect with HWN librarian
• Interact with librarian and research process
• Use information

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Overview of HomeworkNow

• HWN is a free service provided by the State
  Library of Ohio and public libraries
• Any Ohioan can use it
• You dont need a library card
• It is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
• You chat with a real librarian
• HWN librarians can help you find information to
  do your homework or research papers
• HWN librarians will want to show you how they
  found resources so you can try it yourself next
  time
• You can also be connected with a tutor in math,
  science, English, or social studies who can work
  through problems with you or proofread papers

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Identify Information Need

• HWN librarians specialize in finding information
  that will help you do your homeworkthey wont do
  your homework for you!
• Tutors in math, science, English, and social
  studies (reached through HWN) can walk you
  through math problems, proofread papers, and help
  you get started writing papers

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Before Logging on, ask yourself

• Are the answers to the assignment in my textbook?
• HWN is not a replacement for reading
• Is the assignment to give my opinion or reaction?
  
• The librarian cant help with that
• Do I need a straightforward fact?
• Try to find it yourself first!

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Some typical HWN questions

• I need a picture of a hyena for a report
• Where can I find a review of the book My Side of
  the Mountain?
• I need three magazine articles about human
  cloning
• What events can I put on a timeline of the Civil
  War?
• What is the best website for information about
  diseases?
• What search terms should I use to find
  information about the culture of Morocco?
• Where can I learn more about being dyslexic?

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Some not-so-good HWN questions

• What caused the Civil War?
• This question is up to interpretationthe
  librarian can find you information about the war,
  but probably not a list of reasons that caused it
• What is the population of Ohio?
• Try to find the answers to factual questions on
  your own first
• What are some important topics in the news today?
• Some homework questions require you to make
  choicesthe librarian cant do that for you
• How does the book Kira-Kira end?
• HWN is not a replacement for reading a book
  yourself!

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So what makes a good question?

• A question youve worked on that has you stumped
• A question about using INFOhio resources
• A question about a good book to read
• A question about finding information online that
  isnt in your textbook or the books in the
  library
• A personal question when you want to be anonymous

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Formulate Question

• Type in complete sentences, not just keywords
  (bad spelling is OK)
• Be specific
• Tell the librarian your grade level
• Let the librarian know whether you would like a
  book, article, or website
• Let the librarian know if you have already looked
  for information on your own and where

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Which Question is Better?

• What do you know about turtles?
• I need info and pitures of galapagos turltes.
  Im in 5th grade.

OR
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Which Question is Better?

• George Washington speech
• Where can I find George Washingtons inaugural
  speech? It wasnt at whitehouse.gov

OR
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Which Question is Better?

• 3 articles (NOT WEBSITES) about Ohio wetlands.
  Must be from 2005. Must be at least 5 pages
  each.
• Where can I find information about wetlands?

OR
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Connecting with Your Librarian
www.homeworknow.org
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You dont need your library card numberjust your
zip code!
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Between 9 5 Mondays Saturdays, you can choose
what subject your question is in. If you arent
sure, choose General Reference
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Type in a nameit doesnt have to be your real
name, but it will be used the transcript, so
dont make it too long or something you wouldnt
want the librarian to see!
If the librarian is busy for a few minutes, you
can get started on your research by trying some
of these useful resources chosen by librarians
a
a
If you type in your e-mail address, youll get a
copy of all the messages back and forth with the
librarian and all the links he or she sendsless
for you to have to write down during the session!
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What Happens When the Librarian Connects?

• Sometimes it can take the librarian a couple
  minutes to pick you up when the service is busy
• The librarian might ask you to hold for a moment
  while he or she finishes up with another student
• If youre in a hurry and dont need the
  information right away, ask the librarian to
  e-mail you an answer

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When the Librarian Connects

• If the librarian has questions about your
  question, he or she will ask some follow-up
  questions, like
• How much detail do you need?
• What grade are you in?
• Do you want magazine articles or websites?
• Have you found anything already on your own?
• What class is this for?
• Would you check the spelling?
• Your answers will help the librarian find what
  you need more quickly

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When the Librarian Connects

• The librarian will then look for a resource that
  will provide the information you need.
• This might be
• A website
• An article from a database on INFOhio
• A book in her library that she will quote
• A page of a book in her library that she will
  scan
• The librarian will push it to your computer,
  and it will show up on the left-hand side of your
  screen
• Let the librarian know that you can see what was
  pushed
• Read the information on the screen

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When the Librarian Connects

• After reading the information, let the librarian
  know if it is what you need, or if not, what you
  need instead
• I need something longer
• I need more details
• I need it explained simpler
• I need a picture too
• I dont understand this
• I need more information about . . . .
• I have another question about . . . .

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When the Librarian Connects

• If you need a lot of information or have a lot of
  questions, the librarian might show you how to do
  your own search
• Remember, the service is meant to help you do
  your own homework, not to give you all the
  answers
• If you try to search yourself and still cant
  find what you need, log on and ask for more help

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When You Are Done

• When you have the information you need, thank the
  librarian
• Click on End Call
• Youll see a list of the resources the librarian
  sent during the session
• When you check your e-mail, if you entered an
  address, youll get all the messages back and
  forth with the librarian and a list of all the
  resources he or she sent during the session

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Demo Time
www.homeworknow.org
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Now What?

• If you didnt have time to during the session, go
  back to the resources the librarian sent and read
  them carefully
• Use the information to do your homework
• If you find that you need more information,
  formulate a clear question and log on again

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Tutoring Services

• Tutors in math, science, English, and social
  studies are available from 2 pm to midnight, 7
  days a week
• Tutors can walk you through math problems, help
  you think of a science project, help you
  interpret a poem, or even proofread your papers

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Connecting with a Tutor

• To connect with a tutor, you first have to log on
  to HomeworkNow and ask the librarian your
  question
• The librarian will decide if a Tutor could help
  you and will send you a sign-in screen
• You may have to download a plugin called
  ShockWave before you can connect with a Tutor

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Demo Time
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10 Things Librarians Want You to Know About
HomeworkNow
Ready to answer your questionsthe HomeworkNow
librarians at the Public Library of Youngstown
Mahoning County
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Yes, we are real people on the other end (not
robots!). We are librarians from school and
public libraries across the state of Ohio
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No, we dont want to give you our vital
statistics, like our real name, our age, and
where we live. We prefer to keep those things
private (and you should too when youre online!)
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We enjoy chatting with you, but we are very busy,
and cant spend too much time chatting about
anything other than your homework
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We work as fast as we can, but finding good
information online takes time. Please try and be
patient while we work. Plan on your session
lasting about 10 15 minutes
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We want you to learn how to find the best
information yourself, so well show you or tell
you what were doing. We hope that sometimes
youll try searching on your own before
connecting with us
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We wont do your homework for you! We help you
find information so YOU can do your own homework.
You need to read and think about the information
we send you and come up with the answers yourself
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If youve already searched for information
yourself, let us know what youve done so we can
start from there
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Ask your question in a complete sentence and let
us know what grade you are in, how much
information you need, and whether the information
needs to be a specific format, like an article or
website
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Let us know if we didnt find what you really
needed on the first trywere glad to keep
searching. Try to give us more specific
information about what youre looking for
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Be polite and courteous. Say please and thank
you and let your librarian know when he or she
has helped you!
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Visit www.homeworknow.org