Fla. students tap into virtual libraries.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Two new Web-based collaborations at Daytona Beach Community College are helping students conduct research and find answers more efficiently and effectively.

The college library was among the first to join a statewide virtual reference project called Ask a Librarian, which allows students to request information from a librarian live over the Internet from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. The DBCC Library also is among institutions piloting a new database system for book cataloging called the Automated Library Expandable Program.

Administered by the Florida Department of State's Division of Library and Information Services, Ask a Librarian allows students to make inquiries of a local nature to the DBCC library, or to tap into a statewide "collaborative reference desk." The desk is managed alternately by reference librarians at each participating facility.

Students can e-mail their reference questions, search a knowledge base of frequently asked questions, of chat live with a librarian online. The librarian also can co-browse the Internet with the students, guiding them through their research.

Ask a Librarian is funded by a $339,000 Library Services and Technology Act grant awarded by Florida's College Center for Library Automation, which also administers its Library Information Network for Community Colleges, a virtual cataloging system.