Ask Ontario is a realtime chat

Online chat

Online chat may refer to any kind of communication over the Internet, that offers an instantaneous transmission of text-based messages from sender to receiver, hence the delay for visual access to the sent message shall not hamper the flow of communications in any of the directions...

 research

Research

Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...

 and information service that connects residents of Ontario, Canada to staff at public, university, and college libraries across the province, for free instant-messaging-based reference

Reference

Reference is derived from Middle English referren, from Middle French rèférer, from Latin referre, "to carry back", formed from the prefix re- and ferre, "to bear"...

 help online

ONLINE

ONLINE is a magazine for information systems first published in 1977. The publisher Online, Inc. was founded the year before. In May 2002, Information Today, Inc. acquired the assets of Online Inc....

. One of five projects of Knowledge Ontario

Knowledge Ontario

Knowledge Ontario is a non-profit organization supporting a number of related province-wide initiatives in Ontario, Canada, providing library and information resources, learning experiences and related services to people across all ages, locations, education levels and cultural institutions...

, it was launched on January 31, 2008 to leverage the collective resources of Ontario's publicly funded libraries in different sectors, and to foster information and digital literacy

Digital literacy

Digital literacy is the ability to locate, organize, understand, evaluate, and analyze information using digital technology. It involves a working knowledge of current high-technology, and an understanding of how it can be used. Further, digital literacy involves a consciousness of the...

 by helping Ontarians to find authoritative digital information and improve their online research skills.

Using licensed, secure chat software, askON staff provide research guidance and help to users navigating the Internet

Internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

, their library's services, and other online resources, including several significant full-text magazine and newspaper resources licensed by Knowledge Ontario for the use of Ontarians. These include Gale Cengage databases, Cedrom SNi, and the Canadian Points of View Reference Centre, among others. These databases, licensed by Knowledge Ontario, are accessible through any Ontario library website. They can also be accessed without a library card from anywhere in Ontario through the Knowledge Ontario eResources portal, through the use of geolocation

Geolocation

Geolocation is the identification of the real-world geographic location of an object, such as a radar, mobile phone or an Internet-connected computer terminal...

 technology.

askON is a collaborative effort with public and post-secondary libraries, each of which has offered up some of their staff time to make the service possible. The various libraries' staff work in shifts to provide 45 hours a week of service to public library visitors (35 hours a week of French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 service via ONdemande) and over 60 hours a week to post-secondary students. The service also engages library and information science

Library and information science

Library and information science is a merging of the two fields library science and information science...

 students as volunteer interns who assist on the service in exchange for the training and professional development opportunity.
askON currently partners with 14 college libraries, 7 university libraries, and 35 public libraries across Ontario, offering services in English (askON) and French (ONdemande). Their goals are to have all of Ontario's publicly-funded libraries working together to provide service to all Ontarians, and to raise the profile of Ontario's libraries as providers of services and tools, responsive to the needs of an increasingly digitally literate society.

Partners

Colleges
Algonquin College Algonquin College Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology is a publicly funded English-language college and member of Polytechnics Canada located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The college serves the National Capital Region and the outlying areas of Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec...	Cambrian College Cambrian College Cambrian College is a college of applied arts and technology in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Established in 1967, and funded by the province of Ontario, Cambrian has campuses in Sudbury, Espanola and Little Current....	Centennial College	Conestoga College Conestoga College The Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning is a public college based in Kitchener, Ontario in Canada.-History:The College was founded in 1967 as the Conestoga College of Applied Arts and Technology, one of many such institutions established in that time by the Ontario...
Confederation College Confederation College Confederation College is a provincially funded college of applied arts and technology located in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1967, and has area campuses in Dryden, Fort Frances, Geraldton, Kenora, Marathon, Sioux Lookout, Red Lake and Wawa. The college, with its area...	Fanshawe College Fanshawe College Fanshawe College is one of the largest colleges in Ontario, Canada. The main campus is in London, Ontario, with additional campuses in Simcoe, St. Thomas, Woodstock, and Tillsonburg. There are about 15,000 full-time students and 40,000 part-time students. Fanshawe College has more than 112,000 alumni...	Georgian College Georgian College Georgian College is an Ontario College of Applied Arts and Technology. Its primary campus is in Barrie, Ontario, with satellite campuses in Orillia, Midland, Collingwood, Bracebridge, Port Colborne, Orangeville, and Owen Sound....	George Brown College George Brown College George Brown College is a public, fully accredited college of applied arts and technology with three full campuses in downtown Toronto, Ontario...
Humber College Humber College Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning is a polytechnic college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Humber offers more than 150 programs including: bachelor’s degree, diploma, certificate, post-graduate certificate and apprenticeship programs, across 40 fields of study. Humber serves...	Mohawk College Mohawk College Mohawk College is a public College of Applied Arts and Technology located in the Golden Horseshoe of Ontario, Canada. Mohawk has three main campuses: the Fennell Campus located in Hamilton, the Brantford Campus located in Brantford and the STARRT Institute located in Stoney Creek, as well as the...	Niagara College Niagara College Niagara College is a College of Applied Arts and Technology within the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario. The College has four campuses: the Welland Campus in Welland, the Niagara-on-the-Lake Campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake, the Maid of the Mist Campus in Niagara Falls, home of the Tourism Industry...	Seneca College Seneca College Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology is a Canadian public college in the greater Toronto area. Seneca College is currently Canada's largest college with approximately 108,000 students.-History:...
Sheridan College Sheridan College Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning is a diploma and degree granting Canadian polytechnic institute with approximately 15,000 full time students and 35,000 continuing education students...	St. Clair College St. Clair College St. Clair College of Applied Arts and Technology is a college in the Southwestern Ontario counties of Essex and Chatham-Kent.-Campus:Its main administration and largest campus sites are in Windsor, Canada. In addition, other campuses are located in Chatham and Wallaceburg. In 2007, St...
Universities
Lakehead University	University of Guelph	University of Guelph-Humber	Ryerson University
University of Toronto	University of Windsor	York University
Public Libraries
Asphodel Norwood Public Library	Ajax Public Library	Aurora Public Library	Barrie Public Library
Belleville Public Library	Brampton Library	Cambridge Public Library	Cambridge Public Library
Cornwall Public Library	Dryden Public Library	Fort Erie Public Library	Georgina Public Library
Greater Sudbury Public Library	Hamilton Public Library	Huron County Public Library	Innisfil Public Library
Kenora Public Library	Kingston-Frontenac Public Library	Kitchener Public Library	Lambton County Public Library
London Public Library	Middlesex County Public Library	Moonbeam Public Library	Newmarket Public Library
North Bay Public Library	Oshawa Public Library	Ottawa Public Library	Pickering Public Library
Powassan and Union Public Library	Prince Edward County Public Library	Russell Township Public Library	St. Catharines Public Library
Seguin Public Library	Six Nations Public Library	Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry County Library	Terrace Bay Public Library
Temiskaming Shores Public Library	Thunder Bay Public Library	Vaughan Public Library	Waterloo Public Library
Welland Public Library	Windsor Public Library	Whitchurch-Stouffville Public Library