Page 12
The INDEPENDENT, October 15, 2009
Wash. County Librarians now offer a “TXT 4 ANSWERS” service
ice of its kind. Alliance Library
System in East Peoria, Illinois
has partnered with participating
libraries from across the coun-
try, and the companies Altara-
ma and Peoplewhere, to build
this exciting new reference
service. Local participating li-
braries include WCCLS and six
of its member libraries, includ-
ing Beaverton City Library,
Cedar Mill Community Library,
Garden Home Community Li-
The Washington County Co-
operative Library Services
(WCCLS) has launched a pilot
project to enable patrons to
send a text message to a librar-
ian from their hand held elec-
tronic devices. A librarian will
text an expert answer back to
the patron within 10 minutes
during the hours of service.
The service, named “My Info
Quest” is the first collaborative
text messaging reference serv-
10-31-09
brary, Hillsboro Public Li-
braries, Sherwood Public Li-
brary and the Tigard Public Li-
brary.
Barbara O’Neill, Reference
Program Supervisor with the
Washington County Coopera-
tive Library Services, reports
that local librarians are eager to
test out this new texting serv-
ice. “Anyone can surf the inter-
net, but to have a librarian actu-
ally verify the credibility of a
source provides a much higher
level of confidence in the an-
swer.” Local librarians believe
that electronically savvy texting
patrons will appreciate the dif-
ference in the level of service.
So if you are on the go and
need an answer – text your
question to a “My Info Quest” li-
brarian and have the answer
delivered to your phone or PDA
within minutes.
Text 309-222-7740
Text the code WCC in front
of your question
A librarian will text an expert
answer within 10 minutes dur-
ing the hours of service (see
hours below)
It’s easy and accurate!
It is anticipated that My Info
Quest will become very popular
among teens and college stu-
dents as a handy homework re-
source. However, students will
not be the only ones who bene-
fit from the rapid librarian text
response service. If you have
ever been stuck in a business
meeting and needed to verify
one last bit of information be-
fore a presentation to a big
client – then you can image the
value of such a service. Within
minutes of receiving a request
a My Info Quest librarian will
text a response using an au-
thoritative source.
Locally the hours of service
for My Info Quest will be Mon-
day – Friday: 6 a.m. – 8 p.m.
and Saturday 7 a.m. – 3 p.m. If
a WCCLS patron texts a mes-
sage when the service is
closed they will receive a mes-
sage indicating that a response
will be provided as soon as My
Info Quest reopens. Nation-
wide, librarians from the partic-
ipating libraries will collaborate
to staff the service. The soft-
ware for My Info Quest has
been donated for the pilot pro-
gram and will be available in
Washington County throughout
2010.
For additional information
patrons may stop by their local
WCCLS member library or visit
www.wccls.org.
The Washington County Co-
operative Library Services
(WCCLS) includes: Banks Pub-
lic Library, Beaverton City Li-
brary, Cedar Mill Community Li-
brary, Cedar Mill Community Li-
brary @ Bethany, Cornelius
Public Library, Forest Grove
City Library, Garden Home
Community Library, Hillsboro
Public Libraries (Main and
Shute Park), North Plains Pub-
lic Library, Sherwood Public Li-
brary, Tigard Public Library, Tu-
alatin Public Library, and West
Slope Community Library. Two
specialty libraries are also a
part of the Cooperatives library
card service – the Oregon Col-
lege of Art & Craft and the Tual-
ity Health Education Resource
Center.
Hays animal shelter asks for cat food
Washington County Animal
Services & Bonnie L. Hays
10-31-09
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Small Animal in Hillsboro is
seeking donations of high-qual-
ity dry and canned pet food,
specifically for kittens and cats.
“We’re down to our last few
bags of cat food,” said Deborah
Wood, Animal Services manag-
er at the beginning of October.
Especially this time of year,
there is a constant flow of cats.
“We’ll admit about 3,000 cats
and kittens into our shelter this
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503-324-5221 • 150 N. Main Street, Banks
• Mon - Fri 8am to 6pm
• Saturday 8am to 5pm
• Sunday 10am to 4pm
BEER • WINE • FOOD
KEGS & ICE TO GO
Lunch, Dinner
and Cocktails
Served Daily
All Lottery Games
11:00 am to closing
Closed mondays
47100 NW Sunset Hwy.
Manning • 324-4848
year,” said Wood. “Kitten sea-
son generally lasts into Novem-
ber, so we’re facing a lot more
hungry mouths to feed over the
next few months.”
Almost 100 percent of the
food the shelter serves to the
pets is donated. “So we rely on
the public’s generosity,” adds
Wood. “When people are out
shopping this weekend, we ask
them to remember the shel-
tered pets and buy an extra
bag of food for them.”
Donations of unopened, un-
expired cat and dog food may
be brought to the Bonnie L.
Hays Small Animal Shelter at
1901 SE 24th Avenue, Hills-
boro, during regular business
hours. Donations are tax-de-
ductible.
For more information on do-
nating to help the animals, see
www.co.washington.or.us/pets.
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503-324-9808