Contact:
Elizabeth Blevins, Director, Office of Communications
Office: (740) 351-3810; FAX: (740) 351-3179; Cell: (740) 464-4854
940 Second Street – Portsmouth, Ohio 45662
E-mail: eblevins@shawnee.edu 
Web site: www.shawnee.edu

            Shawnee State University’s reference librarian, Mary Cummings has been recognized by the Quality Assurance Committee for Know It Now for recommending two scholarly sources on the Clark Memorial Library Web site, sticking with the student through the search process, noting a spelling variation and pointing out relevant hits among the search results.
            Know It Now is a chat program that is used to help students with references sponsored by the State Library of Ohio. KnowItNow24x7 is made available free-of-charge to all citizens and residents of Ohio through a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) awarded by the State Library of Ohio.
            Students are able to log onto the Clark Memorial Library Web site and chat with a librarian about any issue they may be having with research. Librarians are available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
            “I was just doing my job,” said Cummings. “I always approach the service like that, I guess I just got lucky.”
            This is the first time that Cummings has ever been recognized for her work in the Know It Now program. The transcripts are evaluated to encourage the librarians to interact in the best way that they can with people.
            “It is a fairly new program, but I was surprised,” Cummings said. “It is a wonderful service and we hope that everyone uses it if they need help.”
            The program can be found at http://academic.knowitnow.org and it is available 24/7.