MINITEX REFERENCE REFERRAL

Minitex Reference Referral is a service that helps with questions that can't be answered with your library's resources. The 4 librarians on staff will take questions from public, academic or special libraries.

Reference Referral will do the following things to answer your queries:

• Search all University of Minnesota resources, including databases.


• Make trips to The Minnesota Historical Society and Hennepin County libraries.


• Contact experts and other libraries, either in Minnesota or nation-wide.
  
  

The number of questions they receive has been going down due to the Internet, but the ones they do get are harder. How long it takes to get an answer varies by how difficult the question is. Just like SPPL, they do not give legal, medical, or tax advice or appraisals on collectibles.

Please do the following when submitting queries:

• Let them know what sources you have already consulted.


• If you know a resource is available at the University, please suggest it.


• Specify if it is a rush request, or if it is not needed after a certain date.

Questions may be submitted by phone, email, or through the Mylibrary portal. You need to create a username and password for Mylibrary, but then you can go back and check on the status of the question online. Why not create your account today so you'll be ready when the time comes? You can then browse and see all the questions your SPPL colleagues have submitted.

--Andrea