The Ask an IPL Librarian Reference Service will close between academic terms beginning December 20, 2007 at 10 p.m. (EST). We will reopen the service on Monday, January 5, 2008 at Noon (EST). We use this time to work behind the scenes to improve this service. Happy Holidays from all of us at the IPL!

Ask an IPL Librarian Question Form

This form is intended for people under 13 years of age.
Ask an adult for help if you need it. If you are over 13 years old, please use our adult reference form.

Review our Privacy Statement before sending us your question. You can also read more about our service.

We usually need three days to answer questions.
If you need help before then, try visiting a local library or using the sites in KidSpace.

This service runs 24 hours/day, 7 days/week during most of the year.

Our Ask an IPL Librarian Holiday Closure Schedule shows when this service is unavailable or limited.

You MUST fill out questions that are in red.

I. Tell us about you: We need some information about you before we can answer your question.

What is your first name?

Enter email once here:

youremail@youremail.com

We respond to you by e-mail.
We need your REAL EMAIL address.
We have no way to respond to fake e-mail addresses.

Enter email again here:
youremailagain@youremailagain.com

Hey, Kids!
(and Parents)
If your parents have email filters/controls turned on, they will need to add iplref@ipl.org to your allowed mail list in order for us to send email to you.

Where do you live (City, State/Country)?

What grade are you in?

What subject are you asking about?

When do you need it?

(Dates set on current U.S. Eastern time.)

†REMEMBER!
We usually cannot help you if you need an answer in less than three days.

II. Question:

1. Will you use this information for a school report?

Yes
No (We can’t do your assignment, but we can help you get started and give you some places to look.)

2. Write your question in the following space.

Describe your question or problem. Be as specific as you can!

If you’re doing an assignment, tell us about it.

A real person will read your question, so use complete sentences!

3. How long does your assignment need to be?
(Skip this question if it doesn’t apply.)

One Paragraph
Half a Page
One Page
Two Pages
Five Pages
Other

4. Are there certain places your teacher does NOT want you to get the answer?
(Skip this question if it doesn’t apply.)

Encyclopedia
Text book
Web site
Other (Check any of the items you can NOT use.)

5. List any places you have already looked for the answer.

Don’t forget to check your school or public library for answers too! Sometimes the best information isn’t on the Internet.
Before you send this form…

Look at your email address again to make sure it is correct and complete

If you have not read our Privacy Statement, please do so.

You will hear from us soon. Thanks for coming to the IPL!

Updated on 14 Nov 2008

What is the IPL?

The Internet Public Library is a public library for the world wide web.
Students from a consortium of colleges and universities with programs in information science develop and maintain the IPL!
Here are some of the partners in the IPL Consortium. A complete list is found on the IPL Consortium page.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Graduate School of Library and Information Science

Rutgers School of Communication and Information Studies

The Internet Public Library is hosted by The iSchool at Drexel, College of Information Science and Technology,
with major support from the College of Information at Florida State University.