Glenda Lowndes, Reference Assistant, Bronfman Business Library

Published Friday October 18, 2013

This summer York University Libraries (YUL) introduced a new Q & A tool called LibAnswers that can provide students with quick answers to an array of library-related questions, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The types of questions you ask can vary from being as simple as: “How do I place a book on hold?”, to more complex questions such as: “How can I get articles on a particular topic?”. There are business specific questions in our databank too. For example, “How can I get help with finance research?” which will direct your query to our Finance Research Guide or “Where can I get company research help?” which will point you to our Company Research Guide to get you started. One thing to keep in mind is that the complexity of your question will dictate how quickly you get a response.

How does it work?

It’s very easy to use.  To get to LibAnswers just click on the Ask - Chat with a Librarian icon which is very prominent on our library homepage at https://www.library.yorku.ca/. Then look for the Frequently Asked Questions search option, as shown on the right, where you will also see a list of popular questions and answers. Then just type your question in the LibAnswers box, and click  LibAnswers will search our databank of frequently asked questions which was developed by library staff and will list answers that best match your question, making it easy and quick for you to get a response.

What if my question is not listed?

If your question does not match any of the answers listed, a box will show up on the right-side of your screen, as shown here. You can submit your question and you will receive a personal email with the response. Note that the business reference team also monitor questions and answers any queries which are related to business research. Depending on the complexity of the question and staff availability, the answer time will vary; however we do try to get back to you as soon as possible, guaranteeing a 48-hour turnaround time.

To assist your research on business subjects further, you can also check out our Library Guides. These cover a range of different topics in business, e.g., industry research, accounting, marketing and much more. They also include guides for business writing and citation assistance and include many links to various research videos. Furthermore, these guides include subject-specific recommended subscription e-resources, print materials and resources on the free Web for researching specific areas.

There are many different ways to connect with the Bronfman Business Library. You can email us at bronfref@yorku.ca, chat with us here, phone us at 416-736-5139 or drop by in person.

We invite you to submit your LibAnswer questions here.