@Vernon – Great example!

What is the nickname for all of the states? Isn’t New York the Empire State?

They responded as follows:
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Hello Vernon Blake

Yes, New York does have the nickname the Empire State.

You can find a list of nicknames for each state at the following Web sites:

50States.com.
http://www.50states.com/
Click on each state and then click on *Nickname.*

About.com. Geography. State Nicknames.
http://geography.about.com/od/specificplacesofinterest/a/statenicknames.htm

NetState.com. State Nicknames of the 50 States in the State Almanac.
http://www.netstate.com/state_nicknames.htm

Sources:

Above Web sites accessed Sept. 9, 2008.
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I fully realize that I could have looked this up myself, but their service seemed to be available for everyone and as you can see they were very courteous.

This is a great service for someone that is not web and search engine savvy — and that is a large portion of the population — especially the 50+ age group.

Although I’m not authorized to speak officially, I can speak unofficially:

Despite it’s name, The New York Public Library is a *privately-owned* institution. The majority of funds to run the institution come from non-taxpayer sources. Although some funds do come from New York City (not as much as you would think, and much less than the Brooklyn and Queens systems), the institution does have a world view of its constituency. We are quite proud that people use our website and catalog from around the world at all times of day and night, and that we receive reference requests from around the world.

I should have mentioned previously that the phone number 917-275-6975 translates to: 917-ASK-NYPL.

Personally, I think you should have maybe posted something about everyone contacting their local library system that has a reference desk (and if there is no reference desk, lobby for one to be created) rather than funneling all the extra burden to a single resource. Your post could even cause the reference desk to either close down their public access or somehow limit the access due to the extra influx. You might want to consider revising your post.

The New York Public Library’s telephone reference service is known for getting nearly any type of question under the sun. We do have policies for not answering certain types of questions (e.g. questions that would involve legal or medical advice), but in those cases we will refer you to somewhere else.

Indeed – I’m an employee of The New York Public Library. Although I’m not at that particular phone number, I’m sometimes at the phone number for reference questions about music and recorded sound.

There is no such thing as the “NYC Library.” New York City has three library systems, independent of each other: one for Queens, one for Brooklyn, and one for Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island. The phone number you have provided is for The New York Public Library (the one with the famous building with the 2 lions perches on 5th avenue and 42nd street).

@infmom – not every public library has reference librarians available to answer questions over the phone like NY. My local library doesn’t. But yes if your local library can help you–definitely go there.

Or do the whole thing online, again with librarians at the other end , this time using chat:
http://www.questionpoint.org/

Look up the number of your own local library’s reference desk and use that instead.