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Real‐time online reference holds enormous potential for revolutionizing the way users find and use reference services. By adding interactive help to their online information services, libraries can reach users who may never have sought out the traditional reference desk. Moving from the desk to the desktop, however, can be a daunting prospect. Anxious to try this innovative service, but concerned about a long‐term commitment to expensive software and possible staff reorganization without a clear mandate, the Reference and Undergraduate Libraries at the University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign launched a pilot project in the spring of 2001. In addition to testing the feasibility of real‐time online service, we attempted to gather as much data as possible to guide in future planning. The results were gratifying: patrons responded enthusiastically, and the data collected provided valuable insights into the use and users of this service.

Libraries have long played an important role in the preservation, appreciation, and perpetuation of American traditions. As early as 1928, the Archive of American Folk‐Song was established in the Library of Congress to maintain a national collection of manuscripts and recordings of American folk songs. The archive's mission broadened to include all aspects of folklore and folklife, prompting a name change in 1981 to the Archive of Folk Culture. Today, the archive serves as a national repository for primary source material on American folklore, spoken word as well as music, and provides reference and reader services for the fields of folklore and ethnomusicology. In 1976, the American Folklife Center was established at the Library of Congress, and the archive was placed under its auspices. Charged with developing, promoting, and implementing programs that support American folklife, the center sponsors an active research and publications program. Archives are not the only connection, however, between libraries and folklore. With collections and performances of folktales in children's departments, folklore in school programs, family and local history collections in public libraries, and academic research collections, folklore engages a broad spectrum of library users.

conference held in Dubrovnik, May 2004, which had the dual theme of human information behaviour and competences for digital libraries.