6 Reference and Information Services

The number of reference and directional inquiries decreased slightly, but with the inclusion of e-Query (email) statistics, was comparable to 1998. MULTELS centralised telephone inquiries service responded to 25,164 calls, compared with the 24,434 calls completed in 1998. Of the 1999 calls, 75% were completed at the time of the call, the other 25% requiring referral to other numbers. The e-Query electronic email enquiry service staffed by Flexible Library Services Unit was successfully trialed. In its first six months of operation responses were made to 1115 enquiries.