The New York Public Library has an “Ask NYPL” help line staffed by librarians to answer queries. The Google search engine now answers most people’s queries, but Ask NYPL still exists and has been called the ‘human Google.”
   
“Excited 2 c public recognition of nypl telephone ref. I used to use it years ago! Now it can be referred to as Human Google!” was posted on Twitter on April 6. 2010. “The New York Public Library’s little-known ‘human Google’ service answers any question by phone” by Thu-Huong Ha was an article posted on Quartz on July 19, 2015.
   
   
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Twitter
Marni Ockene
‏@fuzzytomato
@RogerClark41 Excited 2 c public recognition of nypl telephone ref. I used to use it years ago! Now it can be referred to as Human Google!
6:43 AM - 6 Apr 2010
 
Twitter
Lillian Pelton
‏@lillynottingham
Librarians as better, human Google! Behind the Reference Desk at the @NYPL with Philip Sutton via @6sqft
11:27 AM - 5 May 2015
   
Quartz
The New York Public Library’s little-known “human Google” service answers any question by phone
WRITTEN BY
Thu-Huong Ha
July 19, 2016
Does the Pope have to be a virgin?
 
If you’ve got fingers and a smart phone, it’s a simple matter of Googling to find out. (The answer is: No.) But there’s another, more congenial service that takes only a few jabs of the finger: Just call 917-ASK-NYPL, and a live librarian will try to answer your question, using vast archives collected over 120 years.
   
DNA Info—New York
Looking for a Human Google? The NYPL Has You Covered
By Nicole Levy | July 21, 2016 11:58am
@AubernaLevy
(...)
Established in the 1960s, the Ask NYPL line (917-ASK-NYPL) takes queries about once an hour, Quartz reports. Over the past year, the team answering them by consulting the library’s archives has received almost 60,000 calls, 20,000 emails, 17,000 chat messages, 500 text messages and more than 12 letters by post. At least five users dial in so frequently manager Rosa Caballero-Li recognizes their voices, Quartz reports.
     
CBS News
August 15, 2016, 7:24 AM
Meet the “Human Google” at the New York Public Library
The local library is a great place to fill your summer reading list for free. But it also remains a vital source for research. And in an era of online searches, librarians at the New York Public Library are still the most- trusted source.
 
They have been called the “Human Google,” said CBSN’s Elaine Quijano. And though they may not be as fast as your favorite Internet search engine, they’re as reliable as ever.
(...)
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