Freshman Kristen Van Nest was on a deadline for her research paper and she needed help. Trekking to Gelman Library to wait for an available librarian was too time-consuming, and she did not have AOL Instant Messenger to take advantage of the library’s Ask a Librarian service. So she did what any responsible student would do – she logged on to her Facebook account.

Librarians joined Facebook, a Web site originally created for college social networking, with the purpose of giving students an alternative way of seeking assistance. More than 20 GW librarians now have Facebook accounts.

One of those librarians is Tina Plottel, Van Nest’s University Writing 20 class librarian. Within an hour, Van Nest had a response from Plottel with all the information she needed without ever leaving her room.

“It was more convenient for me,” Van Nest said. “I definitely check Facebook more often than I do my e-mail.”

Signs reading, “your librarian is your friend” line the walls of Gelman Library, and an online survey – posted on Gelman’s Web site – is being conducted to determine what role Facebook can play for students using library resources.

Last year, Plottel and fellow librarian Caroline Crouse noticed that despite assigning the UW-20 classes a personal librarian, students failed to maintain that connection after the course ended.

“There’s this amazing access for the students while they’re in UW-20, but afterwards it disappears,” Plottel said.

Plottel and Crouse said they believed they could make the library more accessible by tailoring to different technology such as AIM and now Facebook.

“We started it as a place for us to share information or have discussions,” Plottel said about the Web site. “But we’ve spent so much time working on our own pages. We’re still trying to improve it.”

Students with Facebook can search for a librarian and send them a message or a friend request and expect as timely a response as they could on an e-mail correspondence, according to librarians who check their accounts regularly and students who have used the service.

Freshman Joe Sangiorgio wrote in an e-mail that having Gelman on Facebook is “a lifesaver.” Sangiorgio, who worked in his county library for four years while in high school, said that it simplifies the library’s comprehensive and often confusing online databases. Many of the librarians have even added an Aladin Catalog search application to their profiles, which allows students to browse online articles from the comforts of Facebook.

Last spring, after Plottel reminded her UW-20 class that she was available on Facebook, only one student requested her friendship. Now, Plottel has 13 student Facebook friends and anticipates more. Other librarians have been hesitant to communicate with students on the social networking site.

“My level of involvement with students on Facebook is minimal,” Bianca De Mattia, a GW librarian said.

De Mattia, who is also a recent GW graduate, uses two e-mail and two AIM accounts – one for work and one personal use – but having two Facebook accounts is not as easy.

“When I was a senior, some of my friends had a professor that friended them (on Facebook) and they were like, ‘that’s so weird’,” De Mattia said. “I still kind of associate Facebook with fun things rather than school activities.”