I am a student in the MLS program at Texas Woman's University. I have been asked to draft an electronic access policy for the art museum library where I am fulfilling my practicum. The library is primarily a focused research collection designed to meet curatorial needs. The museum's webpage is under construction and has plans to provide a link for e-mail questions about the collection. It is my hope that those of you who use this type of reference format will share your experience. Please answer all or any of the questions specifically addressed, or just offer more general information if you prefer. If you will answer me directly (off-list), I will summarize the answers I receive and post the summary to the list for general information. 1. Does your website have a link for someone to send a question about your collection? Is a librarian or curator named in this connection, or is the patron sending a message blindly? If there is no direct link by which to send inquiries, is an e-mail address provided so that questions may be addressed to the library? Do you have a separate and specific mailbox into which such questions are delivered? 2. We are thinking of including a number of finding aids on our website (e.g., exhibition histories, manuscript collection, artist files, staff directories, museum histories, etc.). Can you offer any advice or suggestions about what would be successful and what would not? Do you offer a link allowing access to the museum's collection management system? Do you limit how it is availble? 3. Did the quantity of reference questions increase dramatically once your library offered electronic access? Did the website seem to encourage other formats of reference questions (i.e., phone, mail, etc.) as well? Are e-mail requests handled differently than other reference requests? Have you adopted a specific time frame in which you expect to answer e-mail reference questions? Is there a limit to the amount of time you expend on e-mail reference questions? Do you make copies and mail or fax them to e-mail patrons? Do you charge a fee for this service? 4. How do you prioritize requests? Would someone using the e-mail link be asked to identify himself in some way? Do you have a form that the link goes to, or just an e-mail link in which they can start typing? Do you have any types of consortial agreements or other types of user categories which receive priority? 5. At what point do you refer an e-mail qustion to the curatorial staff? At what point do you refer an e-mail patron to his or her local library? 6. Is there a difference in the nature of e-mail reference questions from those that are asked in person or via telephone or letters? For example, are there more requests from students requesting homework assistance, or from collectors outside your region? 7. Do you have a written electronic access policy? How may be obtain a copy of it? I appreciate your time and energy in answering these questions or offering input about any related issues that I may have overlooked. I apologize for the length of this query, but wanted to cover my bases. Polly Trump [log in to unmask]