New York, May 4, 2001 -- Are there any working farms left in New York City?
What is a Throg and what is so important about its neck?
What makes the sound you hear when you put your ear up to a seashell?
Do any states have license plates with Web addresses on them yet?
My friend told me she polishes her shoes with the inside of a banana peel. Is this effective? See below for answers.

If questions like these keep you up at night, you'll be relieved to hear that The New York Public Library has recently launched a new reference service called Ask Librarians Online. Library card holders can now pose questions on virtually any topic via an online form at http://ask.nypl.org. This valuable new service increases the ways in which patrons can find quick and accurate information, and satisfies New Yorkers' curiosity and infinite need for answers.

After a library card holder fills out an online form at http://ask.nypl.org, a reference  librarian from Ask Librarians Online will respond to web patrons' brief factual questions by e-mail usually within two business days.

"Ask Librarians Online enables cardholders to ask questions at any time of the day or night from wherever they have access to the World Wide Web," says Harriet Shalat, Director of Ask Librarians Online. "The Internet has become an indispensable and  enormously popular reference tool and Ask Librarians Online ensures that our users  are getting fast accurate answers from skilled professionals."

Ask Librarians Online also provides a searchable Q&A archive, which is available to all. This archive, arranged by topic (New York City, geography and travel, quotations, and sports, among others) provides answers to previously asked questions. It is a fascinating look into the inquisitive minds of other New Yorkers and an interesting record of the kind of information that is in demand. Users who wish to browse the Q&A archive do not need a library card.

Ask Librarians Online is an extension of NYPL's popular Telephone Reference Service, which has been an important part of the Library's reference services since 1968. National and international questioners have included researchers from the television show "Jeopardy," scores of newspaper reporters, authors, celebrities, professors, secretaries, CEOs, and everyone in between. Ms. Shalat estimates that she and her staff are able to answer over 80 percent of telephone and online questions that come in. Although reference librarian staff members may know many answers off the top of their heads, they must provide each caller or online patron with a source for each reply. To do this, they draw on an eclectic collection of electronic databases, the World Wide Web, and over 2,000 reference books that includes encyclopedias, almanacs, and atlases as well as titles such as The Encyclopedia of American Crime, Trade Name Origins, Pet Names of the Rich and Famous, and The Encyclopedia of Phobias, Fears, and Anxieties. Staff also keep track of recent news stories and web sites that provide answers to to some frequently asked questions. Telephone Reference Service is available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 212-930-0830.

The New York Public Library Ask Librarians Online is supported in part by Federal Library Services and Technology Act funds, awarded to The New York State Library by the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Answers:
The Queens County Farm Museum is a 47-acre working farm, the site of continuous farming for more than 200 years and the only working farm within New York City. The farm was opened as a museum in 1975. The landmark farmhouse was originally built around 1772 and is known as the Adriance Farmhouse, when this part of Long Island was settled primarily by the Dutch. The museum is at 73-50 Little Neck Parkway in Floral Park. The telephone number is 718-347-FARM.

The name "Throg's Neck" derives from John Throckmorton, who in 1643 settled on a piece of land in the Bronx that juts out, like a neck, into the river. Sources: Andrea Kannapell, et. al., The Curious New Yorker: 329 Fascinating Questions and Surprising Answers About New York City (New York: Times Books, 1999) pp. 41-42

When a seashell is held to an ear, the sounds heard are soft sounds in the listener's vicinity that have been resonated and amplified by the seashell's cavity. (James E. Bobick and Margery Peffer, comps., Science and Technology Desk Reference, 2nd ed. (Detroit: Gale, 1996) p. 191.)

Yes, the new Pennsylvania license plates are the first in the world to include a Web address. The URL is www.state.pa.us, set in blue letters against the lower, yellow band. The Web address is Pennsylvania's state site. Sources: "New Pennsylvania license plates first in the world to include Web address." Online. Available: http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9909/10/web.plates.idg/index.html 17 July 2000

Yes, apparently oils in the banana peel will soak into leather shoes and make the shoes last longer. Sources: Melodie Moore, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Household Solutions (New York: Alpha Books, 1998) pp. 87-88

The New York Public Library offers a wide variety of free programs for adults, young adults, and children at all 85 of its branches, located throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island.

Contact: Jennifer Bertrand, 212-221-7676, jbertrand@nypl.org

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