What do librarians think about Ask a Librarian?

In September, 191 librarians who staff Ask a Librarian logged in to let us know what they thought about the service. We thank everyone who took the time to take the survey. Here are the highlights:

* 62% felt comfortable using the software while 7% were still uncomfortable with the software.

* 74% felt comfortable assisting users in a live, online environment while 10% did not feel comfortable.

* 19% staffed the desk less then 4 times this past year while 81% staffed over 5 times. We also asked for comments in 3 areas.

What do you like best, least, and what would you suggest to improve the service. We had an average of 146 librarians offer comments for these questions. I went ahead and grouped the responses into categories. Below are the category breakdowns for each question.

What do you like least about the service?
Local Questions	49
Technical Problems	40
Need more training	12
Need more Docutek software enhancements	10
Academic vs. public library type questions	8
Scheduling Issues	5
Issues with promotion	1
Other	21

Do you have any suggestions for improving our service or training program?
training suggestions	21
Local Questions	18
Technical Issues & Enhancements	18
Academic vs. public library type questions	6
Inappropriate Patrons 2	1
Other	22
None	28

What do you like most about the service?
Experiences	68
Theory/Philosophy of Service	15
Nothing	12
Creates new library users	8
Able to Help everyone	7
Improved personal Reference Skills	6
Software	6
Training	2
Local Desk	1

The results were overwhelmingly positive though they did show Ask a Librarian staff we still have work to do! We will continue to train and develop new training opportunities in the upcoming grant year. Jennifer is exploring online software to help create short tutorials for those who need a quick refresher. CCLA and TBLC are continuing to work with Docutek to bring the VRLPlus software to the next level with enhancement requests and troubleshooting. We are continuing to market and try and get people aware of Ask a Librarian and what librarians can do for them.

It is particularly heartening to see comments from librarians like, “I like helping someone who has never used a database before; when I “reveal” the articles, they get so excited. I think we are reaching patrons who would not come to the library building.” This is what we strive to achieve and it was great to see so many people has positive sessions.
This year we will continue to focus on creating a stronger Ask a Librarian community while having the service serve more and more residents!

Thanks again for all your feedback!