New Practice Day Schedule

Due to a great suggestion by one of our librarians, I have decided to start having regular, monthly practice sessions for anyone in the state who would like to log on and practice with others. The second Tuesday of every month will be an Ask a Librarian practice day. I will log on to practice with you as many of the days as I am available, but you are encouraged to log on and practice with each other on those days. If you log on to practice as a librarian then please also log on to take a turn asking questions as a patron.

Here is the link for the training room:

http://www.askalibrarian.org/info/training.asp

Please let me know if you need a log in to the training room. Most of you should have one if you’ve been though training.

The dates of the practices will be:
June 12th
July 10th
Aug. 14th
Sept. 11th
Oct 9th and so on . . .

It is very easy to get rusty if you don’t staff the desk very often, so please log in and keep in practice!

Co-browse Configuration

I just wanted to share some information about why co-browsing configures successfully sometimes and doesn’t other times.

Our current version of Docutek VRLplus allows a user to connect with us first in chat mode only. We can then choose to initiate co-browsing or not, depending on the session. When the user logs in we have information about what operating system and browser they are using, however there are more requirements for successful co-browsing including security settings and how java is set-up on their computer. The software doesn’t test these items until we try to configure co-browsing, which will either be successful or not. It is important to note that there is nothing “wrong” with the co-browser in these cases. The co-browse configuration should be seen as a test of the user’s system to see if they are capable of co-browsing. If they are not, then the co-browser will go to classic mode and you can continue the session in classic. We are working with Docutek to make this process a little more transparent so that the user and librarian will have more information about the co-browse configuration process and we will know which users will be capable of co-browsing in pro mode or in classic.

You can also make use of this script to communicate with your patron if their computer fails the co-browse configuration process:

“I’m sorry but it looks like your browser is not able to be configured for co-browsing. We can continue our session without the co-browse function.”

The script is saved in the scripted replies under, “Co-browsing won’t config”

Please let me know if you have any questions or technical problems.

User Group Meeting Agenda

The first user group meetings are right around the corner and many of you have signed up already. If you have not please remember to register for one of the following sessions. At least one representative from each participating library is highly recommended. If you can not attend, please send me a quick email.

Here is the agenda for the Ask a Librarian User Group Meetings:

1. Update on Ask a Librarian
2. Academic Desk Pilot Program – Implementation Details
3. Marketing
4. Scheduling
5. Issues on the Collaborative Desk
–Picking up Patrons
–Referrals
–Problem Users and IPs
6. Software
–Issues and Enhancements
–Retrieving Statistics
–Customizations
7. Other
Quality Assurance/Exemplary Reference Awards
Utilizing Local Desks
8. Open Forum

User Group Meeting Locations and Times:
To register, just click on the meeting location below.

May 21- CFLC Maitland from 10-12pm
May 23- Tampa Bay Library Consortium, Tampa from 10-12pm.
June 5-   Central Florida Community College Library, Ocala from 10-12pm.
June 7-   NEFLIN, Orange Park from 10-12pm.
June 12- International College-Room 195, Ft Myers from 10-12pm.
June 14- Palm Beach Community College, Lake Worth from 1-3pm.
June 15- Nova Southeastern University, Ft Lauderdale from 10-12pm
July 10-  Leroy Collins – Leon County Public Library, Tallahassee from 10-12pm.
July 11-  Gulf Coast Community College, Panama City from 10:30CT – 12:30.

March Exemplary Reference Awards Announced!!

The Quality Assurance Workgroup has been hard at work reading nominated transcripts for March and a random selection of transcripts from the 3,065 chat sessions Ask a Librarian had last month.  They selected the following three sessions as those that best exemplified the service Ask a Librarian continually strives to achieve in all its sessions.   Meredith Pierce from Alachua County will be receiving a $20 Borders gift card for Best Detailed Chat!! 

Exemplary Detailed Chat 
Meredith Pierce, Alachua County Library District
Meredith was very helpful and attentive to the patron’s need. She located a good alternative source for a patron who was searching for a particular video that was not available from her library.  This was a good use of library resources. Meredith helped a teacher who was looking for videos.

Exemplary Brief Chat
Pammy Herring, Osceola County Library System
This brief chat displays good patron rapport and good use of library resources. Pammy helped a visually impaired patron locate a library database with real estate exams. She was very helpful and efficient.  In the session, the patron was using ZoomText for the visually impaired!

Exemplary Teaching Chat
Ann Coppola, Pasco County Libraries
Ann used her interview skills to determine exactly what the patron needed. She then explained step-by-step how to use the Florida government site to answer the question. She stayed with the patron making sure she had the correct information and that she knew how to retrieve this information in the future.   

To read the transcripts go to: http://www.askalibrarian.org/info/besttranscript.asp

The Quality Assurance Team is now  accepting  nominations for April! Don’t be shy- show us your favorite sessions!  Tell us about the sessions  that truly stood out – your own and those of your co-workers !  Nominate a session at:  http://info.askalibrarian.org

Ask a Librarian Regional User Group Meetings

Ask a Librarian is growing like a weed, and with growth comes a few growing pains, some changes and a lot of exciting news. At the Regional User Group Meetings for Ask a Librarian, site coordinators and interested participants are invited to take part in an interactive meeting to discuss Ask a Librarian.

The agenda includes a project update and discussions on usage, customer service, marketing, staffing and the pilot project for an academic desk. Meeting participants will help shape the project’s direction.

Regionals meetings will be at the following locations. Please sign up by clicking on the session you can attend:

May 21- CFLC Maitland from 10-12pm
May 23- Tampa Bay Library Consortium Tampa from 10-12pm.
June 5- Central Florida Community College Library Ocala from 10-12pm.
June 7- NEFLIN Orange Park from 10-12pm.
June 12- International College-Room 195, Ft Myers from 10-12pm.
June 14- Palm Beach Community College, Lake Worth from 1-3pm.
June 15- Nova Southeastern University, Ft Lauderdale from 10-12pm
July 10- Leroy Collins – Leon County Public Library, Tallahassee from 10-12pm.
UPDATE:  July 11- Gulf Coast Community College, Panama City from 10:30CT – 12:30.

Advertise in Facebook. On us.

Your students are on Facebook.

Why aren’t you?

At FLA, several of you mentioned Facebook and we heard you! After looking into Facebook, we learned that it is a great way to inexpensively advertise to a very targeted group of college students, and we decided to test it for ourselves. 

Facebook is a social networking site geared toward college and university students. By creating a small ad – or “flyer” – that appears on the homepages of students and alumni from whatever schools we choose, we can advertise Ask a Librarian to a very specific and targeted audience without spending a lot of money.

As a “test run,” with Ask a Librarian footing the bill, we’d like to give 10 of our participating college libraries the opportunity to advertise their Ask a Librarian services on Facebook. Your ad will include a link to your school’s Ask a Librarian site and will only appear on the pages of students who attend your school.

If you’re interested in participating in this campaign, please let me know. If this goes well, we will execute a second, larger Facebook campaign as part of our back-to-school push in August and September.

Feel free to contact me with any questions or to let me know that you’re interested in participating in this campaign.