Exciting changes coming your way

We are verging on a BIG change that will mean positive things for the future of Ask a Librarian. We have the opportunity to evaluate and accept bids for a new software platform for Ask a Librarian. We hope we will find a software to help us enhance Ask a Librarian’s interface and our users’ experience. This is an exciting time for Ask a Librarian, as we have a great opportunity to build on the success of the last five years.

Background:
Last summer, we found out that SirsiDynix is not able to commit to the long-term development and support of our current Ask a Librarian software, Docutek VRLPlus. Because there are features and developments that are important to the future of our service, we have decided to issue an Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) for virtual reference software. An ITN is similar to a Request for Purchase (RFP), but an ITN allows us to negotiate with multiple vendors simultaneously to get the most appropriate product at the best price. The Ask a Librarian Advisory Committee and staff are finalizing the ITN, which we will formally release on April 2.

We need you:
Throughout the process of selecting software, we will keep everyone informed by posting regular updates to the Ask a Librarian Blog and through emails. Your feedback is incredibly important to us during this process, so please do not hesitate to comment or ask questions.

Meetings and training:
There will be a few changes to our typical schedule during the process. Annual Regional Meetings will be delayed until the end of summer so we can use these meetings to demo the new software and provide details on the migration. A large training component focused on the software will be released so that everyone has a chance to get experience with the new software before we go live.

We will continue to offer the full day of Ask a Librarian training, using the Docutek software, until September. It will be much easier to get up to speed with the new software if you are already familiar with the Ask a Librarian program and virtual reference; therefore, we encourage new participants to attend any training offered between now and our new software launch.

Tentative calendar of events:
Wednesday, April 2: ITN mailed to vendors and made available electronically
Monday, April 28: ITN responses due from vendors
Tuesday, April 29: ITN responses opened
May 1 – 15: Evaluation Team ranks responses
May 16 – June 11: Clarification, further investigation, negotiation with preferred vendor(s) (May include software demonstrations)
Thursday, June 12: Vendor decision reached
Friday, July 11: TBLC approve contract
Monday, July 14: Finalize contract
July – September: Regional Update Meetings
September 15: Software ready
October 20: Begin training library staff at participating libraries
December 1: Go live with product statewide

In the meantime:
During the ITN process, we will continue to use Docutek software and promote Ask a Librarian as usual. Docutek and Ask a Librarian staff will still troubleshoot Docutek during this time, so please continue to report any issues you have when staffing the desk to askalibrarian@tblc.org.

Ask a Librarian’s biggest strength has always been the expertise of those staffing the desk, and this will never change. We have all learned a lot since Ask a Librarian’s inception and will use this knowledge to ensure a smooth transition and even more growth in the future. We hope that you will provide us with your opinions, suggestions and overall feedback during this process.

We will provide additional information about the ITN at the Ask a Librarian User Forum at FLA (Friday, April 25 at 8:30 a.m. in the Royal Tern Room). We would love to see you there!

– Diana & Jennifer

January Exemplary Reference Awards

The Quality Assurance Workgroup has been hard at work and has awarded the following transcripts for January Exemplary Reference Awards of the Month. Transcripts were awarded in three categories: Best Detailed Chat, Best Brief Chat, and Best Teaching Chat. Ken Venet from Barry University will receive a gift card to Amazon.com for his Exemplary Detailed Chat and all three winners will receive a certificate at a presentation at this year’s Florida Library Association Annual Meeting in St Petersburg, Florida.

Exemplary Detailed Chat:
Ken Venet, Barry University on 1/22/2008. A patron was beginning research on a tough topic. She was at a loss as to how to begin. Despite an inability to co-browse, Ken guided her in selecting a database and provided search terms for her. He performed some searches on his own and shared an article with her that she was unable to recall.

Exemplary Teaching Chat:
Missy Shoop, University of Florida on 1/30/2008. Missy taught the customer how to search for articles using the electronic databases. Missy was able to direct the student to another more useful database when the one she was using was not producing results.

Exemplary Brief Chat:
Louis Rosen, Intern on 1/26/2008 Louis was able to help a student find a specific edition of a book (a Star Wars paperback) that he was looking for.

Read these transcripts and nominate your own in the Ask a Librarian Toolbox – http://info.askalibrarian.org

Everglades University

We are happy to announce that Everglades University has become active again in the Ask a Librarian service. Due to staffing changes, Everglades University is now able to take on a larger role and staff the academic and collaborative desk on a regular basis.

Join us at FLA!

There are two programs I hope you will be able to join us for at FLA this year:

• Thursday, Apr 24th at 3:30 in the Bird Key Room Dr Marie Radford , Associate Professor and Library Consultant, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey will be presenting on her research. The program, ““Pls hury it up thanks!!!” Interpersonal Communication in Virtual Reference. Get tips and tactics for boosting satisfaction and enhancing
  accuracy in live chat reference along with a report of a research project that analyzed live chat reference transcripts from OCLC’s Question Point.
• Friday, Apr 25th at 8 oops -8:30am in the Royal Tern Room. The Annual Ask a Librarian User Forum. There will be HUGE news this year- and a lot of great discussion. Please join us before heading home.

Your Opinion Needed…Study of Medical and Consumer Health in Florida

The Information Institute at FSU is currently conducting a study of access to and use of medical and consumer health information through the Florida Electronic Library.  

If you have a few minutes, please complete their survey at:  http://www.ii.fsu.edu/ 

Keiser University Libraries live on Ask a Librarian

We are happy to announce, the Keiser University Libraries have joined Ask a Librarian and will begin staffing the service this week!  

February Statistics Available

For a short month, Ask a Librarian had a busy month. Live chat sessions were 6% higher than January and 10.2% higher than last February.  The Academic Desk continued to grow stronger answering 535 questions (8%) increase over January. Libraries answered 993 email questions through the software as well, which is roughly the same as last month.   The monthly report is available on line here

The Top Ten Counties by User Reported Zip Code are:
1. Dade
2. Orange
3. Broward
4. Hillsborough
5. Pinellas
6. Palm Beach
7. Duval
8. Lee
9. Volusia
10. Brevard

View the full report of use by zip code here

The top ten library’s by Patron Entry Point (Chat and Email Reference) are:
1. Orange County Library System
2. Broward County Library
3. Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library
4. State Library Of Florida, Div. Of Lib & Info.
5. Miami-Dade Public Library
6. Jacksonville Public Library
7. St Petersburg College
8. University Of Florida
9. Florida International University
10. Valencia Community College

View the full report of Use by Patron Entry Point here

Wondering why your library has yet to make a list? It might be a good to re-evaluate your Ask a Librarian Link Placement. Links in library catalogs, front pages and databases WORK! Statistically, we can see a library’s numbers rise or drop dramatically when the Ask a Librarian Link is moved. Obvious links throughout your website on your front page (especially using the Ask a Librarian logo) directly correlate with higher use by your users in both live sessions and email use. Conversely, buried logos or placement on only one page, even if under ‘reference’, will decrease use significantly. Logos & free promo materials are at http://info.askalibrarian.org under promotion.

Great Job to everyone who staffed Ask a Librarian this month! Your time and expertise makes Ask a Librarian the success it is.

User Exit Survey Now Live

It is that time of year again. The Ask a Librarian User Survey is now live for all users. It is a pop-up that appears when a user logs out of a live chat service.

The questions asked are:

1. Have you used Ask a Librarian before?
2. Did you connect with a librarian today?
3. Was your question answered today?
4. Did the librarian show you any Web-based library resources today (library catalog, databases, etc.)?
5. Do you think you would be able to use those same resources on your own, later on?
6. As a result of using the Ask a Librarian service, do you think you will be more comfortable doing online research in the future?
7. Based upon your experience today, would you use the Ask a Librarian service again?
8. How did you hear about Ask a Librarian?
9. We welcome your comments or suggestions. Please let us know how we are doing, and how we can improve!

We will post the responses to this after it closes to the Ask a Librarian Blog.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

They like us, they really like us!

Highlights from the user survey we posted in January.
- We had 29% of user’s are return users
- 84.2% felt there question was completely or at least partially answered (many were expecting follow-up)
- 52% were shown web-based library resources, of those shown resources 87% felt the probably or definitely could use the resource on their own later.
- 87% would use Ask a Librarian again.

The users also mentioned several librarians by name in their comments…..Users thought:
- “Lori was excellent”
- “Bella was AWESOME”
- “Candy is doing a good job”
- “I LOVE the librarian I had. Louis was absolutely spendid”
- “Jessica (palm harbor) was very helpful”
- “Jorge was so incredibly helpful”
- “Joyce was the best”
- “KarenW, was a nice, helpful librarian”
- “Melena is doing a wonderful job”
- “Bianca…was very pleasant and very helpful”
- “a librarian in Lake Worth was able to help me in Jacksonville. I love technology!!”
- “Thanks again to Llewellyn, Great Job!”
- “Margo…is very nice”

A few stand out comments include:
“I am illiterate on the computer but I learned something today. Thank you very much.”
“you are doing a great job! thank you for the help on this site when i need it. Thank you so much for providing a site that help me like this.”