April Exemplary Reference Awards

The Quality Assurance Workgroup has been hard at work and has awarded the following transcripts for April 2009 Exemplary Reference Awards of the Month. Transcripts were awarded in three categories: Best Detailed Chat, Best Brief Chat, and Best Teaching Chat.

Regina Seguin from Valencia Community College will receive a gift card to Amazon.com for her Exemplary Detailed Chat and all three winners will receive a certificate at a presentation at this next year’s annual Florida Library Association Conference.

Exemplary Brief Chat
Ellen Book, Miami Dade Public Library.
Ellen was confronted with a complex question concerning possible commercial use of photographs from the Florida Memory website. Ellen scoured the website for guidance on the guidelines for use of the photos and found a disclaimer that would lead the patron to seek legal clarification before using the photos. Ellen was able to help the patron in navigating the website to find the issue on the use of the photos, but she also tactfully referred the patron to a lawyer for a legal interpretation. 13 min.

Exemplary Detailed Chat
Regina Seguin, Valencia Community College.
Regina explained to a student what peer reviewed articles are. Then, she kept in close touch with the student who needed to be taken through the steps of finding the subscription databases for her college. Regina led the student through the process although she works at a different college library, and she recommended a quality database where articles on the student’s topic would be found. Regina’s careful instructions led the student to her college’s resources. 26 min

Exemplary Teaching Chat
Courtney Moore Winter Park Public Library.
Courtney showed a patron how to use an ebook despite technical difficulties. She was very patient and developed a good rapport. User was quite pleased and even said “Even I know thi(s) is your job You are doing more than that”

Don’t forget to nominate your sessions from May and June in the Ask a Librarian Toolbox or at the end of your session.

TGIF Tips – 12/12/08, Issue 9

We are happy to announce that Ask a Librarian’s Policies & Procedures have been updated. The Ask a Librarian Advisory Committee and Ask a Librarian staff worked hard to develop a set of policies and procedures that best serve Ask a Librarian’s users and staff. The language and suggestions used were updated to reflect our continued growth, the InstantService software platform, etc.

In order to better reflect and address concerns of patron privacy and access issues, the new Policies & Procedures contains an important change from our previous Policies & Procedures: we are no longer asking the patron for his/her library card number, or PIN, in any form.

Previously, we might have asked for this in order to place holds for users, renew items for users, etc. Here are some examples of what you might consider in some of these situations:

A patron wants to renew materials or place a hold…
- Explain that you will walk them through the process.
- Check the KnowledgeBase for possible access information specific to that library system.
- Push the specific login page to the patron.
- Guide them through the steps of logging in and then renewing or reserving materials.
- If the patron still needs help, offer to find them contact info for their branch or to forward the chat to their local library staff.

A patron is having trouble accessing his/her library’s databases…
- Check the KnowledgeBase for possible access links or instructions specific to that library system and to ensure that the patron has the correct login page.
- Some libraries in KnowledgeBase offer a staff ID (dummy ID) that you can use to enter the databases, search for and email articles, etc. (Do not give this number to the patron.)
- Don’t forget about the resources available through the Florida Electronic Library! The Gale Resources folder under the URLs tab has password-embedded links to paid databases… and they are available to every resident of the state of Florida.
- Depending on the patron’s information literacy goals and comfort with technology, you may consider ScreenSharing. ScreenSharing with your patron can be an extremely effective way of demonstrating any step-by-step process, and you can make it interactive by asking the patron to click on links, enter search strings, etc.

The PDF document “AAL Policies & Procedures Revised May 2009” is available online in the Librarian Toolbox section. Comments and suggestions are always encouraged, so let us know what you think!

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Gale Links Refresher!

Ask a Librarian is funded as part of the Florida Electronic Library (FEL). Both Ask a Librarian and the Florida Electronic Library share a common goal of providing reference and information services to residents of Florida. Through the FEL, Florida patrons have access to a number of electronic resources, including magazine & newspaper articles, almanacs, encyclopedias, books, and more – just by having a public library card. But here’s the cool thing – the Agent Console contains password-embedded links to the FEL Gale databases, which means you (and the patron) can access these without a library card number. Knowing that you & your patrons (as Florida residents) have access to these resources is essential, and will prove especially helpful in assisting those patrons whose access to proprietary databases is otherwise limited.

KnowledgeBase Refresher!

Remember to use KnowledgeBase for local library information. Located under the main KnowledgeBase tab and KnowledgeBase subtab in the top right corner, the KnowledgeBase contains link or text information for local libraries, such as telephone numbers and branch hours and locations. KnowledgeBase entries often contain links or text information on known access/login issues, and may be very helpful in isolating the problem your patron is experiencing.

This is also where participating libraries may supply a staff ID (or dummy ID). This number is not given to the patron. Those staffing Ask a Librarian use this number so they can access that library’s databases to perform searches, email articles, etc. – or simply to mimic the patron’s steps on the staff end. If your patron does not know their library card number, remember to check that library’s listing in the KnowledgeBase to see if that library offers a staff ID. (This is especially important to check when the patron needs resources not available through the Florida Electronic Library.)

Here’s a between-patron activity for you – try looking up your own library system’s entry in the KnowledgeBase. If you can think of valuable links or information that might help other staff better serve your patrons, be sure to let us or your site coordinator know!

AAL Participating Librarians needed for Focus Group

Please consider taking some time to help a PhD student and Ask a Librarian.

Bradley Wade Bishop is a doctoral candidate at Florida State University’s evaluating the Florida Electronic Library’s Ask-a-Librarian. This eight-month project is for completion of his dissertation entitled Chat reference and location-based questions: A multi-method evaluation of a statewide chat reference consortium.

He would like to solicit your help by inviting you to participate in a 30 to 45-minute focus group discussion with other librarians such as yourself. By taking a brief moment out of your busy schedule to participate in this study, your contribution will benefit administrators, librarians, and users of Ask-a-Librarian.

The purpose of this study addresses is a lack of knowledge about chat reference and location-based questions and the implications of this lack of knowledge on chat reference consortia. Location-based questions include any question that concerns the attributes of a georeferenceable location or locations (e.g., library specific questions). To get a better understanding of location-based questions, he need your perspective.

Focus groups will be held online at:
7/20/2009 3:00 – 3:45 ET [Register]
07/22/2009 11:00 – 11:45 ET [Register]
07/22/2009 3:00 – 3:45 ET [Register]

Please pre-register if you plan on attending.

New Workshop! Hot Topics: Managing Virtual Staff at Multiple Locations

Hot Topics: Managing Virtual Staff at Multiple Locations

Is scheduling multiple librarians for multiple desks a constant headache? Do you find scheduling multiple librarians for multiple desks to be frustrating and overwhelming? Join Pat Barbier from St. Petersburg College, Mike Shell from Jacksonville Public Library and Ask a Librarian’s own Traci Avet to discuss common scheduling issues and solutions that will keep you from pulling your hair out.

This online meeting will help you manage your scheduling headaches with grace and ease.

To register, go to: http://www.tblc.org/training or click here to Register

March Exemplary Reference Awards

The Quality Assurance Workgroup has been hard at work and has awarded the following transcripts for March 2009 Exemplary Reference Awards of the Month. Transcripts were awarded in three categories: Best Detailed Chat, Best Brief Chat, and Best Teaching Chat.

Lynn McNeal from Citrus County libraries will receive a gift card to Amazon.com for her Exemplary Detailed Chat and all three winners will receive a certificate at a presentation at this next year’s annual Florida Library Association Conference.

Brief Exemplary Chat
Lori Hansen, Lee County Library System
Lori assisted a student find information on training dogs on the Internet. She was able to help the student learn how to evaluate the web sites they found and introduce the idea of Interlibrary loan.

Detailed Exemplary Chat
Lynn McNeal, Citrus County Libraries
Lynn helped a reluctant student with a poetry assignment. She showed great enthusiasm and knowledge of poetry. She developed a great rapport with the student and helped them get excited about their assignment.

Teaching Exemplary Chat
Monica Haddad, Nova Southeastern University
Helped a local student access ACM and IEEE databases. NSU walked the student through the login process, explained the databases and the availability of the web resources (they are 24/7).

Don’t forget to nominate yourself or co-workers for the Exemplary Reference Awards by filling out the short form in the Toolbox or coding your session “Nominate for Exemplary Reference Award” when you complete a great session.
Congratulations to the winners!

Annual Site Coordinator Information Meetings

Join me for our annual Site Coordinator Information Meetings. These meetings are virtual through GoToMeeting so you can attend whichever meeting works best for you.

These are vital to the success of the program – it gives me an opportunity to let you know what is going on- and to hear from you about issues you are experiencing.

Ask a Librarian has had a lot of changes in the past year and has some great enhancements planned for the upcoming months. Join us for an online meeting to talk about the current status of Ask a Librarian, provide feedback on the program and software and help us shape the next year.
Topics that will be included are: statistics, scheduling, InstantService software, InstantInvite, text messaging, Spanish interface and details on the NEW Ask a Librarian interface that will debut later this Summer.

It is highly recommended that a representative (more than one is welcome too) from every library attend one of the meetings. If you can not attend, please contact me immediately.

Register by clicking on one of the sessions below or visiting http://www.tblc.org/training

06/18/2009 10:00 ET – 11:00 ET  [Register]
06/18/2009 2:00 ET – 3:00 ET [Register]
06/22/2009 2:00 ET – 3:00 ET [Register]
06/22/2009 10:00 ET – 11:00 ET [Register]
06/23/2009 2:00 ET – 3:00 ET [Register]
06/24/2009 2:00 ET – 3:00 ET [Register]
06/25/2009 10:00 AM – 11:00 ET [Register]
06/25/2009 2:00 ET – 3:00 ET [Register]
06/26/2009 10:00 ET – 11:00 ET [Register]

Please let me know if you have any questions.

May Statistics Available!

As we slow down for summer, we are continuing to grow.  We had our busiest May ever with 2,782 live chat sessions and 1,160 emails sessions.   An increase of 12% over last May. 

Here are the reports for your individual libraries:

May Overview
May Usage by Entry Point
May Email Usage by Entry Point
May Usage by county by user reported zip code