TGIF Tips – 9/25/09, Issue 20

Outstanding customer service is priority with Ask a Librarian, just as it is in your own libraries. Because providing excellent customer service in a virtual reference environment depends in part on the effective use of online resources, we want to remind you of some of those resources available to you inside the Agent Console.

Gale (FEL) Links
Ask a Librarian is funded as part of the Florida Electronic Library (FEL), and both Ask a Librarian and the FEL share a common goal of providing reference and information services to residents of Florida. Through the FEL, Florida patrons have access to an amazing wealth of open-source resources, such as the Florida Memory Project. But the FEL offers all Florida residents access to a number of proprietary Gale databases as well – containing premium magazine & newspaper content, almanacs, encyclopedias, books, and more. (And with FEL’s new upgrades and phenomenal PowerSearch 2.0 tools, it’s better than ever.)

The URLs tab in the Agent Console contains password-embedded links to the Gale databases subscribed to by the FEL, which allows you to search these databases and even push the search pages to your patrons, with no authentication needed from you or the patron. Check out these databases in the Gale Resources folder the next time you’re in the Agent Console:

* Academic One File – designed especially for research libraries, graduate schools, universities and community colleges

* Gale OneSearch – searches all or selected Gale databases

* Gale Virtual Reference Library – electronic books

* Health and Wellness Resource Center – health, wellness, medicine

* Infotrac Jr. Edition – designed to support junior high and middle school students

* KidInfo Bits – designed especially for students in kindergarten through grade five

* LitFinder – access poems, plays, speeches & primary source content, short stories

* What Do I Read Next? – readers’ advisory resources

Here’s a quick tip: if you’re unsure of which database to use, use Gale OneSearch!

KnowledgeBase
KnowledgeBase is a database of information on specific libraries. Since Ask a Librarian is a collaborative, statewide service, we want to make it easy for you to find regional information for your patrons no matter where in Florida they are located. Site Coordinators for each participating library system enter information specific to that system directly into the KnowledgeBase, resulting in an e-resource that is an extremely valuable ready reference source during chats. If your patron needs his library’s phone number, or if you want to search his library’s catalog for a particular book, KnowledgeBase can give you this information with just a few clicks of the mouse. Other information you might find here includes:

Contact information such as phone numbers or email addresses;
The main URL for that library’s home page;
Specific Web links, such as direct catalog & database URLs, branch hours or locations pages, & even links to specific topics such as fines and renewals;
Staff/Dummy ID (where available) for accessing that library’s electronic resources;
The KnowledgeBase is located in the upper-right corner of the Agent Console, under the KnowledgeBase tab and subtab.

Your own Web links
Although the URLs tab contains several helpful Web sites frequently used by those staffing Ask a Librarian, adding your own private folder of Web favorites in the same space is another surefire way to enhance the consistency and efficiency of your chats inside the Agent Console. Being able to double-click on an oft-used Web site that you would’ve searched for anyway will save you tons of time and remind you of effective resources you may not otherwise have thought of in mid-chat. Although the “Account Default” folder of the URLs tab offers numerous resources (this is where the FEL links are located!), it certainly helps to have your own stash of Web favorites on hand. To get into the Response Editor, where you can add your own bookmarks, follow these steps:

In the Librarian Toolbox, click on “Login as a Librarian” and login to your Local Desk.
On the Acct Administration page (where you usually click Agent Console), click on “Agents”, then on Response Libraries.
Make sure your name is in the highlighted box and click on Launch Response Editor.
First, click on the URLs tab and then on your named folder to highlight it. Now click on “New Response” to save a new Web address directly in your personal folder. Type the name of the URL at the top (such as “CNN”). At the bottom, follow the “http://” prompt with the remainder of the full URL of the Web site (for example, “http://www.cnn.com”).

Creating folders in your URLs tab is especially helpful because it allows you to categorize your bookmarks from a high number of categories and subcategories. For example, a Biology folder could contain Animal and Plant subfolders with various Web sites in each. To add folders in the URLs tab, just click on your main folder and then on “New Folder” to create a category, giving it a name (such as “Local History”). With that folder selected, click on “New Response” to add a bookmark (URL) to that category. To create another main bookmarks folder, click on your personal top-level folder, and then on “New Folder”, etc. When done, click on “Save All”. The next time you enter the Agent Console, the URLs tab will display both your personal named folder and the standard Account Default folder, so both your personal links and the general set of links will always be available to you.

If you have any questions about or suggestions for online resources, please let me know.

Enjoy the weekend!

Love on Ask a Librarian

Yesterday, we had a first!

Paula Bagwell, a librarian from St. Petersburg College was proposed to on Ask a Librarian!

In her own words,

“My boyfriend of two years, Josh, just proposed to me via AskaLibrarian!!! Today is our two year anniversary (and also the autumnal equinox).

I was covering virtual chat and he signed on and asked me to marry him.  Then I learned he was actually at the Clearwater library and was using a computer in the lab.  He got down on his knee and proposed to me in the middle of the library.  Sue Dillon found a camera and we re-created the scene which I’ve attached.  Then there was a surprise engagement party complete with a  carrot cake in the breakroom!!!”

The actual session,

You have been connected to Paula B (SPC).
Paula B (SPC): Hello, welcome to Ask a Librarian. I am Paula and I will be assisting you today. Please wait a moment while I consider your question…
Josh K: hi sorry internet issues
Paula B (SPC): It’s ok, what can I help you with today?
Josh K: Paula, will you marry me?
Paula B (SPC): Yes!! Wow, I’m freaking out. Are you here?
Josh K: Yes
Josh K: I am at the student computers
Josh K: to your left

Paula has disconnected…

Everyone here at TBLC and Ask a Librarian wishes them the best of luck! Congratulations!!!!!

June Exemplary Reference Awards Announced

The Quality Assurance Workgroup has been hard at work and has awarded the following transcripts for June 2009 Exemplary Reference Awards of the Month. Transcripts were awarded in three categories: Best Detailed Chat, Best Brief Chat, and Best Teaching Chat.
Paul Wetmore, Tampa Hillsborough Public Library System 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
Geraldine Collins, Florida Gulf Coast University.
Geraldine nailed this for the patron right away while continuing a friendly and interested chat going. Kudos Geraldine!

Detailed Exemplary Chat
Paul Wetmore, Tampa Hillsborough Public Library System. Paul helped a student select materials for a research paper on Latin influence on the English Language. Asked clarifying questions, good rapport. Patron was pleased with the service and remarked “My teacher told us that the most helpful people we will ever know when it comes to education and school work would be a librarian. He is right.”

Teaching Exemplary Chat
Stacy Allsop, Nova Southeastern University.
Stacy gave excellent tips and directions to a student who had a complex research project. Stacy was able to direct the student to a helpful database and then to explain how to use the thesaurus for better search results. Excellent job of hands on teaching of a student in the use of a specialized database! The student was very pleased and Stacy offered to make certain the transcript would be available for the student’s future reference. Pat nomination.

Selecting the top transcript in each category can often be a hard process with so many terrific sessions to choose from. Below are the other people who were nominated this month by themselves, co-workers or the quality assurance workgroup.

Brief Exemplary Chat:
• Laura Baas, State Library of Florida
• Matthew Buckley, Nova Southeastern University
• Bebe Chang, Broward County Library
• Salena Coller, American InterContinental University
• Larry Cooperman, Everglades University
• Jaime Goldman, Ask a Librarian Intern
• Marylou Galvin, Broward County Library
• Cindy Jewett, Keiser University
• Carlos Morejon, Miami-Dade Public Library System
• Carlos Pedemonte, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System
• Susan Smith, Hodges University
• Jane Tracey, Orange County Public Library
• Fawn Van Allen, West Palm Beach Public Library
• Peter Washkevich, St. Johns County Public Library
• Laura Welch, Ask a Librarian Intern

Detailed Exemplary Chat:
• Owen Adams, Northwest Florida State College
• Giselle Alonso, Miami-Dade Public Library System
• Cathy B., Goldstein Library (FSU- School of Information)
• Ustadza Ely, Nova Southeastern University
• Jaime Goldman, Ask a Librarian Intern
• Chip Halvorsen, Alachua County Library District
• Carol Maksian, Florida Gulf Coast University Library
• Carlos Pedemonte, Tampa Hillsborough Public Library
• Quiana Vidal, Marion County Public Library System

Teaching Exemplary Chat:
• Matthew Buckley, Nova Southeastern University
• Marylou Galvin, Broward County Library
• Sandra Lee Hawes, Saint Leo University
• Kira Smith, Ask a Librarian Intern
• Debora Stewart, Palm Beach Atlantic University

Don’t forget to nominate your or your co-workers sessions in the Ask a Librarian Toolbox at: http://info.askalibrarian.org or when closing a live chat session.

Congratulations to all those nominated this month.

New PSA available!

Ask a Librarian has a new PSA available for you to use to promote Ask a Librarian.     You can share the video by embedding it from Vimeo (go to: http://vimeo.com/6483805 for directions) or by contacting me and I can send you the video in various formats.

Please try and get this played at local schools, on your web site and on local TV channels for your school or community.

It is already playing on the Knowledge Network and we hope to place it in a few other venues statewide.

Ask a Librarian – 2009 PSA from Ask aLibrarian on Vimeo.

This video was created by New Jersey’s statewide chat service and customized for Ask a Librarian.

TGIF Tips, 9/4, Issue 19

Finally…! School is in, and our libraries are already feeling the retreat of summer, from first-time database login and navigation assistance to recommended reading lists and future science projects (um, can anyone say “homemade volcano”?). With students back at the reference desk and a number of our libraries back from a brief hiatus, we’re getting a smattering of questions about how the Ask a Librarian desks operate.

Ask a Librarian is available to help patrons via live chat Sunday thru Thursday from 10 am to midnight and on Fridays & Saturdays from 10 am to 5 pm (EST). These are our publicized hours; when your patrons need Ask a Librarian, these are the hours that live Florida librarians are available to help them.

The concept of Ask a Librarian “desks” – Academic, Collaborative, and Local – exists on the staff end; we use desks for better organization and patron-to-staff matching in order to best serve our statewide Ask a Librarian users. Here is some information to help you better understand how each desk operates independently and in conjunction with one another.

Collaborative Desk
Hours: Sunday thru Thursday from 10 am to midnight and on Fridays & Saturdays from 10 am to 5 pm (EST)
How patrons get there: When patrons click on an Ask a Librarian link from a public or other non-academic library’s website, choose a public or non-academic library from the main Ask a Librarian home page, or click on the main chat button on the Ask a Librarian home page during the above hours, they are routed to those staff signed into the Collaborative Desk. Also, whenever the Academic Desk (see below) is closed, academic library patrons also get routed to the Collaborative Desk.

Academic Desk
Hours: Monday thru Friday, 10 am to 4 pm (EST)
How patrons get there: When patrons click on an Ask a Librarian link from an academic library’s website or choose an academic library from the main Ask a Librarian home page during the above hours, they are routed to those staff signed into the Academic Desk. After those hours, academic patrons are routed to the Collaborative Desk.

Local Desk
Hours: optional; determined by individual library system
How patrons get there: When your patrons click on an Ask a Librarian link from your website, or choose your library from the main Ask a Librarian home page, they are routed to those staff signed into your library’s Local Desk (as long as they are marked “Available”). If outside Local Desk hours or if you don’t use a Local Desk, patrons will be routed to either the Academic or Collaborative Desk, depending on your library type and which desks are open.

Understanding the differences between desks will not only help you better utilize Ask a Librarian for the benefit of local and statewide patrons, but it will also give you a clearer picture of the incredible collaborative atmosphere in which Ask a Librarian operates. Here are a few additional tips regarding the Ask a Librarian desks:

- When we talk about staff on a certain “desk”, we’re really talking about the group of staff who checked that particular box when logging in. Thus, after 4 pm, the Academic Desk “closes” because there are no librarians logged into the Academic Desk. (They either exit completely, or close out and log into the Collaborative Desk instead.) Patrons normally coming through the Academic Desk are then just routed to the Collaborative Desk.

- When no one from a particular desk is marked Available, that desk will not be open to incoming chat patrons. This is why you should never change your status to Available if you’re only checking email or exploring the software without chatting. (If you are in to check email, set your status to Unavailable – Email Only.) This is also why you should change your status to Unavailable at a desk’s overall closing time – even if you’re in mid-chat. For example, if you’re still chatting on the Academic Desk at 4 pm, mark yourself Unavailable right away so that incoming patrons will no longer be routed to that desk.

- You can only see those patrons for the desk(s) you’re logged into. If you only select the Collaborative Desk box when logging in, you will not be able to see any patrons that are entering or waiting in the Academic Desk queue. If you only log into the Academic Desk, you will not be able to see any patrons in the Collaborative Desk queue. This is also why you only receive your own patrons when logged into your Local Desk only.

- If you choose both your Local Desk and either the Collaborative or Academic Desk when logging in, only your library’s Local Desk staff will see your patrons. If you are the only person logged in from your library or if your library patrons use the service regularly, your patrons may have a longer wait time in the queue, because only you can see them and thus pick them up. When simultaneously staffing both Local and a public (Academic or Collaborative) desk, it is especially important to ensure you have enough live help available to handle your library’s patron load.

* Contact your library’s site coordinator If you are unsure of which desk to log into during your scheduled times. *

August Statistics

What a busy month! For the summer when most were on vacation, Ask a Librarian had 2,999 live chat sessions and answered 1,318 email questions.     A 37% increase from last August and a 39% increase from July in live chat sessions!

Great work everyone.    As school starts up, don’t forget to order marketing materials and promote the service to students.

Here are the individual library statistics, please let me know if you need additional statistics from me.

Summary Report for August 2009
Chat By Entry Point August 2009
Email by Entry Point August 2009
Usage by County August 2009 – User Reported Zip Code