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Add comment November 12th, 2008
Posts filed under 'News & Announcements'
TGIF Tips - 11/07/08, Issue 6
One of the wonderful aspects of Ask a Librarian is the collaborative nature of the service, which allows the handful of librarians actively staffing the desk to help patrons from across the state of Florida. Because of this collaborative nature, patrons sometimes need referrals to their local libraries in order to satisfy a library- or branch-specific question whose answer can’t be culled from the catalog or looking at the patron’s available account information. One process that may be helpful in such situations is referring that patron’s chat transcript to his or her local library via email so that local staff can follow-up.
To refer a transcript to email for follow-up by a local library, just follow these steps:
1. Present the follow-up option to the patron and confirm contact information.
2. When the chat is finished, click on “Dismiss” rather than “End”, which allows you to add notes.
3. Click on the post-it note icon, or double-click in the Customer Details box, to add such details as email address and/or phone number.
4. Click on the ”Click here to send email” link in the Customer Details form, or click the “Create New Email” option under the ‘Mail Sent’ tab in the upper left corner.
5. Under the “KnowledgeBase” tab & sub-tab, look up the library and copy the site coordinator’s email address. (This is an interim step and will change.)
6. Add the email address and a subject (subject example - ”Email follow-up for live chat session”) and click OK.
7. Add message to email and click “Send”.
Voila! The patron will receive the local, in-depth assistance they need, and you will have provided yet another patron with impeccable service. (Remember - never underestimate the value of a referral or follow-up in reference.)
Ready, Set, Available!
Don’t forget to set your status to available when you are ready to take patrons in the Agent Console. Just click on the status box arrow in the lower right corner of the Agent Console. Keep in mind that this status doesn’t change when you have a patron, so the other librarians staffing will still show “available” even when they’re actively involved in a patron chat. Feel free to use the Agent Room (for group chat) or the private messaging feature to communicate with your Ask a Libarian coworkers on workflow.
Promotional Materials
Feeling enthusiastic about the Ask a Librarian virtual reference service? You can order free promotional materials such as posters, bookmarks, and even cool lanyards to hold those name badges - a great way to get staff and patrons “in the know” on Ask a Librarian. Just log in to the Ask a Librarian toolbox at http://info.askalibrarian.org/toolbox/login.asp and click on the “Promotional Materials” link on the left.
New Ask a Librarian Workshops
New full-day Ask a Librarian have been added to the training schedule. The areas currently scheduled are: Tampa, Fort Pierce, and West Palm Beach. Although the full-day training is only required for those new to Ask a Librarian, it is also great for those who haven’t staffed in a while, don’t staff often, or just want more in-depth, in-person training on the new software. Also, don’t forget our new feature-specific workshops as well - we’re offering classes on such individual features as screensharing, email within the agent console, and viewing & retrieving statistics in the InstantService software. Register at http://www.tblc.org/ws_classes.php to reserve your seat(s) today.
Add comment November 11th, 2008
Ask a Librarian Marketing Plan
We are working on the Ask a Librarian Marketing Plan for 2008-2009 and I would like your help.
To bring you up to speed on recent AaL marketing efforts, here is what we have been up to:
- The Director’s Chair YouTube Contest
- We mailed info packets containing information about AaL, posters, bookmarks, lanyards and The Director’s Chair flyers to every high school in Florida
- Posters, bookmarks, lanyards, The Director’s Chair flyers, post-it pads available for libraries in the toolbox at http://info.askalibrarian.org
- Movie theater ad is playing before every movie in two Gainesville theaters through Nov. 20 (check out the ad here: http://www.tblc.org/theaterad)
- MySpace (www.myspace.com/askalibrarianfl) and Facebook pages
- Business flyers (promoting to business community)
- Speaking at various statewide events
- In the process of developing next year’s brand new and FRESH back-to-school campaign geared toward high school and college students
What would you like to see AaL do to promote Ask a Librarian to your users?
Please send me your suggestions at sachsd at tblc.org or add a comment to the blog.
6 comments November 4th, 2008
October Statistics
What a great month! We survived and are thriving after the migration.
We answered 5,039 questions last month. This breaks down to:
Local Desks = 959
Collaborative Live Chat Sessions = 2,554
Academic Live Chat Sessions= 406
E-mail Sessions = 1,120
A pdf summary of October is available here: aal-stat-report-oct-08
A report of usage by zip code is available here: zip-code-report-oct-08
A report of usage by entry point is available here: chatsbyentrypoint-all-desks0
Add comment November 4th, 2008
TGIF Tips - 10/31/08, Issue 5
”The Director’s Chair” is our annual video contest where Florida high school students can submit a 30-second video promoting Ask a Librarian for a chance to win some great prizes, and we are excited to announce that we just received our first entry! You can check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/group/thedirectorschair. Are your teen/YA groups working on entries? Don’t forget to promote The Director’s Chair on your web site and programming. Banners and icons for your web site and MySpace pages as well as a downloadable pdf of our flyer are available for promoting this great opportunity. For more information on The Director’s Chair, visit www.askalibrarian.org/thedirectorschair.
The Agent Room
Because the “Agent Room” appears in the same space as patron chats, some staff mistakenly use the Agent Room for communicating with patrons. The “Agent Room” is actually a cool new group chat feature that enables you to quickly post comments, questions, or alerts to your Ask a Librarian coworkers. Your posts to the Agent Room will be visible to all staff that are currently logged into the Agent Console.
Please take advantage of this exciting feature that allows you to communicate with others staffing the Ask a Librarian desks. Messages need not be strictly business - use it to say “hi” to your fellow coworkers, and as a forum for tips & experiences in the new software.
To send a regular (non-urgent) post:
1. Click on the “Agent Room” tab.
2. Type your message in the text entry box at the bottom of the Agent Room.
3. Click the “Send” button or press enter.
To send an important post (something all staff should pay attention to):
1. Click on the “Agent Room” tab.
2. Type your message in the text entry box at the bottom of the Agent Room.
3. Check the “Alert” check box located above the “Send” button.
4. Click the “Send” button or press enter.
When a new message is posted in the Agent Room, it will appear in black letters, and the text on the Agent Room tab will change to blue. When a new ”alert” message is posted, it will appear in red letters, and the text on the Agent Room tab will turn red. This means that if you’re unable to follow the general discussion, you’ll still be alerted to more urgent posts.
Remember, you can still send private messages to other staff - either double-click the desired name from the agent list or click once to highlight and click on the “Private Instant Message” icon below the list of agents.
Important Java Update Information
(If you did not download Java JRE 1.6 update 10, please disregard these instructions.)
On October 16, 2008, Sun released Java JRE 1.6 update 10. At this time, the InstantService Agent Console does not fully support Java JRE 1.6 update 10. If you have made this upgrade, you will not be able to pick up customers (they will disappear when you click on them).
InstantService is recommending you uninstall Java JRE 1.6 update 10 and reinstall the recommended Java version (J2SE 1.6 update 2). Check your version here: http://www.java.com/en/download/installed.jsp (do not upgrade if prompted).
If you have installed the Java JRE 1.6 update 10, we recommend the following:
* Uninstall update 10.
1. On your computer desktop, go to Start -Control Panel - Add/Remove Programs.
2. Locate and select JavaTM 6 Update 10.
3. Click “Remove.”
* Revert to a previous version (update 2).
* Disable the Java Update.
1. Go to the Java Control Panel.
2. On the Update tab, clear the “Check for Updates Automatically” check box.
3. Click “Apply.”
[Remember, this is only for those of you who upgraded to Java JRE 1.6 update 10. If you're able to pick up patrons in your agent console, you are just fine as you are.]
Monitored Practice Sessions
Join your colleagues across the state in next week’s monitored practice sessions for the new Ask a Librarian software:
- Wed., Nov. 5, 2-4 pm
- Thurs., Nov. 6, 9-11 am
No registration needed, and you can enter & leave anytime. To join as a librarian, please log in to the toolbox at http://info.askalibrarian.org/toolbox/login.asp, log in with your personal info, check the local desk option only (not academic or collaborative) & select “Training Room” from the local desk’s pull-down menu options. Feel free to pick up any patrons that come into the training room. To join as a pretend patron, please log in to the toolbox (link above), click on the “Practice/Training” link on the left, and click “Practice as a Patron”. (You will not be asked for a patron name or question.) I will be right there with you in case you have any questions, need a practice partner, or would like assistance.
Add comment October 31st, 2008
The Director’s Chair
I am excited to announce we received are first entry last night at:
http://www.youtube.com/group/thedirectorschair
Are your teen groups working on entries? Don’t forget to promote The Director’s Chair on your web site and programming. Banners and icons for your web site and MySpace pages as well as a downloadable pdf of our flyer are available here.
Add comment October 31st, 2008
TGIF Tips - Oct. 24, 2008 - Issue 4 (previous issue)
We’ve gotten some great responses through the Ask a Librarian staff survey! We’ve had wonderful comments, questions, and insights regarding your experiences with the new software, and we will address many of those in this and upcoming issues of TGIF Tips. (If you haven’t yet completed the survey, please visit http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Y9e7XBNGbg0dO45lUcMAvA_3d_3d as soon as possible, and put in your two cents.) As always, we also receive valuable information from your emails, so please continue to contact us with your thoughts and questions. Here are just a few of the topics you have asked us to address.
Pushing Web pages
“Where do I push pages?”
“I type in a Web address but the patron doesn’t see it as a live link.”
We’ve had a number of staff inquiring about pushing Web pages to patrons, so here is a quick reminder on what goes where. Remember that text goes into the smaller white space below the chat transcript area (the space next to the “Send” button), while Web addresses go into the smaller white space above the chat transcript area (the space next to “View” and “Push”). Remember: if you type a URL into the “text” portion of the chat, it will not display as a clickable hyperlink; all Web addresses should go into the URL address bar.
A brief how-to for pushing Web pages: Either type a Web address directly into the space above the chat transcript area, or double-click a Web page from the URL’s tab in the upper-left corner of the console. To preview the web page (just on your end), click the “View” button on the right. To send the page to the patron, click “Push” or press the Enter key on your keyboard. The customer will see the web page displayed on his or her screen. (Note: some pop-up blockers & other settings may prevent the pushed page from automatically displaying on the patron’s screen. If this happens, just tell the patron to click on the hyperlink in the transcript window to view the page.)
Tokens for Scripts
“How do I get my patron’s name to automatically display in my script?”
“Does InstantService let you insert tokens like Docutek did?”
Would you like to format your scripts so that certain information, such as your patron’s screen name, is automatically inserted into the reply? You can do that by inserting a “token” into the desired scripts. Just place the token’s code (see below) in the space where you would like that specific information displayed. For example, here is the token for the patron’s screen name: [%CSRFIRSTNAME%]
By inserting this token into your script, the following script:
“Hello, [%CUSTFIRSTNAME%] , and welcome to Ask a Librarian.”
Is sent to the patron as:
“Hello, Robert , and welcome to Ask a Librarian.”
To do this, just log in to the software as usual, and when you get to the Account Administration page (the same page where you click on Agent Console), click on the “Agents” tab. You can then click on Response Libraries to add, edit, and organize your own personal responses. Just click on “Launch Response Editor” to begin. Just keep in mind that these tokens will automatically insert whatever field you specify. In this example, for instance, if the patron’s screen name is a lengthy or otherwise “unusual” one, that screen name would nevertheless be inserted wherever you placed the token. (For more information on tokens, please see https://admin.instantservice.com/help/tokens_help.html.)
Resizing Panels & ScreenSharing in a Separate Window
“The windows on the console are sometimes too small, especially when screensharing. Can I resize them?”
“Some of the agent panels are smaller than others & I can’t see the patron’s desktop as well.”
Some of you asked about resizing the different panels inside the console, especially for easier viewing during the ScreenSharing process. All four panels are easily resized; just drag on the gray lines separating each quadrant from the next and pull them up, down, or across (see screenshot) as you see fit. They can be resized anytime. For the ScreenSharing process, there is also a globe icon for “LiveLook” (the program that does the ScreenSharing) right above the ScreenSharing panel. Just click on that globe icon, and then LiveLook, in order to view the patron’s desktop in a separate browser window.
Monitored Practice Session
Don’t forget to join your colleagues across the state in next week’s monitored practice session for the new Ask a Librarian software on Tuesday, October 28, from 9-11 am. (You do not need to register, and you can enter & leave anytime.)
To join as a librarian, please log in to the toolbox at http://info.askalibrarian.org/toolbox/login.asp, log in with your personal info, check the local desk option only (not academic or collaborative) & select “Training Room” from the local desk’s pull-down menu options. Feel free to pick up any patrons that come into the training room. To join as a pretend patron, please log in to the toolbox (link above), click on the “Practice/Training” link on the left, and click “Practice as a Patron”. (You will not be asked for a patron name or question.) I will be right there with you in case you have any questions, need a practice partner, or would like assistance.
Add comment October 29th, 2008
TGIF Tips - Oct. 17, 2008 - Issue 3 (previous issue)
Things are really moving along with the new Ask a Librarian software! More and more staff are adding their library names behind their initials, which helps those staffing the desk to know which libraries are currently logged in. The ability to see which staff have patrons is at the top of our enhancement list with InstantService, and we are talking with them to have this eventually implemented. Until that feature is here, please keep in mind that the “available” status does not change when you have a patron. Since the new software won’t display incoming-patron alerts when you’re in a chat, other librarians are likely picking up those silent patrons while you are working.
Changing Font Size in the Agent Console
Do you find the size of the text inside the agent console difficult to read? You can easily change the font size to your liking - just use the following shortcuts to make the text inside the console appear larger or smaller:
Ctrl + “+”(plus sign on number pad) — Increase Font Size
Ctrl + “-” (minus sign on number pad) — Decrease Font Size
Troubleshooting Wiki
Did you know we have a great troubleshooting resource for those staffing Ask a Librarian? Our wiki will give you hardware/software requirements, troubleshooting tips, and reminders on how to use ScreenShare, refer to another library’s email for follow-up, and more. Just log in to the Ask a Librarian toolbox at http://info.askalibrarian.org/toolbox/login.asp, click on the “Technical Support” link on the left, and click on Troubleshooting. New tips and how-tos are added often, so be sure to check back regularly for helpful updates.
Ready, Set, Explore!
Are you ready to join your colleagues across the state to practice using the new Ask a Librarian software and sharpen your skills? Explore the software in the safety of a monitored practice environment with two open practice sessions. (You do not need to register for these, and you can enter & leave anytime.) The monitored practice sessions will be on these dates:
Thurs., Oct. 23, 9-11 am
Tues., Oct. 28, 9-11 am
To join the statewide practice as a librarian, please log in to the toolbox at http://info.askalibrarian.org/toolbox/login.asp, log in with your personal info, check the local desk option only (not academic or collaborative) & select “Training Room” from the local desk’s pull-down menu options. Feel free to pick up any patrons that come into the training room. To join as a pretend patron, please log in to the toolbox (link above), click on the “Practice/Training” link on the left, and click “Practice as a Patron”. (You will not be asked for a patron name or question.) I will be in the training room, too, in case you have any questions, need a practice partner, or would like assistance.
New Online Training
No training? No problem. For those unable to attend previous training sessions, we’ve added two new online training sessions on the new software. These 2 hour sessions are designed for those already covering (or previously trained on) Ask a Librarian. The online sessions will take place on Thursday, October 23, from 2-4 pm and on Friday, October 24, from 9:30-11:30 am. Space is limited, so please visit http://www.tblc.org/ws_classes.php and sign up as soon as possible.
Add comment October 29th, 2008
Tell us what you think about Ask a Librarian
Tell us what you think about Ask a Librarian!
Please take a few minutes to complete the following survey within the next week:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Y9e7XBNGbg0dO45lUcMAvA_3d_3d
Thanks!
Add comment October 21st, 2008
Steal this blog entry - The Director’s Chair
Calling all Florida high school students!
Make your directorial debut with
The Director’s Chair YouTube contest
What is The Director’s Chair?
The Director’s Chair is a video contest for Florida high school students. Create a 30-second video promoting Ask a Librarian for the chance to win a digital video camera, a digital camera or an iPod Shuffle with an iTunes gift card.
So…what exactly IS Ask a Librarian?
It’s a free online service that allows you to chat with a Florida librarian for instant help with homework, papers and general questions. (Want to learn more? Click here.)
Now that you know what Ask a Librarian is, go out and make a creative and entertaining 30-second video that tells the world just how wonderful Ask a Librarian is. Just load it to The Director’s Chair group on YouTube by January 17, 2009, and the grand prize could be yours.
Be funny! Be serious! Do a spoof! Do a dramedy! Do whatever you want! Just be creative and have fun.
Add comment October 20th, 2008