TGIF Tips

Ask a Librarian
TGIF Tips
January 16, 2009
Issue 10

Before you ScreenShare:

1) Establish a good, solid rapport or comfort level with your patron. This is always important, but even more so when introducing ScreenSharing as an available option. Some things to keep in mind when building this rapport:

• Is your patron comfortable with new technologies? (A relative may have placed him/her into chat and walked away.)
• Are your patron’s needs and interests suitable to or appropriate for the ScreenSharing process? Information literacy needs are widely varied, even with similar questions. Does your patron want only the answer, or would the patron be interested in a demonstration or guided instruction on some resource?
• When sending pre-ScreenShare scripts (as explained in the next step) to your patrons, remember that some patrons may only be skimming your messages, so ensure that your patron does understand what the ScreenSharing process entails.

2) In the ScreenSharing folder, under the Text tab in the top left corner, select and send script #1, which briefly introduces the process to your patron and asks if they would like to try it.

3) When the patron says “yes,” send script #2, which tells them what to do. There are only 2 steps for the patron: click the “Share My Screen” button, and then click the resulting “Run” button. That’s it – that’s all that’s needed to begin the ScreenSharing process.

4) You may wish to send script #4, which suggests that the patron close browser windows and other programs before beginning the process.

5) All you have to do, as the librarian, is to click on the ScreenSharing tab in the lower right corner of the Agent Console. Don’t click inside the space itself; just click on the tab to make that space prominent. That space will automatically transform to show your patron’s desktop.

After ScreenSharing begins:

1) In the gold bar located above the ScreenShare area, change the Cobrowse State – which tells you how much control you have – to “Keyboard/Mouse/Pointer.” Because the Cobrowse State defaults to “Screen” (meaning your control is limited to viewing their screen), you must manually change this each time you begin ScreenSharing.

2) You may wish to send script #3, which alerts the patron that you will be moving the mouse for a while and encourages them to sit back and relax while you do so. This prevents cursor tug-of-war, which results from both staff and patron simultaneously moving the mouse.

3) Keep the patron involved by sending frequent messages or updates throughout the ScreenSharing process. This keeps them feeling oriented as you move about, and they still feel like an active part of the interaction. If you are demonstrating, let them know what you will do a few steps at a time. For example, “Now we will go into Biography Resource Center and look for photographs of Person X.” That way, your messages are frequent yet not so frequent that they interrupt the patron’s view of the demonstration after every single screen change.

4) Remember, when you send a message to your patron, their chat window will pop up over everything else. This is a good thing!

5) When you push a page (or work on an existing page) on the patron’s desktop, consider un-maximizing (not minimizing) that screen so that the patron can still see a small portion of the chat window beneath the active page. This comes in especially handy when dealing with those patrons who may be less technologically savvy.

6) In teaching situations, consider having the patron input some text or complete some steps so that the process is even more interactive. For example, you can bring the patron to the advanced search page, and suggest to them a specific search string and set of limiting options.

7) Instead of typing in a new web address on the patron’s existing Web pages, PUSH A PAGE to that patron’s desktop, and VOILA – a page opens right up for you! This way, you are typing a little less on your patron’s desktop (so less delay), you won’t accidentally type in the chat page, and you don’t risk changing a Web page that the patron intended to keep open.

8 ) Is the patron’s screen resolution different from yours, or just plain awkward? Right above the ScreenSharing panel, there is a globe icon –- just click on that globe icon, and then LiveLook, to view the patron’s desktop in a separate browser window.

To ScreenShare or not to ScreenShare? Remember, ScreenSharing is an optional resource designed to be helpful in occasional situations – in most cases, pushing Web pages will be so effective that you will not need to consider it. Consider partnering with a coworker for practice, or joining the statewide monitored practice sessions every Tuesday from 9-10 am here.