QuestionPoint: 24/7 reference services

Quality Tip: Strategies for Shorter Sessions

During busy times when there are many patrons waiting, is it possible to do shorter sessions that still meet the best practices standards and provide good service?

We looked at the strategies employed by some of the QuestionPoint Back Up librarians, since they routinely staff busy times and often have to handle several patrons at once.  Here is the strategy of one Back Up librarian, who we will call “Librarian K”.  Librarian K’s sessions have this in common:

• Best Practices: K follows these and the policies to a T
• Detachment: K is professional, does not appear flustered by rude patrons, and is non-judgmental regarding questions asked and
• Succinct: Sessions are kept relatively brief: the longest session was 28 minutes

This is how K handles a typical chat session:

• Ask a Question (clarify the request or find out more detail)
• Search for 2-8 minutes
• If site is found, sends site and says, "Can I help you with anything else?"
• If no information is found, says: “ I'm sorry, but I am not able to find this information in the resources available to me.  If you like, I can forward your question to the library for additional research. You would receive an answer via email.”
• K then sends to follow up if (1) patron wants follow up, and has left an email address (K always confirms patron’s email address with the patron during the session) or (2) patron does not respond but has left an email address.

As a result of following this process for many years, K is able to handle multiple simultaneous sessions, and gets good responses from patrons during sessions and in surveys.  We hope K’s approach will be a useful guide as you approach your next chat session during a busy time (or any time!).

QP issues? Let us know ABOUT them

After the service interruption yesterday (between 16:21 GMT and 16:45 GMT), the QuestionPoint service should be running normally. If you are experiencing any issues in a chat session, it is vital that you let us know immediately.  This helps us troubleshoot the issues.  If sessions seem slow, or you are getting the ‘updating’ screen, please do the following and provide us with the information:

• Right mouse click in chat and select the ‘About’ option
• Click on the ‘copy to clipboard’ button
• Paste into an email to your Customer Service Provider

Information regarding QuestionPoint issues is sent to the QuestionPoint listserv. If you have not already subscribed, here’s how to join:

 http://www.questionpoint.org/community/listserv/questionpoint-l.html

Thanks for your patience as we work to resolve these issues.

Digital Reference Summit: Be Where Your Users Are

WebJunction recently presented a 90 minute webinar on digital reference, with featured speakers Stephen Francoeur, Information Services Librarian, Baruch College (NY); Susan McGlamery, 24/7 Reference Cooperative Director; and Alison Miller, Internet Public Library.  The program was presented on September 30 via a Wimba webinar, and had over 323 registrants, 196 attendees, and over 60 tweets.

You can view the recording and get more information here: http://www.webjunction.org/virtual-reference/-/articles/content/82380665

Quality Tip: What does 'Lost Call' REALLY mean? Not what you may think!

It does NOT mean that you were chatting with a patron and lost the call or that patron is "no longer connected."

It means that you did not receive any chat whatsoever from a patron who logged in anonymously.

This is the only time that Lost Call can be used:

• No Email AND No Chat --->  Lost Call

For a visual representation of the proper use of our Resolution Codes, please see the flowchart created by Julie Strange of Maryland AskUsNow!

http://askusnow.info/partners/h/ResolutionCodeFlow.pdf

Explanation:  If a patron provides an email address then the session MUST be coded as Follow Up By Patron's Library. even if there is no chat from patron during the session. This alerts the patron’s library to review the session and decide whether to send the patron an email followup.  The Lost Call code moves the session directly to the patron library's Closed folder, where the library typically would not look.  If patron does not provide an email but does interact with the librarian during the session, then disconnects or the call is dropped: code as Answered.  This allows patron library to review the interaction.

Sessions coded Lost Call appear (1) in the Closed list and (2) under “Review Transcripts” in the Ask module.  (Under Review Transcripts, you can specify the resolution code Lost Call).

Please comment to the Blog or email Susan McGlamery (mcglames@oclc.org) with any and all questions about the Lost Call code!