QuestionPoint: 24/7 reference services

Quality Tip: “Reject” when you need to say “Look at this!”

Have you ever inadvertently coded a session with an incorrect Resolution Code when staffing the Cooperative?  The resolution code you select has consequences, as follows:

Answered:  session will appear in the patron library Active question list

Follow Up by Patron Library:  session will appear with a ? (red question mark), in both the patron library’s New and Active list

Lost Call:  session will appear in the Closed list (and not in the Active question list)

Most libraries tend to look at the New list first, because that list contains all sessions that need following up.  This includes any chat sessions coded Follow Up by Patron Library as well as new email questions and sessions where a patron has sent a reply to a previous librarian response.  Then, if there is time, the library will look at the Active list.  Very often, no one looks at the Closed list.

If you intend to code a chat session for follow up, but accidently code it as Answered or Lost Call, then the Patron library may not realize that their patron is expecting more information.  Unfortunately, you can’t change the Resolution Code of a session after the fact, but you can bring a session to the Patron Library’s attention by using the Reject feature.  Reject will change the status of the question to New, so that it will now appear in the Patron Library’s New list, with a red question mark.  

Only use Reject if follow up is needed and you did not use the Follow Up resolution code.  You do not need to use Reject if you *did* use the Follow Up resolution code, or if no follow up is needed (in other words, if you meant to code a session as answered and you accidently used Lost Call, there is no need to Reject the session).  You may, however, wish to add a Librarian Note, from the chat monitor.

Quality Tip: Transfer Tips

Last week’s Quality Tip discussed using the importance of sending an IM message FIRST, as part of the transfer process.  This week we’ll look in more detail at who you can transfer to, and when it’s appropriate to do so.

The general rule is when you pick up a patron, stick with him.  Thanks to our Policy Pages, most questions – even local ones – can be handled by any librarian in the Cooperative.  But there are times when transferring will result in better service to the patron, such as the following scenarios:

1. You (the chatting librarian) suddenly have an emergency and must end the session.  Rather than leave the patron in the lurch, find another librarian monitoring the Cooperative queues who is not already busy and send an IM requesting permission to transfer.  If you don’t have time for that, or the Coop librarian doesn’t respond to your IM, then transfer the session to the After Hours queue.  Note:  Be sure a librarian is monitoring the Cooperative before transferring a Coop question!  If the librarian is monitoring less than 50 queues, she probably isn’t monitoring the Cooperative (she may just be monitoring her local service).
2. End of shift:  generally you should try to finish the session or offer the patron the option of a follow-up from the local library.  However, if the session is not at a good stopping point and you must leave, transfer to a librarian monitoring the Cooperative.  Note:  if you are ending your shift, chances are many of the other Coop librarians are too.  Try to pick someone who is (1) monitoring the Coop queues and (2) hasn’t been logged in for long – a good indication that person has just started their shift, rather than just ending it.
3. Patron does need very local information (and you can find nothing on the policy page or via a web search) and you see the local librarian online, then send that local librarian an IM message and see if they are available for transfer. 
4. Academic librarian with a public patron/public librarian with an academic patron: Transfer is possible to any librarian monitoring the same queues that you are.  Some Coop groups do cross-sector monitoring, in other words academic librarians monitor for their state’s public queues, and vice versa. For example, an easy way for an academic librarian to see if any public librarians are available for transfer:
1. Go to the Librarians Tab
2. Click the Queue column header to sort by queue.  This will sort all public librarians at the top and all academic libraries following
3. Send an IM to the librarian you’ve selected, to get permission for the transfer.

For more detail on IM and Transfer policies, see the 24/7 Policies, section 5.3.  If you’d like more information on how the QP IM and Transfer works, see the QP Tutorials on our Training page.

Losing Meebo? Get Qwidget!

Is your “local” chat service imperiled due to the loss of Meebo Messenger or MeeboMe widgets? Now may be the right time for your library to take another look at QuestionPoint’s Qwidget.

If your library already subscribes to QuestionPoint, then you are only a copy and paste step away from embedding the Qwidget on any or all pages of your library website.

Why Qwidget?

The Qwidget provides an inviting and intuitive interface for your chat service. Libraries have reported significant increases in traffic once the Qwidget is deployed.

Move your local services to Qwidget and you will receive these benefits:

· Statistics and reports covering all your chat activities

· One login to monitor all your chat queues

· Cooperative monitoring possibilities

· Scripted Messages and URLs.

· Integrated with email and referral options for seamless follow-up

Where can you place your Qwidget?

Practically anywhere! In addition to your library webpages, place your Qwidget in the catalog, in LibGuides, on Facebook, as a QR Code, or “collapse” it on your website’s banner. See the QP wiki at http://bit.ly/QwidgetTips for instructions and more suggestions.

Qwidget on the Go:

Your Qwidget is optimized for iOS (Apple) mobile browsers and is thus accessible through iPhone, iPad and iTouch. (Qwidget does function on a variety of Android devices as well, but we can’t guarantee an optimized experience, due to the variety and breadth of Android device operating systems.)

If you are part of a cooperative group:

If your library is sharing a chat queue with other libraries, then your Qwidget will be open for business whenever you or any of your shared Primary Queue partners are online. Example: the ABC library group shares a chat queue, and Library X belongs to the ABC group. When any ABC librarian is monitoring the queue, then chat is available at all Qwidgets of every ABC library. If X is monitoring chat, then the X Qwidget is open. X will see patrons from all ABC libraries. If X is not online, the X Qwidgets are still open so long as another ABC librarian is online.

If X wants to see only X patrons (and not all ABC patrons), then X will need an individual chat queue, available for a modest fee. This allows X librarians to log in and monitor the X Qwidget according to their local needs. X can also monitor the ABC queue, as per any agreed cooperative schedule. The fee for the separate queue depends on your group arrangement.

24/7 Qwidget?

Libraries that participate in the 24/7 Reference Cooperative may, if eligible, join the Qwidget Roll-Up program. See the Coop FAQ at http://bit.ly/247FAQ for more details.

For more information, please contact support@oclc.org

Brief QuestionPoint service interruption planned for Wed May 16 a 6:00 UTC (2AM ET)

Please be advised that the QuestionPoint service will be unavailable during a brief (2 minute) service interruption of QuestionPoint on Wednesday May 16

for the following time period: from 6:00 UTC (2:00 a.m. EST) for approximately 2 minutes . It is imperative that you end any in-progress chat sessions at least one minute prior to the scheduled service interruption to avoid sudden communication interruptions to your patrons and potential "hung" sessions. (You will be unable to click on any in-progress sessions to get information to communicate with the patron.)  After the 2 minutes are over, you may again log in and resume your QuestionPoint activities as usual.

• New Feature:

 Chat Spam “Captcha” mechanism.  Administrators will be able to interpose a “Captcha” challenge for their chat forms.  This is available at the institution level, in the Admistration Module>Forms>Spam Filter.  To enable the Captcha, choose the “Chat” check box, and then click “Save”.  After patrons fill in the chat form on your websites, they will be challenged to enter a series of letters, displayed in a distorted image on the screen. If they do so successfully, the chat session will then pass through to the librarians online. There is audio assistance for those who may have difficulty seeing or interpreting the characters.

• Bug Fix:

 It was recently reported that extremely long URLs sent to patrons in chat, might not display properly in  the patron’s chat history (although they were visible in the emailed chat transcript and inside of QuestionPoint accounts). This bug has been fixed and long URLs should now display properly in the chat history. Please note, that this fix is unrelated to the previously reported “known issue” of webpage display in the chat viewport.  Long links generated from Google searches that contain the Google domain name in the URL will continue to return the “page can’t be displayed” note in the viewport, however, the URL, now visible, is clickable in order to open the page in a separate window.

• Updated Qwidget for Facebook  Instructions:

Updated instructions for placing a Qwidget on your Facebook account have been published to the QuestionPoint Wiki.

If you experience any outage after the projected service period, please contact your Customer Service Provider for further assistance. 

Release Notes for May 13, 2012 install

1        New Features/Improvements

1.1  Enhanced Security for Attachments

We have added additional security criteria for the new librarian attachment storage capability. This will increase existing measures to protect against unauthorized access to the stored attachments.

1.2  Patron Privacy

For those libraries using forms created using the QuestionPoint “Forms Manager”, we have removed the default statement linking to OCLC Patron terms and conditions.  We strongly encourage libraries who use those particular forms (created from Admin Module>Forms> Forms Manager & Subscription Group>Chat Manager) to create a link to and/or explanation of their library’s Privacy Policies, using the “Footer Field” in the Form builder.  If you have any questions about this, please contact your QuestionPoint Support provider.

1.3  Policy Pages: Display linked fields with error message when Registry is unavailable

Our previous install allowed libraries to link fields in their Policy Pages to data already contained in their WorldCat Registry.  On the rare occasion that the Registry data is not available due to maintenance or outage, librarians using the Policy Pages during a chat session will see the following error message:

           “Cannot display data linked to the WC Registry. This may be because the Registry is temporarily unavailable or the linked Registry field has no data.”

Note that “copied” data will still be available if the Registry is down. Only “linked” data is unavailable during a Registry outage or omission.

1.4  BME Admins can see Member Institutions’ Surveys in Service History

Survey results display are now consistent between Active Data and Service History and BME Admins can now see Surveys of their member institutions in both types of search results.

1.5  Form Field Report enhancements

1.5.1  Qwidget and Walk up identification

“Add Question (aka Walkup) Forms” and Qwidget sessions are now individually identifiable from “Email” and “Chat” respectively, in the Online and Off-line Form Field Reports results.  Sorting and identification of each type of session will be simplified when preparing reports or gathering statistics.

1.5.2 Full patron email addresses

Full patron email addresses are now available in Off-Line Reports as well as Online Form Field Reports, if that option has been selected in Admin Module>Settings.

1.5.3 Formatting

Reported fields are now consistently aligned in spreadsheets so that columns Online and Off-line Reports for the same information are matched.

1.6  New Frame-Busting Page Identified

http://fmx.sagepub.com  has been found to break the patron’s viewport frame and overtake the chat frame if sent during a chat session. We have therefore added it to the list of “known framebusters”.  This means that it will not display in the viewport if sent as a link.  The patron will have to click on the link in chat history to open it in a separate window, if they want to see it during the chat session. 

Note: The “Frame-busters” page in QuestionPoint is periodically updated to add these sorts of pages as discovered and reported by you, our users.  The link to the Frame-busters page is on the right-hand side of the My QuestionPoint homepage, under “Resources”.

2        Fixes

2.1  Chat

2.1.1 “Practice Chat” vs. “Accessible Chat” identifier fixed.

A bug introduced when the new Walk up form was implemented has now been fixed.  Only sessions instigated from the “Practice Chat” link on the “My QuestionPoint” home page will contain the “practice chat” check box, and be identified as “Practice” in the librarian chat monitor.

2.1.2  “Practice Chat” Check box on Practice Chat form is now Checked by default.

This returns the Practice Chat form check box option to its original configuration.  It will now be pre-checked when opened. Those libraries that wish to access the “Live service” librarians while using the Practice Chat form will have to uncheck the “practice” checkbox to have those questions seen.

2.1.3 Off-Line Reports Parameters saved.

When choosing parameters for the type of data requested in Off-line Reports, users can now save page 2 (Search limitation parameters) and page 3 (field data and format selector) data in their saved Reports.  This will facilitate report re-use, in that repetitive reports can be re-run without having to reselect data each time the report is desired.

2.2  Reports for the Group Administrator

2.2.1 Descriptive Code Report List display.

Group level Descriptive Codes report has been fixed to only display the Descriptive Codes actually configured by the libraries represented in the Group.  If the same code is used amongst multiple libraries in the same BME, there will still be multiple “duplicate” labels, as each institution’s code is considered unique.

2.2.2 Descriptive Code Report content.

Additionally, when selecting “All” institutions, an error occurred when sessions IDs to which some of the selected Descriptive Codes had been assigned did not display correctly in the report.  This problem has been fixed and sessions IDs to which the selected Descriptive Codes have been assigned now display in the report.

2.3  Thai Character set fixed

Thai language character set is now correctly displayed in Off-line Reports.

2.4  Upside Wireless Texting fixes

QuestionPoint institutions with linked Upside Wireless accounts will now see updated UW account names in their Admin Module if they have changed the name through their Upside Wireless configuration accounts.

3        Known Issue in Chat

Sending Search Engine Page URLs in Chat

Several commercial search engines, including Google and Yahoo, have changed their philosophy about content usage.  They are no longer facilitating reuse of their search pages in the type of HTML frame structure used by the QuestionPoint patron chat interface.  You can continue to use these search engines while in a session with patrons, but please be aware that if you send the actual Google results pages, the pages may not automatically open in the Viewport. Depending upon which browser and (I.E, Firefox, etc.) used, the patron may need to click the hotlink from the chat history for the URL that was sent. This will force the search page to open in a separate window.   While I.E. users will receive a message in the Viewport with a helpful hot-link, Firefox users receive no such assistance, and the Viewport may switch to a blank white page.

This does not affect URLs of websites that are copied and pasted after a Google search has been completed.  It only relates to URLS that actually contain “google” in the address itself.

We recommend that you continue to check with the patron frequently regarding pages sent, and suggest that the patron click on any link where the page itself did not display.

Free QuestionPoint training at OCLC training portal

We are pleased to announce that free QuestionPoint classes are available online, as part of OCLC's new training program. These classes will be conducted by OCLC trainers and various training partners (Amigos, WiLS, Minitex, MLNC, MCLS, OHIONET and LYRASIS, as appropriate) and are designed to help members refresh or maintain skills, ensure effective use of OCLC subscription services, and learn new applications to help members leverage their investments in the cooperative.

The QuestionPoint classes do not take the place of the original hands-on guidance that new QuestionPoint subscribers receive as part of Implementation, but instead are targeted toward exposing QuestionPoint users to new and/or unfamiliar facets of the program.

The QuestionPoint classes are available on a quarterly basis and will be conducted in English. To see the list of classes and scheduled dates, go to http://training.oclc.org/. Choose "Training Courses" then "QuestionPoint". You will need to register at the training portal in order to attend any of the classes, but registration and the courses themselves are free.

For your convenience, this quarter's schedule is copied below:

QuestionPoint Administration 1 - Starting Your QuestionPoint Service

• Wed 9/21/2011: 9/21/2011 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM EDT
• Thu 12/08/2011: 12/08/2011 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM EST

QuestionPoint Administration 2 - Generating and Interpreting Reports

• Wed 9/21/2011: 9/21/2011 from 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM EDT
• Thu 12/08/2011: 12/08/2011 from 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM EST

QuestionPoint Librarian 1 - QuestionPoint Overview and E-mail Reference

• Mon 9/19/2011: 9/19/2011 from 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM EDT
• Tue 12/06/2011: 12/06/2011 from 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM EST

QuestionPoint Librarian 2 - Using Flash Chat

• Mon 9/19/2011: 9/19/2011 from 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM EDT
• Tue 12/06/2011: 12/06/2011 from 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM EST

QuestionPoint Librarian 3 - Chat Follow-up, Referrals, and Managing Questions

• Tue 9/20/2011: 9/20/2011 from :00 PM - 2:00 PM EDT
• Wed 12/07/2011: from 12/07/2011 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM EST

QuestionPoint Librarian 4 - Personal Scripts, Co-browse, IM and Transfer

• Tue 9/20/2011: 9/20/2011 from 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM EDT
• Wed 12/07/2011: 12/07/2011 from 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM EST

We hope that this new OCLC benefit will assist our current QuestionPoint subscribers!

QuestionPoint Installation d¹entretien prévue le 1er octobre 1h TU et 3 octobre 6h TU

Chers utilisateurs de QuestionPoint,
Veuillez noter que le service QuestionPoint sera brièvement interrompu à deux reprises pour raisons d’entretien. Il y aura 2 interruptions de 15 minutes.

Première interruption de 15 minutes ce soir, le vendredi 1er octobre, à 21 h, heure de l’Est (samedi 2/10 à 1 h en temps universel, samedi 2/10 à 11 h pour le Territoire de la capitale australienne). Cette interruption vise à corriger un problème lié à « l’ancien style » du formulaire de Chat hébergé localement, qui n’est pas correctement fermé si personne ne surveille le Chat.

Deuxième interruption de 15 minutes le dimanche matin 3 octobre à 2 h heure de l’Est (6 h en temps universel et 16 h pour le Territoire de la capitale australienne). Cette interruption est nécessaire pour l’entretien du serveur et l’installation de mises à niveau. Il n’y aura pas de changement à l’application QuestionPoint.  

Il est très important que vous fermiez toutes vos sessions de Chat en cours au moins 2 minutes avant les interruptions de services pour éviter que vos sessions apparaissent dans vos listes de questions avec le statut EN COURS car vous ne pourrez plus les consulter pour obtenir des informations sur l’utilisateur afin de communiquer avec lui par courriel.

Lorsque le service reprendra, veuillez consulter votre liste de Nouvelles questions pour voir les questions par Chat ou par courriels non traitées.

 
Si des coupures de service surviennent après les interruptions prévues, veuillez contacter votre service d’assistance technique.
Nous nous excusons des inconvénients que ces interruptions pourraient causer.

Bien à vous,
Equipe QuestionPoint

QuestionPoint installs: TONIGHT Friday 10/1 at 9PM EDT (Sat 1:00 UTC) AND Sunday 10/3 at 2AM EDT (6:00 UTC)

Dear QuestionPoint User:

Please be advised that the QuestionPoint service will be unavailable for the following time periods for brief scheduled maintenance and service.    Please note that there will be 2 separate interruptions, each of 15 minute duration:

The first one is tonight, Friday October 1 at 9PM EDT (Sat 10/2 at 1:00 UTC, Sat 10/2, 11AM Australia Capital Territory Time) for 15 minutes. This is to correct a problem with the “old style” self-hosted patron chat forms which were unfortunately not closing properly if no one was monitoring chat.

The second interruption will be on Sunday morning, October 3, at 2:00 AM EDT ( 6:00 UTC  4PM Australia Capital Territory Time)  again for 15 minutes. This is a necessary server maintenance and upgrade install, no changes to the QuestionPoint program are involved. 

It is very important that you end any in-progress chat sessions at least 2 minutes prior to these scheduled  times to avoid having the “ in session chat” get stuck in the Ask questions list with an IN PROGRESS status. You will unable to click on them thereafter, to get information about the patron in order to try to communicate with them via email.

When service is restored, please check your “New” questions lists for any unanswered chat sessions or email questions. 

If you experience any outage after the projected service period, please contact your Customer Service Provider for further assistance.

We regret any inconvenience.
The QuestionPoint Team

QuestionPoint Qwidget Now Available for Mounting on WorldCat Local

We are pleased to announce that subscribers to Full WorldCat Local can now implement the QuestionPoint Qwidget to provide their users the opportunity to chat directly with a librarian from within WorldCat Local.  This feature has been designed to work with any chat client.  Below are instructions for configuring WCL for the QuestionPoint Qwidget.

How to Configure WorldCat Local for the Qwidget

The steps below document the configuration process from within an institution’s WorldCat Service Configuration account and depict how the chat client will work in the WorldCat Local user interface. Note: The QuestionPoint library must have already configured the Qwidget within the QuestionPoint Administration module. See: http://www.questionpoint.org/crs/html/help/en/admin/ad_forms_qwidget_setup.html

1) Settings are in the User Interface Module of Service Configuration.

2) Chat widget configurations are only available in the Custom Links section on Custom Link 1. When the user selects a link type of Library Contact Info, the Display Chat Widget question displays.

3) After selecting Yes for Display Chat Widget, the user can indicate if they have a QuestionPoint account.

4) If the user has a Questionpoint account, they can insert the institution ID. Upon saving their settings, the ID will be validated and the Qwidget will be automatically placed within their WorldCat Local.

5) If the user wishes the Qwidget to always display to their patrons they can select the ‘Always display chat window’ box.

6) If the user does not select the ‘Always display chat window’ box, the Qwidget will be launched when the user selects the text link you’ve indicated in the Display Text box.

How the Qwidget displays in WorldCat Local

1) If chat is not configured to always display, the Qwidget will be launched when the user clicks on the link in either the toolbar or in the Library Links dropdown.

2)

2) The Qwidget then launches in a separate window so persists as the user navigates throughout the site.

3) If the Qwidget is configured to always display to the user, the chat box will show below the search box and toolbar.

4) When the user clicks in the Chat box, the Qwidget is launched in a separate window so it persists while the user navigates throughout the site.

Negative Wait Time Bug Found and Fixed

A glitch was reported to us in late November, when the library noticed some negative wait times for their chat sessions.  A few others then reported the same problem.

We're happy to report that our QuestionPoint developers found and fixed the problem as soon as they were aware of it. The fix is not retroactive, however, so the negative times you see will remain.  The problem resulted because two of the four servers to which we direct all chat requests and librarian logins for load balancing purposes were set by a different time standard than the other two.  The time difference undoubtedly also caused some wait times to have been logged as slightly longer than they actually were.

We are aware of the wait time discrepancy having begun on November 7 and occurring with greater frequency toward the end of the month.  This is explainable, as we were moving, in phases, to these new servers, one at a time, over a period of 3 or 4 weeks.  Because of the phased move, the various possible scenarios, and the relatively low number of negative times (1800 across the entire system, out of a total 60,664 sessions accepted), we have noted little, if any, affect on averages and trends. Correct times can always be calculated, of course, by looking at the full transcript and noting the timestamps that are displayed.

We are grateful for your reports and regret the inconvenience caused by the bug.