QuestionPoint: 24/7 reference services

HTML Chat retirement date is upon us

On September 27, 2009,  at 00:00AM EDT (4:00 UTC/GMT)  QuestionPoint will close a chapter in its history by reitiring the original librarian html chat monitor. We have been messaging this upcoming change for several months, and provided links to information and trainings covering  the flash version of the librarian Chat monitor.(http://www.questionpoint.org/education/index.html) 

As you all know, QuestionPoint has grown considerably in the last 4 years, and it is no longer feasible for us to maintain 2 different chat architectures. The flash-based  chat monitor has been a part of QuestionPoint for 3- ½ years, and current and future development is concentrated on that product.  On Sunday Sept 27^th, all links to the html chat monitor will be removed from the program In addition, all options and schedules for setting up chat coverage via self-managed “virtual cooperative coverage groups”  will be removed.    If your library was using such a group to share chat responsibilities, and you have not yet moved to using Queues and Flash Chat,  you need to contact Carol Bonnefil at bonnefic@oclc.org to review your groups structure and arrange for us to set up a Cooperative Group within the Flash structure OCLC .

No 24/7 Cooperative libraries are affected by this, nor are any previous 24/7 Reference libraries.  In fact, the majority of QuestionPoint libraries have moved to flash chat over the last 2 years. If you do have any doubts about which version of chat you have been using, here is a screenshot of the My QuestionPoint page with the "Launch html chat" link circled and X’d  in Red. That is going away, and you will need to begin using the "Launch Chat" link that is boxed in Green.

Release Notes for 23 August 2009

1. New Feature

Qwidget Evolution

Our Qwidget is evolving! With this release, we introduce a more modern, flexible design that also provides clearer distinctions between patron and librarian in the transcript window. A new color palette enables you to choose among more and newer color options; there is also the potential for “power users” to completely customize the colors and color combinations.

· Additional new features are illustrated below, on the set-up page (Fig. 2)

· Pop-out Qwidget: The patron can pop out a separate, floating, resizable window that is persistent and can move with the patron so they don’t “lose” the Qwidget if they change the web page. See the window icon in the upper right corner of the illustrated Qwidget, beside the ‘x’.

· Links to web pages sent by the librarian will open in discrete windows, or tabs, and no longer overwrite the preceding web pages sent.

· Custom sizeability: The library can have a small, medium, or full-size Qwidget, more appropriate to the space allotted it on your web page.

· IP address masking: You can choose to mask even the IP address, to insure total patron anonymity.

· Email options: Libraries can now require the user to enter an email address before a session can be started, or “nudge” them to do so after a session has begun. The nudge would still be voluntary, and the patron can still choose to be “anonymous” (no email attached to the session), if they prefer. When either of these options is selected, an accompanying message box appears for you to enter your message. A default message is provided, but you can choose to enter your own explanation of the option, as you prefer.

· Privacy: The new Qwidget has improved exit-session safeguard, which clears the chat history from the Qwidget. This guards against another patron or PC user reading the transcript at public terminals.

 

2. Maintenance and Changes

Transparent to our users is a great deal of work that has gone into upgrading several QuestionPoint components to move us toward an updated and more flexible architecture. These upgrades should increase our facility to interoperate with other systems, both OCLC and third party, and to move more quickly when introducing new features. The upgrades have also increased our capacity to handle QuestionPoint’s growing number of users and to improve the interface for our international users.

 

3. Fixes

3.1 Cannot Submit Q&As to KB from Questions Lists. Users have been unable to submit answered questions to a knowledge base in batch mode, from a questions list. This is now fixed.

3.2 Follow Up by Me not Listed for Follow Up. In certain, rare scenarios, questions with a resolution code Follow Up by Me were not appearing in the chat librarian’s questions list as New. That problem has now been fixed.

3.3 Can send Answer When There Is No E-mail Address. It has been possible in the past to click on the Answer button and appear to have sent an answer to the patron, even though no e-mail address was provided. The librarian will now receive a caution when they open the Full Question page for a question/transcript with no e-mail address.

Patron email is blank

On continuing to the Answer page, the only actions the librarian can take are to Save Draft, Search KB, or Cancel.

QuestionPoint New Release Coming Sunday!

This Sunday morning, August 23, we will install a new QuestionPoint release.  Please see the attached document for details on the release.

QuestionPoint will be brought down at 7:00 a.m. UTC (3:00 a.m. New York; 8:00 a.m. London; 11:00 a.m. Dubai; 12:30 p.m. Delhi; 5:00 p.m. Sydney).  We expect service to be restored within forty-five (45) minutes.  

It is imperative that you end any in-progress chat sessions at least five minutes 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.) When service is restored, please check your “New” questions lists for any interrupted chat sessions or unanswered email questions.

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

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Release Notes for 23 August 2009

1. New Feature

Qwidget Evolution

Our Qwidget is evolving! With this release, we introduce a more modern, flexible design that also provides clearer distinctions between patron and librarian in the transcript window. A new color palette enables you to choose among more and newer color options; there is also the potential for “power users” to completely customize the colors and color combinations.

Figure 1

· Additional new features are illustrated below, on the set-up page (Fig. 2)

Figure 2

· Pop-out Qwidget: The patron can pop out a separate, floating, resizable window that is persistent and can move with the patron so they don’t “lose” the Qwidget if they change the web page. See the window icon in the upper right corner of the illustrated Qwidget, beside the ‘x’.

· Links to web pages sent by the librarian will open in discrete windows, or tabs, and no longer overwrite the preceding web pages sent.

· Custom sizeability: The library can have a small, medium, or full-size Qwidget, more appropriate to the space allotted it on your web page.

· IP address masking: You can choose to mask even the IP address, to insure total patron anonymity.

· Email options: Libraries can now require the user to enter an email address before a session can be started, or “nudge” them to do so after a session has begun. The nudge would still be voluntary, and the patron can still choose to be “anonymous” (no email attached to the session), if they prefer. When either of these options is selected, an accompanying message box appears for you to enter your message. A default message is provided, but you can choose to enter your own explanation of the option, as you prefer.

· Privacy: The new Qwidget has improved exit-session safeguard, which clears the chat history from the Qwidget. This guards against another patron or PC user reading the transcript at public terminals.

2. Maintenance and Changes

Transparent to our users is a great deal of work that has gone into upgrading several QuestionPoint components to move us toward an updated and more flexible architecture. These upgrades should increase our facility to interoperate with other systems, both OCLC and third party, and to move more quickly when introducing new features. The upgrades have also increased our capacity to handle QuestionPoint’s growing number of users and to improve the interface for our international users.

3. Fixes

3.1 Cannot Submit Q&As to KB from Questions Lists. Users have been unable to submit answered questions to a knowledge base in batch mode, from a questions list. This is now fixed.

3.2 Follow Up by Me not Listed for Follow Up. In certain, rare scenarios, questions with a resolution code Follow Up by Me were not appearing in the chat librarian’s questions list as New. That problem has now been fixed.

3.3 Can send Answer When There Is No E-mail Address. It has been possible in the past to click on the Answer button and appear to have sent an answer to the patron, even though no e-mail address was provided. The librarian will now receive a caution when they open the Full Question page for a question/transcript with no e-mail address.

Patron email is blank

On continuing to the Answer page, the only actions the librarian can take are to Save Draft, Search KB, or Cancel.

3.4 Chat Form Cannot Be Constructed without E-mail Field. It is now possible to create chat forms on which there is no field for an e-mail address.

Features/Fixes for 22 February 2009

Release Notes for 22 February 2009

Contents

1. New Features

     1.1 New FLASH code in Co-browse

     1.2 New Links on Home Page

     1.3 New Field Added to E-mail Forms Manager

2. Changes

     2.1 Library Card Number Field in Policy Page Increased

3. Fixes

     3.1 Notification When Ask Admin Assigns to Institution Admin

     3.2 NEW Status at Two Libraries Simultaneously

     3.3 Co-browse Indicates Join Co-browse

     3.4 Forms Assignment

     3.5 Default “look and Feel” for e-mail forms

1. New Features

1.1 New FLASH code in Co-browse

The installation of 23 November 2008 implemented the new Flash version in the QuestionPoint chat monitor. However, the co-browse functionality continued to use the older version. We are happy to announce that, as of this Sunday, 22 February, co-browse will also make use of the new Flash. As well as now having the same look and feel as the chat monitor, the new version will allow you to resize the co-browse window without affecting the font size.

 

1.2 New Links on Home Page

Two new links appear on the Home page, My QuestionPoint. The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the American Library Association, has published two sets of guidelines: one for providing virtual reference services, and another for organizing cooperative reference services. Access to both documents is now just a click away from your QuestionPoint home page.

1.3 New Field Added to E-Mail Forms Manager

A footer field can now be added, via the Forms Manager, to e-mail forms. This capability, already available for chat forms, is a text area just above the submit button, in which instructions or various necessary communications to the user can be displayed. If administrators choose to add this field to the library’s e-mailed web form, it will not count as one of 10 allowable customizable fields.

2. Changes

2.1 Library Card Number Field in Policy Page Increased

The Library Card Number field has been increased to 500 characters, so administrators can enter information here that is necessary for a chatting librarian to access critical home library information. A cautionary note has also been added in red typeface, warning the chatting librarian to not share this information with the patron.

3. Fixes

3.1 Notification When Ask Admin Assigns to Institution Admin

For some time, the Institution Administrator was not being notified through e-mail when an Ask Administrator assigns a new question to him or her. This has been fixed; the system now e-mails the proper notification.

3.2 NEW Status at Two Libraries Simultaneously

We discovered that when a patron replies to an e-mailed transcript, the question status in QuestionPoint changed to NEW for both the library that handled the chat sessions and the patron’s library. This has now been fixed so that only the patron’s library sees the NEW status. The status for the chat library does not change.

3.3 Co-browse Indicates Join Co-browse

When a new co-browse session is opened, the speed an reliability of the librarian note “Joined cobrowse” has been improved.

3.4 Forms Assignment

Some libraries that have implemented new e-mail intake forms via the Forms Manager feature in the Administration module, noticed that automatic assignments were not working. That has now been rectified; automatic assignments now work correctly.

3.5 Default “look and Feel” for e-mail forms

In the Forms Manager, e-mail forms were not correctly reflecting the look-and-feel defaults when set up for various languages. Forms Manager users with forms in more than one language will see this working properly after Sunday’s install.

Release Notes for November 23, 2008

Dear QuestionPoint Users:

The attached describes new features, changes, and fixes we will install on Sunday, 23 November 2008.  Note especially the new look and feel for the Flash-based chat interface.

We do not yet have details on the downtime required for the install, but will post that as soon as we have it.  Typically, downtime begins at 2:00 a.m. Eastern Time (0700 GMT) and lasts for only 15 minutes.

Watch for updates on this list!

Paula Rumbaugh and the QuestionPoint Team

1. New Features

1.1 New Look and Feel for Chat Monitor

Although the workflow has not changed, you will note a difference in the look and feel of the interface and overall responsiveness of the service. NOTE: You must have Flash Player version 9.0.124.0 or better installed in your browser. A different Flash Player install program must be run for IE and Firefox. To check your current version today, right click on your chat monitor and select the Flash Player option from the drop-down menu. If you do not have version 9.0.124.0 or later, you will receive an error message and a link to the download site when you attempt to bring up your chat monitor following the November 23 QuestionPoint install.

1.1.1 Initializing. You will notice the new look immediately on bringing up the monitor, as QuestionPoint initializes and loads the queues available to you. The QuestionPoint logo will briefly appear, then change into an out-of-focus background.

1.1.2 Queue selection. After initialization, the queue selection box automatically appears. You must select queues before you can do anything else. Queue selection follows the same process as before; however, a Select All link expedites the process for librarians monitoring several queues at the same time. Once you select your queue(s), you must click the Save button to continue.

1.1.3 New clock. After queue selection is completed, the monitor screen comes into focus. Note the new clock beside the Queues link telling you how long you have been logged into chat.

1.1.4 Mouse over Queues link. Mouse over the Queues link to see the queues you’ve selected.

1.1.5 New tabs. A new set of tabs, one for Patron Chat and one for IM (see illustration above), facilitate control by more clearly distinguishing chats with your patrons from IM chats with other online librarians.

1.1.6 Slider for font size. A new slider feature in the Settings function allows you to adjust font size (try it out!).

1.1.7 New alerts. To help reduce confusion between the current two options of “Flash based popup alert” and “Browser based alerts (popup and system sound),” the settings options have changed as follows:

If you choose “Flash based popup alert” you will see a new look to the pop-up window.

If you choose “Browser based alerts (popup and system sound),” your alert type will depend upon the Browser you use. IE users will see ***New patron** appear in the task bar at the bottom of your machine monitor and in the IE title bar at the top. If you use “tabbed” browsing in your IE window, it will also flash in the tab.

Firefox users will also see the QP icons flash in address bar and tabbed view.

1.1.8 IM tab. IM is now placed under a tab (beside the new Patron Chat tab) rather than behind a link at the top of the monitor. The pop-up IM alert has been changed enough that it cannot be confused with a new-patron alert.  Another improvement is the inability, now, to accidentally IM yourself!

1.1.9 Transfer IM message retention. Instant Messages between librarians engaged in transferring sessions will be posted in the chat history visible to the librarians as a Librarian Note. The transcripts visible in the QuestionPoint Ask module will also contain these IM chats as Notes.

The “Notes” will NOT be visible to patrons in their chat history or in emailed versions of the transcript.

1.1.10 Librarians tab. You can sort the list of librarians and this sorted list will be persistent until resorted; it will not change when the screen refreshes. Also be aware that you can no longer begin an IM session with this tab open: IM sessions can only be initiated from the IM tab (see 1.1.8) or at the start of a transfer.

1.1.11 Drawers instead of tabs. The patron information area is organized now into “drawers” (see illustration below). Info, Scripts, URLs, and Notes no longer appear as tabs; this maximizes screen real estate and improves usability.

1.1.12 Drawers instead of boxes! Resolution Codes, Description Codes, Send Librarian Note, and Send Patron Note are all also organized as drawers. And, since assigning a resolution code is of paramount importance for cooperative groups, we have made it hard to miss!

1.1.13 Error notifications. You may notice new error messages under certain, infrequent circumstances:

· Chat monitor loading errors: if the chat monitor load sequence fails, you will receive an alert. Follow the “Reload Chat Monitor” instructions in the window, and the sequence will begin again. This guards against incomplete monitor loads in which only a portion of the screen loaded and then perhaps froze.

· Connection losses: should you lose your connection to the chat server for some reason, you will receive an immediate and unmistakable pop-up box informing you of the dropped connection. The window will appear until the connection reestablishes automatically; you don’t need to close out or refresh, and when you are reconnected you can retrieve your existing patrons.

· Dublicate logins: in the case of an accidental duplicate login, the instruction dialog box will outline the steps to follow. You will need to close the chat window, exit QuestionPoint, and relog in. You will be unable to launch a new chat monitor without first exiting QP.

1.1.14 We believe you will experience noticeably improved response time with this interface, including the immediate echo of your messages to patrons in the transcript area.

1.1.15 The new interface enables you to resize the frames of the monitor for your convenience. In the illustration below, the “handles” for resizing are circled in red. The second illustration shows the transcript window greatly enlarged, so the librarian doesn’t need to do so much scrolling during a long session.

1.1.16 Finally, the scroll bar remains “parked” if you need to change tabs or open another drawer. In the old version, you often needed to rescroll to the part of the page you were reading if you clicked on another tab. The monitor now holds your selected position for you.

1.2 Send Message to Librarian

When a question or chat session transcript has been referred to more than one library, it is not always easy to discern who the message will go to if you click on the Send Message to Librarian link. This is especially true in situations where one library picked up a chat session for another, then referred it to a Shared Follow-up folder, from which a third library claims it and forwards on to yet another library! If the last librarian needs clarification, to whom will the message go?

No more guessing. The TO: line of the e-mail is now displayed, complete with address. When you click on Send Message to Librarian, you’ll see who the message will go to.

1.3 Forms Manager Enhanced and Now Available for Chat

Administrators: The third phase of the QuestionPoint Forms Manager is now available: Chat web forms. QuestionPoint can now host all patron intake forms for your library’s QuestionPoint service, chat as well as e-mail.

1.3.1 New chat form manager

Chat forms for every queue in the group can be individually configured by the BME administrator. The BME admin picks the default languages, colors, information fields, and “chat closed” messaging and links. Thereafter, if desired, institution administrators in the group can further individualize colors, branding, and the message users see when the chat service is not available for their institution. Thus the forms can have the local look and feel, matching different website presences, while collecting all the information needed at the group administration level.

Note: 24/7 Coop members can only create chat forms for their Queues in English, due to the nature of the cooperative chat service. Those whose libraries also participate in the Spanish language chat cooperative, will not build chat forms for that particular service, as the “Spanish Queue” is managed by OCLC directly.

1.3.2 Modifications and corrections to phase 2, email form manager:

Several modifications were made to the institution level email web form manager.

Institution administrators can create a basic email web form with Name, email and Question, in as little as three steps if desired. For those needing greater customization, instructions are now clearer, and more tailored to each type of configurable field. Drop down menu fields now can be configured with as many as 30 values, and the values of all types of dropdown fields can be “ordered” however desired.

Language options for Chat forms have been separated out from those on the email web form, allowing institutions to offer email forms in whatever languages they wish to support, regardless of any language restrictions in their live chat service.

Border images, banner colors and additional links can also be different for email forms than they are for chat forms.

The advantages in having QuestionPoint host forms that you can manage yourself are:

· The Forms Manager is easy to use; using it reduces the need for IT staff involvement in your forms.

· Your institution or group can customize your forms.

· Your form can be provided in multiple languages (Exception: 24/7 Coop members can create only English-language chat forms.)

· The option supports improved access to data about reference transactions.

· The option provides improved protection against spam.

Complete instructions for forms set-up will be available in Administration module Help, as well as at http://questionpoint.org/support/documentation/gettingstarted/index.html . A walk-through tutorial is also available at this site.

For group administrators, forms management is accessible at Administration >> Subscription Group >> Chat Forms Manager. For institution administrators, management of both e-mail and chat forms is available at Administration >> Institution >> Forms >> Forms Manager.

Once you build new forms using the forms manager, decide when the best time to deploy them will be, depending upon whether you use information from Form Field Reviews (Ask >> Transcript Reviews >> Form Fields). The new forms will no doubt use different field ID labels, (This is unavoidable due to its automated nature. We cannot tell what field IDs your current forms may be using, because there are too many variations on the currently used forms out there!) If you switch to a new form in mid month, or quarter, it will be harder to get consistent data from the downloaded Form Field Reports, so we recommend building the form at your leisure, and then picking a date certain for switching the links on your website.

Although having QuestionPoint staff manage your chat forms for you remains an option at this time, administrators are encouraged to experiment with building their own forms.

2. Changes

2.1 Reports: Response Time, Session Length

Within the Chat section of activity reports (My QuestionPoint/Reports/Institution or Group), line items for Avg. Response Time, Greatest Response Time, and Avg. Session Length are being discontinued. These values, originally developed for one-on-one chat services, are calculated in a way that is not really applicable in the cooperative setting. Since both session length and response time are values that can be reviewed, reported on, and averaged through the Ask/Review Transcripts feature (both online and offline), they are no longer necessary for activity reporting.

2.2 Qwidget Chat-Not-Available Message Discontinued

Libraries are increasingly mounting the QuestionPoint widget (the Qwidget) on their websites on multiple pages. However, since Qwidget requests are routed only to the local level (i.e., an institution’s primary queue), they are rarely picked up around the clock. Heretofore, when the software detected a Qwidget request but no one was monitoring the primary queue, the message “Chat Not Available” automatically appeared as pictured below.

But libraries often want to direct their patrons to their chat form, which may well be monitored 24/7, so they can add instructions in the Qwidget message area to that effect. Libraries have reported that when patrons see “Chat Not Available,” they either read no further or are confused by conflicting instructions telling them to go to the chat form.

The automatic “Chat Not Available” message is therefore discontinued. If you have not done so already, QuestionPoint administrators offering the Qwidget will need to ensure they provide their own “closed” message at Administration/Institution/Forms Manager/Qwidget (Preview) Configuration, in the “Offline Message” box type the message you want to appear to your patrons when no one is monitoring the Qwidget. To see examples of closed messages, please visit our Qwidget tips page at http://wiki.questionpoint.org/Qwidget+Tips.

2.3 Virtual Groups Automatic Submittal to GKB Discontinued

Institutions from disparate BMEs (groups) can form their own groups for the purposes of referring questions to one another and to cover for one another during closed. Some early QuestionPoint subscribers can even form their own chat coverage groups. While these options are still available, the automatic submittal of Closed transactions that were routed via this mechanism to the Global Knowledge Base is discontinued with this install.

Automatic submittal of Closed transactions routed through the Global Reference Network does continue.

2.4 Additional Descriptive Codes

Two new descriptive codes have been added to the drop-down menu available in the chat monitor, upon closing sessions, and from the Ask/Full Question/Question Descriptive Codes page. They are Citation and No email. As always, these codes can be used in whatever manner is consistent with local practice. 24/7 Cooperative members are cautioned to not assign descriptive codes to sessions they have handled for other libraries.

3. Fixes

3.1 Qwidget Report Label

Reports on Qwidget activity are now correctly labeled Requested.

Notes d’installation pour du 23 Novembre 2008

1. Nouvelles fonctionnalités

1.1 Nouveau moniteur de Chat

Bien que la chaîne de travail soit la même, vous remarquerez que la présentation de l’interface est différente de même que la réactivité générale du service.

Note. - Flash Player version 9.0.124.0 (ou supérieure) doit être installé sur votre machine pour votre navigateur. Un programme d’installation de Flash Player différent doit être installé pour Internet Explorer et Firefox. Pour vérifier votre version actuelle, cliquez avec le bouton droit de la souris sur votre moniteur de Chat et sélectionnez l’option Flash Player dans le menu déroulant. Si vous n’avez pas la version 9.0.124.0 (ou supérieure), un message d’erreur et un lien vers le site de téléchargement seront présentés lorsque vous tenterez d’ouvrir votre moniteur de Chat après l’installation du 23 novembre de QuestionPoint.

1.1.1 Initialisation. Vous remarquerez la nouvelle présentation du moniteur alors que QuestionPoint initialise votre session et charge vos files d’attente. Le logo de QuestionPoint apparaîtra brièvement, puis se fondera dans l’arrière-plan

1.1.2 Sélection des files d’attente. Après l’initialisation, la boîte pour la sélection des files d’attente est présentée. Vous devez sélectionner vos files d’attente avant de pouvoir poursuivre. Vous sélectionnez les files de la même manière qu’auparavant. Toutefois, le lien Tout sélectionner permet de sélectionner toutes les files listées. Cliquez sur le bouton Enregistrer pour continuer.

 

1.1.3 Nouvelle horloge. Après la sélection des files d’attente, le moniteur devient actif. La nouvelle horloge dans le haut de l’écran indique la durée de votre session dans le moniteur.

1.1.4 Pointeur de la souris. Pointez votre souris sur le lien Files d’attente pour voir les files d’attente que vous avez sélectionnées.

1.1.5 Nouveaux onglets. Deux nouveaux onglets, l’un pour le Chat de l’utilisateur et l’autre pour la messagerie instantanée (voir illustration plus haut) facilite le travail en éliminant la confusion.

1.1.6 Taille des caractères. Une nouvelle option dans les Paramètres vous permet d’ajuster la taille des caractères (essayez-la!).

1.1.7 Nouvelles alertes. Pour aider à réduire la confusion entre les deux options actuelles « Alerte dans le Flash Chat» et « Alertes du navigateur (fenêtre éclair et signal sonore) », ces options de paramètres ont été modifiées comme suit :

Si vous choisissez « Alerte dans le Flash Chat », vous verrez une nouvelle fenêtre éclair.

 

Si vous choisissez « Alertes du navigateur (fenêtre éclair et signal sonore) », votre type d’alerte dépendra du navigateur que vous utilisez. Si vous utilisez Internet Explorer, vous verrez ***Nouvel utilisateur*** apparaître dans la barre de tâches du moniteur et dans la barre de titre du navigateur Internet Explorer. Si vous utilisez la navigation par onglet dans Internet Explorer, l’onglet clignotera.

1.1.8 Onglet MI. La messagerie électronique est maintenant présentée sous un onglet (à côté de l’onglet Chat de l’utilisateur) au lieu d’être accessible par un lien dans le haut du moniteur. La fenêtre éclair indiquant un nouveau message instantané a également été modifiée et ne peut plus être confondue avec celle indiquant un nouvel utilisateur. De plus, il est maintenant impossible de vous envoyer vous-même un message instantané par mégarde.

1.1.9 Messages instantanés et acheminement de sessions. Les messages instantanés entre les bibliothécaires lors de l’acheminement de sessions seront affichés dans l’historique du Chat des bibliothécaires sous Note au bibliothécaire. Ils seront également affichés dans les transcriptions visibles dans le module Service de référence comme des Notes.

Les utilisateurs ne verront PAS ces « Notes » dans leur historique de Chat ou dans leur transcription envoyée par courriel.

1.1.10 Onglet Bibliothécaires. Vous pouvez trier la liste de bibliothécaires et cet ordre sera conservé : il ne changera pas lorsque l’écran sera rafraîchi. De plus, vous ne pouvez plus ouvrir une session de messagerie instantanée lorsque cet onglet est ouvert : les sessions de messagerie instantanée ne peuvent être initiées que sous l’onglet IM (voir 1.1.8) ou au début d’un acheminement de session.

1.1.11 Des dossiers remplacent les onglets. La section contenant les informations sur l’utilisateur est maintenant organisée en « dossiers » (voir illustration ci-dessous). Les informations, les scripts. Les URL et les notes n’apparaissent plus sous des onglets ce qui désencombre l’écran.

1.1.12 Des dossiers remplacent les boîtes. Les codes de traitement, les codes descriptifs, les notes au bibliothécaire et les notes à l’utilisateur sont maintenant organisés en « Dossiers ». De plus, étant donné que l’assignation d’un code de traitement est si importante pour les groupes, nous avons mis cette option en évidence.

1.1.13 Messages d’erreur. De nouveaux messages d’erreur peuvent apparaître à l’occasion :

· Erreur lors du chargement du moniteur de Chat : si le chargement du moniteur de Chat échoue, vous recevrez un message vous indiquant de « Recharger le moniteur ». Cette mesure évite qu’une partie seulement du moniteur soit chargée et que le moniteur ne gèle par la suite.

· Pertes de connexion : si vous perdez votre connexion au serveur de Chat, une fenêtre éclair vous indiquera immédiatement que la connexion a été interrompue. Cette fenêtre apparaîtra jusqu’à ce que la connexion soit automatiquement rétablie. Vous n’avez pas besoin de fermer la session ou de rafraîchir l’écran : lorsque la connexion aura été rétablie, vous pourrez récupérer vos utilisateurs actifs.

· Ouverture de deux sessions : si vous ouvrez deux sessions dans QuestionPoint par mégarde, un message vous indiquant les étapes ç suivre est présenté. Vous devrez fermer la fenêtre de Chat, fermer QuestionPoint et ouvrir une nouvelle session. Vous ne pourrez pas ouvrir le nouveau moniteur de Chat sans d’abord fermer QuestionPoint.

1.1.14 Nous croyons que le temps de réponse sera nettement plus rapide avec cette nouvelle interface et vous verrez immédiatement vos messages à l’utilisateur dans la section de transcription.

1.1.15 La nouvelle interface vous permet de redimensionner les cadres du moniteur. Dans l’illustration ci-dessous, les « poignées » pour redimensionner les cadres sont encerclées en rouge. Dans la seconde illustration, la fenêtre de transcription a été considérablement agrandie afin que le bibliothécaire ne soit pas obligé de faire défiler le contenu aussi souvent lors d’une longue session.

1.1.16 Finalement, la barre de défilement reste à sa place lorsque vous changez d’onglet ou ouvrez un dossier. Auparavant, vous deviez parfois faire défiler le contenu de nouveau pour retrouver votre place après avoir cliqué sur un autre onglet.

1.2 Envoie d’un message au bibliothécaire

Lorsqu’une question ou une transcription de Chat a été soumise à plus d'une bibliothèque, il n’est pas toujours facile de savoir à qui ira le message si vous cliquez sur le lien Envoyer un message au bibliothécaire. Ceci est particulièrement vrai lorsqu’une bibliothèque répond à une demande de Chat pour une autre bibliothèque, puis l’enregistre dans le fichier Suivis communs, et qu’ensuite une troisième bibliothèque la réclame et l’achemine à une autre bibliothèque! Si le dernier bibliothécaire qui traite la question a besoin de précisions, à qui ira le message?

Dorénavant, la ligne « À : » du message électronique est affichée ainsi que l’adresse électronique. Si vous cliquez sur le lien Envoyer un message au bibliothécaire, vous verrez à qui sera envoyé le message.

 

1.3 Gestionnaire de formulaires amélioré et maintenant disponible pour le Chat

Administrateurs — La troisième phase du Gestionnaire de formulaires est maintenant en place avec l’ajout des formulaires de Chat. QuestionPoint peut maintenant héberger tous les formulaires de Chat pour le service de référence de votre bibliothèque de même que les formulaires de questions Web.

1.3.1 Nouveau gestionnaire de formulaires pour le Chat

Les formulaires de Chat pour chaque file d’attente du groupe peuvent être configurés individuellement par l’administrateur du groupe. L’administrateur du groupe choisit les langues, les couleurs, les zones disponibles, les messages de fermeture et les liens du formulaire. Ensuite, les administrateurs des établissements qui font partie du groupe peuvent personnaliser les couleurs, ajouter des bannières et écrire le message présenté à leurs utilisateurs lorsque leur service de Chat n'est pas disponible. Ainsi, les formulaires peuvent être personnalisés pour le site Web de la bibliothèque et contenir les informations nécessaires pour être utilisés dans un environnement de groupe.

Note.— Les membres de la Coop 24/7 peuvent uniquement créer les formulaires de Chat pour les files d’attente en anglais à cause de la nature du Service de Chat coopératif. Les bibliothèques qui participent au service de Chat coopératif en espagnol ne créeront pas de formulaires de Chat pour ce service puisque la « File d’attente en espagnol » est gérée directement par OCLC.

1.3.2 Modifications et corrections à la phase 2, gestionnaire des formulaires Web

Plusieurs modifications ont été effectuées au gestionnaire de formulaires de questions Web de l'établissement.

Les administrateurs d’établissements peuvent créer un formulaire de question Web de base contenant le nom, l'adresse électronique et la question de l'utilisateur et aussi peu que trois étapes à remplir. Pour ceux qui veulent un formulaire plus élaboré, les instructions pour la création du formulaire sont plus claires et plus précises. Les listes déroulantes peuvent maintenant contenir jusqu’à 30 choix et les choix peuvent être « ordonnés » comme vous le voulez.

Les langues sélectionnées dans les formulaires de Chat sont indépendantes de celles des formulaires de questions Web. Ainsi, les établissements peuvent offrir des formulaires de questions Web dans les langues désirées même si celles-ci ne sont pas offertes pour le Chat.

Les images, les bannières et les liens supplémentaires peuvent également être différents dans les formulaires de Chat et les formulaires de questions Web.

Avantages que vous procure l’hébergement des formulaires par QuestionPoint que vous pouvez gérer seul :

· Le gestionnaire de formulaires est facile à utiliser. Ainsi, vous avez peu ou pas recours à votre personnel technique pour les personnaliser.

· Votre établissement ou groupe peut personnaliser vos formulaires.

· Vous pouvez offrir des formulaires en plusieurs langues (sauf les membres de la Coop 24/7 qui peuvent uniquement utiliser des formulaires de Chat en anglais).

· Les options incluent un accès amélioré aux données sur les transactions liées à l’acheminement de questions.

· Vous êtes mieux protégé des pourriels (spam).

Des instructions complètes sur la configuration des formulaires seront disponibles dans l’aide du module Administration ainsi qu’au http://questionpoint.org/support/documentation/gettingstarted/index.html . Un tutoriel est également disponible sur ce site.

Les administrateurs de groupe peuvent accéder aux écrans du Gestionnaire de formulaires de Chat dans Administration/Groupe d’abonnement/Gestionnaire des formulaires de Chat. Les administrateurs d’établissement, qui gèrent les formulaires de Chat et les formulaires de questions Web, peuvent accéder aux écrans du Gestionnaire de formulaires dans Administration/Établissement/Formulaires/Gestionnaire de formulaires.

Bien que le personnel de QuestionPoint peut encore gérer vos formulaires de Chat, nous vous encourageons à vous exercer à créer des formulaires.

2. Modifications

2.1 Rapports : temps de réponse, durée des sessions

Dans la section des données relatives au Chat des Statistiques sur les activités (Mon QuestionPoint/Rapports/Établissement ou Groupe), les données sur le temps de réponse moyen, le temps de réponse maximal et la durée moyenne d'une session ont été supprimées. Ces données, initialement pour les services de Chat individuels, sont calculées d’une façon qui n'est pas adéquate dans un environnement coopératif. Puisque la durée des sessions et le temps de réponse sont des données qui peuvent être révisées et calculées via la fonctionnalité Révision des transcriptions du module Service de référence (en ligne et hors ligne), elles ne sont plus nécessaires dans les rapports statistiques sur les activités.

2.2 Suppression du message « Chat non disponible » dans le Qwidget

Les bibliothèques intègrent de plus en plus le widget de QuestionPoint (le Qwidget) dans diverses pages de leur site Web. Toutefois, étant que les demandes sont acheminées uniquement au niveau local (c'est-à-dire à la file d’attente principale de l’établissement), il est rare que quelqu’un puisse répondre aux demandes en permanence. Lorsque le système détectait une demande par Qwidget et que personne ne surveillait le service de référence par Chat, le message « Chat non disponible » était automatiquement présenté à l’utilisateur. (Voir ci-dessous.)

Toutefois, dans cette situation, plusieurs bibliothèques préfèrent diriger leurs utilisateurs vers leur formulaire de Chat puisque ce service est parfois surveillé en tout temps. Elles ajoutaient donc des instructions dans la section message du Qwidget à cet effet. Mais, plusieurs utilisateurs qui voyaient le message « Chat non disponible » ne lisaient pas le reste du message ou étaient perplexes par les instructions contradictoires qui leur disaient que le Chat n’était pas disponible et d’utiliser le formulaire de Chat.

Le message « Chat non disponible » a donc été supprimé. Si ce n’est pas encore fait, les bibliothèques qui utilisent le Qwidget devront inscrire leur propre message pour diriger leurs utilisateurs vers le formulaire de Chat dans Administration/Établissement/Gestionnaire de formulaires/Qwidget (expérimental). Dans « Configuration du Qwidget », inscrivez dans la boîte Message hors ligne le message qui doit être présenté à vos utilisateurs lorsque personne ne surveille le Chat à votre bibliothèque. Pour des exemples de messages, voir la page de conseils pour le Qwidget au http://wiki.questionpoint.org/Qwidget+Tips.

2.3 Suppression de la soumission automatique à la Base de connaissances globale via les groupes virtuels

Les établissements de divers groupes d’abonnement peuvent former leur propre groupe pour l’acheminement de questions et pour la couverture du service durant les heures de fermeture. Certains abonnés de la première heure de QuestionPoint peuvent même former leurs propres groupes pour la couverture du service de Chat. Ces options sont toujours disponibles, mais la soumission automatique des transactions Fermées qui étaient acheminées à la Base de connaissances globale par l’intermédiaire de ces groupes a été supprimée.

La soumission automatique des transactions Fermées acheminée par l’intermédiaire du Réseau global de référence fonctionne toujours.

2.4 Codes descriptifs supplémentaires

Deux nouveaux codes descriptifs on été ajoutés dans la liste déroulante du moniteur de Chat lors de la fermeture d’une session et dans les Questions complètes du Service de référence, en cliquant sur « Ajouter des codes descriptifs ». Ces codes sont Référence bibliographique et Pas d’adresse électronique. Comme toujours, ces codes peuvent être utilisés selon vos pratiques locales. Les membres de la Coopérative 24/7 ne devraient pas assigner de codes descriptifs aux questions qu’ils ont traitées pour d’autres bibliothèques.

3. Corrections

3.1 Rapport sur les activités via le Qwidget

Le nom du rapport sur les activités via le Qwidget est maintenant Nombre de sessions de Chat demandées via le Qwidget.

New QuestionPoint Release coming Sunday

Dear QuestionPoint subscribers: 

We are planning to install an important new release of QuestionPoint this coming Sunday, March 2, in the early morning. 

The system will be brought down at 0800 GMT and is planned to remain down for 60 minutes. As always, the announced duration of downtime is an approximation: the system could be available in less than an hour, or it could extend beyond that. Should we become aware of the need to remain down longer, we will notify this list. 

At the end of this post will be a brief description from the release notes of the new features and changes to existing features. Most of the additions will have little immediate effect on your daily work; they are capabilities that your institution can choose to implement if it wishes. 

Exceptions for some users are the chat patron viewport change from left to right (section 1.1) and the enhancement to queue management (section 1.7). The impact of the feature changes, Section 2 in the attached, is also likely to be minimal to your daily workflow, but you should read about them to be aware of the changes. The attached file will also be posted to the QuestionPoint blog at http://questionpoint.blogs.com. 

We will hold two virtual user group meetings the second week of March, to discuss the new features and answer any questions you have. The first meeting is planned for March 12, 1400 - 1530 GMT. The second will be March 13, 2200 - 2330 GMT (March 14 for our Australian and Asian institutions). To register for one of the meetings, please follow the appropriate link: 

March 12, 10 - 11:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (1400 - 1530 GMT) 

https://www.sporg.com/pom/registration?cmd=event_info&event_id=103177 

March 13, 6 - 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (2200 - 2330 GMT) 

https://www.sporg.com/pom/registration?cmd=event_info&event_id=103179 

We look forward to your reactions to the new features of QuestionPoint. 

Paula Rumbaugh on behalf of the QuestionPoint Team 

1. New Features

1.1 Chat Infrastructure 

The patron chat interface will now more closely resemble what has been available for preview as Chat 2. To meet accessibility requirements, the viewport and chat box/transcript area have switched sides: the viewport for the patron will now appear on the right side of the screen, and the chat box and transcript on the left. Co-browsing will also take place on the right side instead of the left.

In addition, patrons will be able to set preferences, changing font faces and sizes, color combinations, and whether or not they want an audible signal when a new message comes in.

1.2 Forms Manager

The first phase of the QuestionPoint Forms Manager is now available to create email web forms.

Institution Administrators can now have QuestionPoint host all patron email web forms for your library’s QuestionPoint service. Further, the administrator can set up the forms that are e-mailed to the QuestionPoint service exactly as they want them to look. (In the future, they’ll be able to do the same with the chat forms.) Having QuestionPoint staff manage your chat forms for you remains an option until the chat form manager becomes available in future releases. 

Advantages in having QuestionPoint host your forms and managing them yourself are:

· Easy to use and reduces the need for IT staff involvement in your forms. 

· Lets you customize your forms. 

· Provides forms in multiple languages. 

· Supports improved access to data about reference transactions. 

· Provides improved protection against spam.

Complete instructions for form set-up will be available in Administration module Help, as well as at http://questionpoint.org/support/documentation . A walkthrough tutorial will also be provided. Forms management is accessible at Administration/Institution/Forms/Forms Manager. Administrators will be able to control the logo and colors of the form, the elements for which they want to collect information from the patron, the order of the fields (e.g., Zip Code, status), and whether or not they are required fields

1.3 Widget for Point of Need Communication

With this install, the QuestionPoint team introduces the Qwidget, a Meebo-Me-like chat box that libraries can place anywhere on their website, at the patron’s point of need. Like similar widgets (see below), the Qwidget will enable the library to indicate when a librarian is on duty and when not. You’ll also be able to set the widget up to give the patron the option of redirecting a question through e-mail if chat is not “open.” But unlike the familiar, commercially available widgets, the Qwidget will allow multiple concurrent sessions on the librarian side.

For the librarian, the Qwidget is another entry point into the chat queue they already monitor. The only difference apparent to the librarian is the term “[Widget]” displayed at the beginning of the patron name. The librarian will also see in the Info area that this patron’s connection has no co-browsing capability

Mounting of the Qwidget is a decision each library can make. Only the library’s primary queue will see sessions coming in via the Qwidget. Libraries must be using the Flash-based chat to see Qwidget sessions.

What Is a Widget? A widget is a small application that adds utility or other information from external sources, via html code that you add to your webpage.  For additional information, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_widget. A common widget used by several libraries is the MeeboMe widget (Meebo is a web-based IM service).  Widgets are popular among users:  according to Jupiter Research (Oct. 2007), awareness and use of Widgets among online users, which was less than 5% in early 2007, has now increased: 39% of online users are aware of widgets, and 26% have used them

Institution Administrators will find the Qwidget set-up at Administration/Institution/Forms/Forms Manager/ Create Qwidget (Preview). Complete instructions for set-up will be in Administration Help and at http://questionpoint.org/support/documentation .

1.4 Branding for the Patron Interface

Group Administrators will now have the ability to brand QuestionPoint’s patron interface. The Administrator can add the logo of the group (or institution, if only one) and change the colors to more closely resemble other group websites and marketing pieces. Links to other group resources can be added as tabs to the top of the pages.

The following illustrations show the set-up page and the page as it will appear to your users. Complete instructions for set-up will be in Administration Help and at http://questionpoint.org/support/documentation .

1.5 CAPTCHA Spam Filtering

Institution Administrators will have three options to help control spam coming into your QuestionPoint service:

1. Have QuestionPoint host the library’s patron intake forms. Although not 100% guarded against spam, the OCLC firewall has proven quite reliable for the 24/7 Cooperative hosted chat forms, and similar results are expected for the newly available hosted webforms.

2. Select the option for QuestionPoint to validate the referrer page before accepting the form information into the system. You may enter more than one URL, to cover all those pages on which you have a form. Since many spam bots are using a cached or a local version of your web form, their submitted forms will not match the referring URL(s) you list. Any form data coming from any site other than those you indicated will be ignored.

3. Use the Captcha tool to force the user to enter the characters they see in the randomly generated graphic. This kind of recognition still requires the human eye, so bots cannot pass the test.

Administrators will find the second two options at Administration/Institution/Forms/Spam Filter. The first option is automatic when you choose to “publish” a form through forms set-up at Administration/Institution/Forms/Forms Manager.

1.6 Offline Reports for Service History

Institution, Group, and Ask Administrators can now produce reports for the institution’s older transcripts and transactions in Service History.

1.7 Queue Management

The first phase of “queue management” to be implemented will make it easier for librarians to claim their own patrons from the chat queue before they are picked up by librarians in the next level queue, e.g., by a Cooperative librarian.

Session requests will first appear only in the home library’s primary queue for 40 seconds. If the patron has not been picked up in that time, the session will roll to the next level queue (e.g., the Cooperative queue), where any monitoring librarian can claim the session. For the Cooperative, as always, only after two minutes of waiting will the patron be picked up by a Back-up librarian.

Important note: There will no longer be an asterisk to let librarians know the home library of a waiting patron is monitoring. Once a session appears in a librarian’s monitor, that session may be picked up by that librarian. No further waiting is necessary.

2. Feature Changes

2.1 Reports Simplification

As QuestionPoint developed and grew, different reporting needs were identified and added to the existing interface. These additions and enhancements eventually resulted in three locations within QuestionPoint from which to retrieve statistics on your usage. Adding to the complexity was the fact that access to reports is based on permissions level. So not only were users sometimes not sure where to go to get which statistics, some librarians could see institution statistics and some could not.

The March 2008 release brings all QuestionPoint statistics together into one module, accessible from the My QuestionPoint page.

Behind the Reports tab, all users will see report links, based on the permissions level of their login number.

All librarians, regardless of permissions level, will be able to see statistics of their own usage and statistics for their institution-wide usage. The next illustration shows that users with institution administrator authorization will see more reports, including those for each librarian of the institution. They will also see a link for suggesting new reports.

Librarians without the administrator permissions will not see those links. But everyone will have access to the system-wide statistics and QP Usage.

Institution and Group Administrators will find that all reports previously available in the Administration module, now appear here, under the Reports tab on My QuestionPoint. All Administrators: Four reports previously available in the Ask module were also moved to the new location.

Old Location	New Location in My QuestionPoint Reports
Administration Module
History Tab	Activity Statistics
Current Tab	Counts of Current Data
Ask Module
Reports Tab
General	No change*
Sessions	Counts of Current Data
Sessions by Authorization	Counts of Current Data
Descriptive Codes	Counts of Current Data
Resolution Codes	Counts of Current Data
Form Fields	No change
Offline Reports	No change

*The location has not changed, but the tab that previously read Reports now reads

Review Transcripts.

2.2 Review Transcripts (previously, Ask/Reports)

Administrators: In the illustration below, you see that Review Transcripts has replaced the old Reports tab. In addition, note that several of the reports that just gave statistics no longer appear as links in this area. Instead, only those features that truly allow you to review transcripts, rather than numbers, appear here.

A second change is for the table on the General Reviews page. A new column, called Chat Librarian, appears. Together with the Librarian column, administrators can see who picked up a chat session originally, as well as who the most recent librarian to have handled the session or transaction is.

 

2.3 OCLC Logo Change

If your institution or group has not substituted your own logo on the QuestionPoint interface, you will note the new logo in the upper right of every page. This represents OCLC’s new, global look!

2.4 Additional Descriptive Codes

Additional Descriptive Codes have been added to more accurately describe transactions. The new codes are:

• e-learning
• Email
• Excel
• Network
• Passwords
• Powerpoint
• Printing
• Settings
• Software
• Word

3. Fixes

3.1 Chat Librarian in Session Reports and Transcript Review (previously, Ask/Reports)

Administrators: Prior to this install, only the most recent librarian to have touched a transcript/transaction was reported in the reports available in Ask (now renamed My QuestionPoint/Reports and Ask/Review Transcripts). This sometimes caused unexpected results when looking at the Sessions reports, especially in reporting how many patrons from other libraries your librarians helped.

After the March install, QuestionPoint will be able to report chat librarians. Thus, the counts and linked transcripts you see for Sessions and Sessions by Authorization should deliver the expected results for transcripts created from the time of the install forward.

3.2 No Status Limit in Transcript Review (previously, Ask/Reports)

Institution and Ask Administrators: Since April 2007 the General report default search had a limit set, Status = All (Not deleted). The Status field has been set to All, or no limit. This should fix the problem in which administrators were unable to see certain transcripts their librarians participated in unless they changed the Status limit.

3.3 Librarian chat not appearing. Back end changes to the system were made to improve method by which librarian chat is recorded and stored. This should resolve the intermittent (and rarely seen) phenomenon of librarian chat not appearing in chat history or transcripts.

Maintenance install Sunday

A scheduled QuestionPoint maintenance installation is planned for this Sunday, September 23.  The system will be brought down at 0700 GMT and will remain down for approximately 15 minutes.  Please make sure to end any in-progress chat sessions prior to 0700 GMT to avoid sudden communication interruptions to your patrons. When service is restored, please check your “New” questions lists for any interrupted chat sessions or unanswered email questions. 

The information below describes the user-apparent changes you will see after the system is brought back up.  We will post the expected down time in the Announcements area of the My QuestionPoint home page.  Please check there for any last-minute changes.  Please let us know if you have any questions.

1. Features

1.1. Exclude transcripts of sessions with others’ patrons from your question lists.

Institutions that participate in the QuestionPoint 24/7 Reference Cooperative are required to review transcripts of chat sessions with their patrons, to ensure that quality is being maintained within the cooperative. Many institutions choose to do this review using the Active Questions list in the Ask module, where they can close or forward transcripts as they review them. Since that list also contains transcripts of sessions the reviewing library had with other libraries’ patrons, the review process can be cumbersome as the reviewer picks her/his way through many transcripts s/he does not need to review.

With the new feature, institution administrators can select a setting in the Administration module that will exclude transcripts with other libraries’ patrons from their Active Questions list. If this option is selected, only those transcripts with the library’s own patrons will display. The setting is at Administration/Institution/Settings/Chat Transcripts.

The Exclude feature is available to any library that uses Flash-based chat and picks up chat sessions for other libraries’ patrons. In order for the exclusion to work reliably, however, chat librarians must select a resolution code at the end of the chat session; accepting the default resolution code will not work.

The default Exclude/Include setting includes transcripts with others’ patrons, as is the case today. If the administrator elects to exclude these transcripts, the change affects only transcripts from that point forward. The change is not retroactive.

In the illustration below, the two transcripts circled in red would not appear in the Active Questions list if the Exclude setting had been selected.

1.2. Cooperative Resources available from the My QuestionPoint home page.

For 24/7 Reference Cooperative participants, the 24/7 Info components have been added to the My QuestionPoint home page, Cooperative Resources (top red bar and in the right-margin quick links, 5^th section).

Cooperative Resources includes a link to FirstSearch and to Credo Reference (formerly Xrefer). Participants can also see: 

· A list of all institutions in the Cooperative

· A Ready Reference wiki, which was compiled by the QuestionPoint back-up librarians and provides quick, authoritative starting points that librarians can use during live chat sessions. 

· A list of subject experts to whom participants can forward questions

· A list of administrators of the groups that make up the Cooperative

1.3. Notes in transcripts appear in a different color.

Anyone using the Flash-based chat monitor will appreciate seeing notes appear in a different color (reddish brown) from the discussion text. This enables you to see instantly what does and does not appear in the patron’s monitor and e-mailed transcript: anything in reddish brown will not appear for the patron; however, it will appear for librarians in the question history in the Ask module.

1.4. Patron Support Form available in patron interface.

Now patrons can get help directly from the OCLC support desk (Customer Services Department) with a minimum delay. The new form is specifically for patrons to ask help and cautions them to not ask reference questions on this form.

2. Fixes

2.1. Upper/lower-case alphabetization in policy page searches

Policy Page searches now display results in alphabetical order regardless of upper- or lower-case letters. This search option is accessible from My QuestionPoint home page or via the Profile module, Search Profiles tab.

RELEASE NOTES FOR JULY 29, 2007

1.    New Chat Features

1.1.    NEW PATRON line shows time elapsed.
When a New patron appears in your chat monitor, you can see how long the patron has been waiting.  The Time column counts up in 10-second increments.  In the 24/7 Cooperative this helps librarians see immediately if they should wait for the home library, if monitoring, to pick up (a sixty-second wait is recommended) or pick up the patron themselves.

1.2.    PRACTICE CHAT FORM opens for any monitoring library within the same BME.
Before this release, only the library that opened the Chat Patron Practice Form could see the patron in their Practice Queue.  With this release, multiple libraries within the same BME can practice with one another using the practice form.  Remember that you must select the Practice Queue to see "patrons" using the Chat Patron Practice Form.

1.3.    PATRON’S CHAT FORM CAPABILITIES display enhanced.
Librarians can see additional information about the patron’s chat form capabilities with this release.  The patron information area for patrons using the new Chat Preview 2 displays "Chat: Text, Links" to indicate that this patron’s form can accept text and links only.  This is the first in a series of enhancements planned for patron form control.

2.    User Apparent Fixes

2.1.    SESSION/WAIT TIMES now sortable in Excel
Session times and wait times are now stored correctly so they are sortable when imported to an Excel spreadsheet without the need to convert the integer type.

2.2.    SAVED OFFLINE REPORT holds institution selection
Group administrators wishing to run offline reports on a single institution can now save that report intact.  Heretofore, all parameters of the report were saved except the institution name.  That bug is fixed with this release.

2.3.    PATRON'S ACCOUNT INTERFACE locks in-progress chat session.
In some cases, when a patron navigated away and returned to the chat monitor after being timed out (two minutes), they would use the patron account link to log into their account and continue the chat dialogue.  This could occur only if the librarian had not yet closed the chat session from the librarian monitor.  When it did occur, multiple notification messages were sent, often resulting in confusion.

Now, a session that has not yet been closed by the librarian, whether ended or not, is locked in the patron’s account the same way it is locked in the library’s Ask module.  The patron is unable to act on that session in any way until it is closed.

NEW FEATURES AND FIXES COMING JUNE 3, 2007

 1. Major New Features

1.1 Administrators: More flexible reporting

Offline Reports on current 90-day transactions. A new option to request that a report be run offline offers more flexibility than is available online. With the new option, you’ll build the report you need, give it a title that makes sense to you, and notify whomever you wish that it is ready for download. The pages to define the report are similar to the Ask/Reports, but have additional features that can save, schedule, and hold reports for pick up.

Ask/Reports/Offline offers the following additional flexibility:

• Group administrators can get reports on all institutions together. S/he no longer needs to pull up one institution at a time to see patron-supplied data
•  Request any report for a period of up to 90 days at a time.
•  Request reports by Descriptive Code.
•  Include Question field with patron data
•  Request that report be sorted by any of numerous sorting options
•  Save and run again at another time
•  Save up to 25 reports, with up to 5 active (scheduled or completed) at any one time.

 

 

Users select limiting criteria and then the fields and report format they want. This is a two-step, two-page process.  You must select Schedule and/or Save before it is possible to move on to the second, Field Selection page.

Reports are run during the night (Eastern Time, GMT -4) on the replication server to ensure no impact on system performance. If you provided an e-mail address, you are notified that your report is ready for you to download. To download, go to the Ask/Reports/Offline module, click on the Completed tab, and then on the Download link. From there, follow the standard instructions to save on your hard drive.

 

1.2 Administrators: Forms Manager

This release introduces the new Forms area in the Administration module, under the Institution tab. The Forms area is the first step toward a new Forms Management facility for QuestionPoint administrators. It consolidates various settings related to configuring your virtual reference presence 

 

Now available in the Forms area are:

• Open WorldCat settings
• Question Form Location (for template based or locally hosted web forms)
• Viewport Location
• Practice Chat configuration (formerly Chat Form tab, see below for more)
• Chat 2 (Preview)

Future releases will incorporate new capabilities, including form customization and branding. Watch the QuestionPoint blog for information.

1.2.1 Chat 2 (Preview): Next generation patron interface

This release also introduces the Preview of the next generation patron interface with a working name of “Chat 2”. This Preview version is available for use with your production chat queues and includes 

• A faster, lighter weight patron experience
• A single URL for easy placement and marketing
• An interface optimized to work universally for all patrons, including those with accessibility needs and those using screen readers
• Patron preferences, including colors scheme, font, and chime for new messages

In the coming months additional features will be incorporated into this next generation patron interface, including branding, form customization, page pushing and co-browse. Please watch the QuestionPoint blog for updates and to share your thoughts.    

A view of the new form is available in Administration/Institution/Forms/Chat_2_(Preview). Administrators can use the URL provided there, which includes the institution’s ID, to try out the form and have others try it, or to use it as a link on the library’s web site. The form is a “production” form (i.e., it is not a practice form), so Flash-based chat users must select your Primary Queue to work with it. The form is currently also useable with the html-based chat monitor interface.

It is important to note that the librarian’s experience will be no different when chatting with a patron who is using this form. Both the standard form and this new form deliver the same experience for the librarian. And the library can link to both forms if they wish, from their portal page.

 

 

The following images illustrate what the patron sees or experiences. The last image shows the preferences the user may set once he has submitted his question. A chime alerts the user to a librarian response, so they do not need to be continually concentrating on the chat page. They can choose from 4 fonts and font sizes. They can also select different colors for the font and background, to facilitate viewing for those for whom black on white is not ideal.    

 

 

 

1.2.2. Chat Form tab is renamed to Practice Chat

Administrators will see the newly renamed Practice Chat tab when they enter the Administration/Institution/Forms area.    

Use this form to build a practice chat form. From the My QuestionPoint home page you can test what you configure here to see how the form will appear to your users, how it will be displayed in the QuestionPoint librarian’s interface, and how the various form elements can be reported on from the reports module.

You can configure a form of up to 10 fields. If you select from the top 13 fields, your reports can be handled in a standard way, and personal identity information will be dropped when the transaction is moved to Service History archive. If you choose to include your own labeled fields, all data will be displayed and retained in the Service History.

 

2. Additional New Features

2.1 Administrators: BME-level Announcements area on home page

On the My QuestionPoint home page, all users will now see three levels of “announcements.”

  The first announcement remains the system-announcement area, where we can alert you to important events or issues.

•  A new group announcement area will follow the systems area, if your group administrator chooses to use it.
•  The institution announcement area will be the third, with no changes from today’s functionality.

Because you may conceivably need to scroll down several times to read all the announcements, new links, showing the date of last posting, are added at the top. You can see immediately from the date whether a new announcement has been added and link immediately to it.

 A quick link to the Administration module text entry page is provided at the bottom of the left navigation panel.

2.2 Ability to send e-mail to patron for notification purposes only

Librarians can now send information to a patron without changing the status of the question in QuestionPoint. This will be useful to let a patron know you are working on their question or that you have referred it to another library. This is done using the new Send Message button on the Answer Question page.

Note: Any patron attempt to reply to these messages will be received at the library's FROM address (the address set as the Outgoing Address in the Administration module), but the reply will not appear in the question history. This insures the status of the question will not change. You may wish to set up a script, if you intend to use this kind of notification, that cautions the patron to not reply to this message.

 

2.3 Administrators: Ability to send e-mail to all librarians within a BME

In Administration/Subscription Group/Reports/Current, administrators may select “List of Librarian Accounts” to see a list of all current librarians in the group, each with his or her e-mail address. This “report” can be exported, saved to an Excel file, and the e-mail column then saved as a distribution list in the administrator’s e-mail client.

2.4 Patrons who provide screen name but no e-mail

The term “anonymous” will no longer appear when the patron gives no e-mail address. Instead, “no email provided” is the indication.

  

2.5 Institution name and question date in public Knowledge Base records 

Heretofore, knowledge base records, when searched by librarians who are not editors or by the public, did not show the institution(s) involved in the question and no dates. With this release, those shortcomings have been remedied.

2.6 Help on patron Logon page in other languages 

The patron’s logon page will now link to Help in Dutch, Spanish, and French, if those languages are selected as the interface language.

2.7 Administrators Link to custom survey 

Administrators can choose to display links to their own independent survey if they wish. This allows institutions to use surveys that were specially developed for them and that may be more general in nature than a response to a single question. Please note that answers to these surveys are not brought into QuestionPoint or in any way included in QuestionPoint survey reports.

2.8 All timestamps include seconds

All displays of timestamps now include seconds, e.g., 11:45:57. This change extends to reports, question lists, and displays of full questions/transcripts.    

  2.9 Retired News

The News feature within the QuestionPoint application has been discontinued. You will no longer see the News tab at the top of the My QuestionPoint home page. To keep up to date with QuestionPoint events, conferences, changes, and best practices, go to the blog at http://questionpoint.blogs.com.

2.10 New Descriptive Codes available

The following 5 new descriptive codes have been added:

 

1. Interlibrary Loan (ILL)

2. Electronic Resources 

3. Referred to home library

4. Non-affiliated

5. Item Request


3. User Apparent Fixes

3.1 Administrators: Edit an SUP policy pages

A BME administrator can once again edit the policy pages of any of the group members.

3.2  Export of reports

Librarians can once again export reports that are accessed via My QuestionPoint/Reports.

 3.3  IP address removed from records with status Deleted

The IP address had inadvertently been overlooked in the last release when, for statistical purposes, we saved a “shell” of records that have been deleted. The IP address has now been removed, to insure privacy.

 3.4 Search Policy Pages link on home page for all Cooperative members

Librarians with permissions to view and/or edit their library’s profile will now see a “Search Policy Pages” link on the My QuestionPoint home page, lower left column.