Qwidget Webinar

Qwidget, the QuestionPoint chat widget, was the topic of our latest webinar, held October 1, 2008 with over 150 attendees.  The webinar featured an informative discussion with librarians who have taken the plunge and put Qwidget up on their library Web sites. Our speakers discussed various aspects of deploying the Qwidget, including where the Qwidget is placed on the Web site (library catalog, library guides, etc), promotion and response from users (including usage statistics). Below are links to each speaker’s presentations, in order of appearance, and the recording:

Intro: Susan McGlamery, QP product manager: http://www5.oclc.org/downloads/presentations/qwidgetwebinar_susan.ppt

Kim LaPlante is the Manager of Library Services at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay, Wisconsin. She also serves as a Board member of her local Public Library and is the president of a regional intertype library consortium. Link to Kim’s presentation: http://www5.oclc.org/downloads/presentations/nwtcqwidget_kim.ppt

Virginia Cole is a reference and digital services librarian at Cornell University's humanities and social sciences library. Her interests are virtual reference and online communication. Link to Virginia’s presentation: http://www5.oclc.org/downloads/presentations/cornellqwidget_virginia.ppt

Toby Thomas is the Virtual Services Librarian at the Seattle Public Library. Toby works to improve the online experience of library users and has a focus on virtual reference services. Link to Toby’s presentation: http://www5.oclc.org/downloads/presentations/spl_qwidgetattack_toby.ppt

The recording is available at: http://www5.oclc.org/downloads/questionpoint/QuestionPoint_Qwidget_20081001_1534.wmv

If you have any questions about Qwidget, please post them here or contact Susan McGlamery, [email protected]

Comments

[Paul Otto]

I really appreciated hearing the speakers discuss the most nitty-gritty aspects of how their reference staff integrate this new service.

For larger users such as Seattle Public and Cornell, I wonder how they harness the subject or technical expertise of staff who don't happen to be on duty (or even in the same building!) when an appropriate chat question arises. Is there a quick way to forward to or pull a third-party into the conversation, or do you typically suggest that users call or email the specialist?