QuestionPoint: 24/7 reference services

Release Notes for February 24, 2013 install

February 24, 2012 Release Notes 

1        Improvements

1.1       Notification emails to librarians

Three important automatic email notifications sent to librarians have been updated to include additional account information.

New librarian account email notification, “Question assigned” email notification, and “Question reassigned” email notification now all include the librarian name, and account number of the addressee, and Library name with which the account is affiliated, in order to help librarians with multiple accounts at different institutions or SUPs clearly understand where and how to log in to handle the issue being raised by the email.

1.2       New explanatory text added to QuestionPoint Qwidget code snippet

It has come to our attention that when Qwidget code is copied and pasted into various communication tools (Word, Outlook, etc.)  to forward to webmasters for inclusion on client websites, or directly into certain Content Management interfaces, certain characters necessary to the functionality of the code such as quotation marks, can become corrupted or converted into “Smart quotes”.  To remind those who are working with the content management or interface tools to check the quotation marks and return them to “plain text” quotation marks, the following explanation has been added to the code snippet:

<!-- NOTE - After pasting the code to your page, check it to ensure it does not contain any text formatting such as smart or curly quotation marks.-->

Please note that it is NOT necessary for existing Qwidget code on any of your websites to be changed, updated, or altered to include this explanation. It is purely informational; to help the web designers insert new code correctly for new Qwidgets.

2        Fixes

2.1       “Custom Message” settings in the Admin module are now applied to “email pilot” clients .

If your library is configured to allow the use of an email address for patrons to submit new questions into QuestionPoint, confirmations, responses and notification emails outgoing from QuestionPoint to those newly submitted questions will now apply the custom messages configured in the Admin module.

2.2       Translation

A number of QuestionPoint email notifications and various terms in QuestionPoint have received updated entities, to facilitate or clarify terminology or grammar used in other languages.

3        24/7 Reference Cooperative

3.1       Quality comments are now private.

When sessions are referred to Quality, the notes or comments included in the referral are now private and only visible to the Quality team, the librarian who submitted the referral, and the admins of the patron’s library.    All concerned parties can see that the referral has occurred by virtue of the yellow “referred” bar in the question detail in “Review transcripts”, but comments remain private.

4        Website Update

On March 2^nd, as part of an overall OCLC upgrade, QuestionPoint’s Support, Documentation and Training website will be migrating to a new domain and structure.

4.1       www.questionpoint.org

www.questionpoint.org will continue to function as an information landing page for current users. All of the subject informational pages, such as Documentation, Support, Training, etc. will have new URLS under oclc.org/support directories.  Bookmarked pages will be redirected to these new pages, and you will be able to access them via www.questionpoint.org  as well. 

No links to KB, patron forms, Qwidget code links, Librarian and patron logins, or any other pages that access the QuestionPoint application will be affected by this transition!  All URLs to the QuestionPoint application itself will remain as is.

We expect to have a seamless experience for our users after the migration, but if you experience any difficulty accessing previously bookmarked material, or if you are uncertain as to where to go for QuestionPoint information, please contact us via our feedback form: https://www.oclc.org/forms/questionpoint/feedback.en.html

Maintenance Install November 1, 2012 6:OO GMT (2:00 A.M. EDST)

The QuestionPoint service will be unavailable for the following time period for scheduled maintenance and service: 6:00 GMT (2:00 A.M. EDST) to approximately 6:15 GMT  (2:15 EDST) Thursday November 1, 2012.  It is imperative that you end any in-progress chat sessions at least two 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 period, please contact your Customer Service Provider for further assistance.

We regret any inconvenience.

QuestionPoint Service Install, October 14, 2012, 2:00 A.M. ET (06:00 GM)

We will be installing a QuestionPoint features upgrade this Sunday, October 14, 2012.

Release Notes can be viewed here on the Blog.  Please be advised that the QuestionPoint service will be unavailable for the following time period: from 6:00 UTC (2:00 a.m. EST) to approximately 7:00 UTC (3:00 a.m. EST). 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.)

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

 

Notes d'Installation prévue pour 14 octobre, 2012

Nouvelles fonctionnalités et améliorations

1        Qwidget

1.1       Avis aux bibliothécaires du Chat concernant l’adresse électronique des utilisateurs.

Deux nouveaux avis ont été ajoutés à l’interface de dialogue en ligne (Chat) du bibliothécaire pour l’avertir que l’utilisateur en ligne a fourni une adresse électronique.   

Le premier avis « L’utilisateur a ajouté une adresse électronique » apparaîtra dans le moniteur de Chat dans le cadre d’une session en cours avec un utilisateur du Qwidget qui a ajouté son adresse électronique après le début de la session. Ce message informera le bibliothécaire qu’il n’a pas à demander à l’utilisateur son adresse électronique pour assurer le suivi de sa question s’il y a lieu.

Exemple :

Le deuxième avis  « L’utilisateur a choisi de rester anonyme (aucune adresse électronique pour suivi)» servira à confirmer que, même si l’utilisateur a fourni une adresse électronique afin de recevoir une transcription de sa session, il a également choisi de ne PAS révéler cette adresse à QuestionPoint.

        

Par conséquent, la bibliothèque n’aura pas l’adresse électronique dans le dossier à des fins de suivi.  Ce message informe le bibliothécaire qu’il ne pourra pas assurer le suivi de la question si la case « anonyme » reste cochée. La case « anonyme » peut toutefois être cochée ou décochée au cours de session. Le bibliothécaire peut donc suggérer à l’utilisateur de modifier cette option s’il y a lieu durant la session. L’adresse électronique de l’utilisateur restera invisible au bibliothécaire dans le moniteur de Chat, mais sera disponible dans l’historique de la session.

1.2      Confirmation personnalisable de courriel envoyé à partir du Qwidget « fermé ».

Après l’envoi de leur question, les utilisateurs qui envoient un message par courriel à partir du Qwidget « fermé » (service non disponible) verront le message de confirmation par défaut suivant pendant environ 10 secondes : Merci. Votre question a été soumise.   Ce message peut être personnalisé dans le module  Administration de QuestionPoint.

 

1.3    Plusieurs Qwidgets permis sur une même page Web.

La version 3 du populaire « Qwidget » pour le Chat est maintenant disponible. En mettant à niveau la version 2 du Qwidget ou en téléchargeant la version 3, vous pourrez maintenant héberger jusqu’à 5 Qwidgets sur une page Web. Voici quelques exemples où cette possibilité est avantageuse :    

•  les bibliothèques qui ont plusieurs Profils de services (SUP) peuvent avoir plusieurs Qwidgets différents sur la même page Web;
• les Qwidgets « bannières » peuvent être affichés sur toutes les pages de votre site, si désiré, sans affecter l’affichage de vos autres « Widgets »;
• des Qwidgets en diverses langues peuvent être affichés dans une même page Web.

 Plusieurs Qwidgets  sur une même page Web

2        Plus de participants au projet pilot.

Nous avons terminé avec succès la première phase du récent projet pilote « QuestionPoint via email service » (QuestionPoint par courriel), et sommes heureux d’annoncer que plus de bibliothèques seront invitées à offrir cette fonctionnalité. Si vous êtes intéressé à ce que votre bibliothèque permette aux utilisateurs de soumettre des questions en utilisant une simple adresse électronique, en plus de votre formulaire de question Web, veuillez contacter Carol Bonnefil ([email protected]) pour plus de détails.

 

3        Recherches/Rapports/Révisions

3.1       Modification du libellé sous Réviser les transcriptions/ Zones du formulaire.

Dans le module Référence, sous Réviser les transactions / Données des formulaires Web d’utilisateur,  dans la liste déroulante « Par type de transaction », l’option « Formulaire de question » a été changée pour « Formulaire/Courriel » afin de mieux décrire tous les types de questions inclus dans le rapport. En choisissant « Formulaire/Courriel », la liste contiendra toutes les questions soumises via le « formulaire de courriel » de QuestionPoint  de même que celles soumises via l’adresse électronique QuestionPoint pour votre bibliothèque (nouveau service en phase pilote.  Voir la section 1.2)

3.2        Modification du libellé sous Questions/recherche avancée.

Dans le module Référence, sous l’onglet Questions, cliquez sur le lien Recherche avancée. Dans l’écran Recherche avancée, dans la liste déroulante « Type de transaction », l’option « Formulaire de question uniquement » a été changée pour « Courriel/Formulaire/Sur place (Ajouter question) » afin de refléter cette limite de recherche.

4        Explications sur le formatage dans l’écran Modification des politiques.

 

Dans l’écran Modification des politiques (disponible pour les administrateurs de QuestionPoint et administrateurs de référence dans le module Profil), des explications ont été ajoutées pour créer des hyperliens vers des URL à l’intérieur des zones : 

 « Ajouter des parenthèses en chevron (< et >) à toute URL pour la convertir en hyperlien sauf indication contraire pour certaines zones. »

Ces explications sont un rappel que les étiquettes HTML compliquées ne sont pas nécessaires pour convertir des URL en hyperliens. Sauf indications contraires, l’ajout d’un chevron au début et à la fin d’une URL, c’est-à-dire < >, convertira l’URL en hyperlien dans la Page de politiques de la bibliothèque.

5        Exportation des transcriptions.

Une nouvelle fonctionnalité personnalisable est disponible pour les bibliothèques qui veulent exporter de façon continue leurs transcriptions vers leurs propres systèmes hébergés. En utilisant S-FTP, les transcriptions peuvent être exportées vers un environnement externe. Tous les incidents causant la modification du contenu ou du statut d’une transcription engendreront l’exportation de la transcription, permettant la duplication presque synchrone des informations des transactions sur votre système hébergé et permettant l’exploration des données, les rapports statistiques personnalisés et d’autres opérations liées à vos transactions dans QuestionPoint. Pour plus d’informations sur ce service personnalisé, veuillez contacter Carol Bonnefil ([email protected]) 

Corrections

1        Corrections apportées au Qwidget.

1.1       L’affichage des URL dans l’historique du Chat dans le Qwidget n’était pas consistant.

Auparavant, les URL très longues n’étaient pas toujours bouclées (affichées sur la ligne suivante) ce qui causait un mauvais affichage des Qwidgets sur la page Web.

         Les URL apparaissent maintenant à l’intérieur du cadre, peu importe leur longueur.    

                                                                                           

1.2       L’adresse électronique de l’utilisateur est effacée après l’envoi de la question à partir du Qwidget « fermé ».

Après qu’un utilisateur a inscrit son adresse électronique et sa question, et utilise le bouton « Soumettre », son adresse est maintenant immédiatement effacée de l’écran (il n’est plus nécessaire de rafraîchir l’écran) afin de mieux protéger les renseignements sur l’utilisateur dans un environnement public.

2         Le rapport iSoft « Service de Chat- Rapport quotidien » pour le 8 juillet 2012 a été récupéré.

Des bibliothèques ont rapporté que les statistiques quotidiennes sur les sessions de Chat du 8 juillet 2012 n’étaient pas affichées correctement dans le module Rapports.  Ce problème a été corrigé et toutes les statistiques pour le 8 juillet 2012 ont été mises à jour. Les totaux mensuels pour juillet 2012 ne peuvent pas être rétroactivement corrigés pour inclure les statistiques du 8 juillet. Pour obtenir le bon total pour un rapport mensuel, trimestriel ou annuel pour 2012, le total pour le rapport quotidien du 8 juillet 2012 devra être ajouté manuellement au rapport mensuel, trimestriel ou annuel. Une note a été ajoutée dans l’écran Rapports en guise de rappel.

3        Les données des formulaires Web d’utilisateur correspondent maintenant aux rapports hors ligne.

Les colonnes de données dans les rapports Excel sur les Données des formulaires Web d’utilisateur correspondent maintenant aux données des rapports hors-ligne dans le module Référence, sous l’onglet Réviser les transcriptions.

4        Listes de questions dans le compte des abonnés.

Les sessions dans le compte des abonnés sont maintenant triées en ordre chronologique par défaut.

Release Notes for October 14, 2012 install

New Features/Improvements

1.     Qwidget

    1.1       Notifications to chatting librarian regarding patron email addresses.

Two new incident notifications have been added to the Librarian chat interface to help alert chatting librarians to the fact that Patrons have entered an email address.   

The first notification:  “Patron has added an email address” will appear in the librarian’s chat monitor as part of an in-progress chat session with a Qwidget patron who has added their email address after the session has begun. This will alert the chatting librarian that he or she doesn’t have to request an email address from a patron in order to allow the possibility of the patron’s library follow-up with that patron.

Ex 1:

The second notification: “Patron has chosen to remain anonymous (no email address available for follow-up)” will serve as confirmation that although the patron may have entered an email address in order to receive a transcript at the conclusion of a Qwidget session, they have also chosen NOT to reveal that email address to QuestionPoint.

Ex 2:

 This means that the library will not have an email address as part of the record, to use for any follow-up purposes.  The incident is displayed to the chatting librarian so that he or she will be aware that follow-up will not be possible if that anonymous check box stays checked. The “anonymous” check box can be changed while the session is in progress however, so the incident may also serve as a point of conversation between the librarian and patron, to help the patron decide whether he or she wants to change the option and include the email address without anonymity in order to allow follow-up if necessary.

The email address is still not visible to the chatting librarian in the patron information area of the chat monitor, but the new notifications in the chat history will serve as an alert that the email address is at least in play for the session follow-up capability.

1.2    Customizable confirmation of email sent from “closed” Qwidget

Patrons who send an email message from the Closed Qwidget screen will now see a confirmation message for approximately 10 seconds after their question has been submitted:

The default message is: “Thank you. Your question has been submitted”.  This message can be customized from within theQuestionPoint Admin module.

1.3    Multiple Qwidgets allowed on the same webpage.

Version 3 of our popular “Qwidget” chat widget is now available. By upgrading your Version 2 Qwidget or downloading the newly-revised Version 3 Qwidget code, you can now host up to 5 Qwidgets on one webpage.  Some examples of why this was a highly desired feature:    

• libraries with multiple SUPs can have several different Subject Qwidgets co-exist on the same webpage;
• “Banner” Qwidgets can  display across all of the pages on your site if desired and not impact your embedded  LibGuides Qwidgets;
• Multiple language Qwidgets can simultaneously display on one page, if you have bi-lingual WebPages.

    

 

2      Email pilot expanded

We have successfully concluded the first phase of the recent “QuestionPoint via email service” pilot, and are happy to announce that more libraries will be invited to participate in offering this feature. If your library is interested allowing patrons to submit reference questions to your library using a simple email address in addition to your web-based “email form”, please contact Carol Bonnefil ([email protected]) for more details.

3      Searches/Reports/Reviews

3.1      Label change on Review Transcripts: Form Field Reports

On the Form Field Reports selection page, the item of “Question Form link”  in the drop-down box of types of reports available has been changed to “Webform/Email” to better describe all of the types of questions included in that report.  Choosing “Webform/Email” will produce a list of all of the questions submitted using the QuestionPoint “email form” as well as questions submitted to your library’s QuestionPoint email address (a new service currently in Pilot phase.  See section 1.2 )

 

3.2      Label change on Search Transcripts, Transaction Type Limiter:

On the Advanced Search screen of Search Transcripts in the Ask Module, the Transaction Type limiter “Email Transaction Only” has been changed to reflect the actual search function limiter of “Email/Webform/Walk-up (Add Question) only”.

4    Policy Page formatting explanation added

 On the Policy Page edit field (available to Admins and Ask Admins in the Profile Module), and explanation of how to create hot-links to URLs within the fields has been added: 

“Add angle brackets to any URL to convert to a hyperlink, except where noted in specific field instructions.”

This will remind librarians that html complicated html tags are not necessary to convert URLs to hotlinks. Except for where noted in a particular field, the addition of left and right angle brackets at the beginning and end of a URL, respectively, < >,  will convert it to a hotlink on the actual Policy Page display.

5      Transcript exports

A new custom feature is available for libraries that wish to continuously export their transcripts into their own hosted environments. Using S-FTP, transcripts can be exported to a remote self-hosted environment. All incidents that cause a change in transcript content or status will trigger an export of the transcript, permitting nearly-synchronous duplicate transaction information on your locally hosted machine and allowing for data mining, reports capabilities customized to your own liking, and further activity upon all of your QuestionPoint transactions. For more information on this custom service, please contact Carol Bonnefil ([email protected]) 

Fixes

1        Qwidget fixes.

1.1       Display of URLS in chat history in Qwidget was inconsistent.

Prior to this install, lengthy URLs could fail to “wrap” in the frame, thereby causing Qwidgets to display improperly on the webpage.

         URLs are now contained in the frame, regardless of length.

                                                      

1.2       Patron’s email address is removed from view after email question is   submitted from Closed Qwidget.

After a patron enters their email address and question, and uses the “Submit” button, the patron’s email address is now immediately removed from the screen, rather than upon page refresh, in order to better protect the patron’s privacy in a public venue.

2         ISoft Daily Chat Stats report for July 8, 2012 have been recovered.

It was reported that the daily stats for chat sessions which occurred on 7/8/12 were not correctly displaying in the Reports module.  This has been corrected and all statistics for 7/8/12 have been updated.  Monthly totals for July 2012 cannot be retroactively corrected to include the statistics for July 8^th activity.  To achieve a correct total for a Monthly, Quarterly or Annual report  for 2012, the total from the Daily report for 7/8/2012 will have be manually added to the respective Mnth/Qtr/Yr end report.  A note has been added to the Reports page to remind users of this.

3        Online Patron Form Field Reports now match Offline Reports.

Data columns in Online Patron Form Field Excel reports now match same data in the offline reports in Ask Module>Review Transcripts.

4        Patron Account Question Lists

Patron’s sessions in their QuestionPoint Patron account are now default sorted in chronological order.

QuestionPoint maintenance scheduled July 22, 2012 2:00 AM ET (6:00 GMT)

QuestionPoint service will be unavailable Sunday July 22, 2012 from 6:00 UTC (2:00 a.m. EDT) to 7:30 UTC (3:30 a.m. EDT), for OCLC- scheduled maintenance and service.  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.)

If you experience any outage after the projected service period, please contact your Customer Service Provider for further assistance.
 
We regret any inconvenience.
 
Regards
The QuestionPoint Team

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 [email protected]

ALA 2012: QuestionPoint user group meeting

If you are headed to Anaheim for ALA Annual, please join us for the QuestionPoint user group meeting. This is a great opportunity to hear the latest news, as well as meet your virtual reference colleagues, share tips, and provide feedback to the QP Team.

The user group meeting will be held:

Sunday June 24

9:00am to 10:00am

Hyatt Regency Orange County, Royal Ballroom B

Please register here:

https://www.oclc.org/forms/ala-annual.en.html

And, feel free to visit OCLC in the exhibit hall - Booth 2100. I'll be there Saturday afternoon, but please email me ([email protected]) if you'd like to set up a separate appointment to meet.

Updated Qwidget Directions for Facebook

Dear QuestionPoint community,

As you might have noticed, Facebook has changed how Apps and Tabs are displayed on Pages. As a result of these changes, we have updated the basic and advanced directions for adding the Qwidget to Facebook.

The most significant changes are with the new App Icon and how you install your App to Facebook once it is complete.

The directions can be found at:

Basic: http://www5.oclc.org/questionpoint/fb/QPBasicQwidgetFacebookv3.docx

Advanced: http://www5.oclc.org/questionpoint/fb/QPAdvancedQwidgetFacebookv3.docx 

Please know that while we do our best to update the directions for adding the Qwidget to Facebook, it is critical for all Facebook developers to track the Facebook Developer Roadmap located at http://developers.facebook.com/roadmap/ and the Developer blog @ http://developers.facebook.com/blog/archive

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email me directly.

David Leslie

Product Implementation and Support Analyst

 

 

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.