QuestionPoint: 24/7 reference services

Monthly Report for April 2011

QuestionPoint Members

       1,970   Active SUPs (service unit profiles)

       1,274   SUPs in the 24/7 Reference Cooperative

           29   Languages can be handled by QuestionPoint libraries 

6,659,921   Transactions have been received by QP libraries since 2002 (as of April 30)

3,045,656   Patrons have asked questions via libraries with QP since 2002*

     38,359  New patrons have asked for help via QP libraries' websites in April*

     24,117   Active records in the Global Knowledge Base

         520   Libraries have contributed active, searchable records to the GKB

*These numbers are lower than actual, as they do not include texting patrons or chat patrons who have not provided email addresses. 

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QuestionPoint libraries are now in 32 countries (listed by region):

Australia New Zealand --------------- China French Polynesia Japan India Thailand -------------- United Arab Emirates ---------------- Botswana South Africa -------------- France Greece Germany Italy The Netherlands Spain -------------- Republic of Ireland

United Kingdom     England     Scotland     Wales --------------------- Croatia Serbia Slovenia --------------- Russia ------------- Canada Mexico United States ----------------- Jamaica Martinique Puerto Rico Trinidad & Tabago -------------------- Chile Colombia Peru

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QuestionPoint Statistics for April 2011

45,293     Questions received via E-mail and Text Messages

48,150     Chat sessions requested

12,101     Chat sessions requested via Qwidget

46,384     Chat sessions accepted

  8,285    Chat sessions requested at non-24/7 Reference Cooperative libraries

      709    Sessions requested after hours at non-24/7 Reference Cooperative libraries

       70     Most concurrent chat sessions (down from 78 last month)

       25     Average concurrent chat sessions (down slightly from last month)

24/7 Reference Cooperative Statistics

64.6%  Overall “Answering Percentage.”  Cooperative libraries picked up 64.6% of all chat sessions, and Back Up staff picked up 32.8%, for a total of 97.4% pick-up.  See Sessions Abandoned, below.

15,992  Academic sessions requested; Academic members answered 10,697 (66.89%)

23,873  Public sessions requested; Public members answered 15,044 (63%)

  1,172  Sessions Abandoned (Patron disconnected before librarian picked up, may include some practice sessions)

March Questions of Note

In April, 26 French-language records were activated in the Global Knowledge Base, 8 Spanish-language records, and 25 English-language.  Thanks to the contributing libraries and the editors for making this information available for all to use. 

Following are examples of two well-researched answers that may be of interest to others.  The first, asking about orphans in Honduras, was contributed by the University of Montemorales.  The second was contributed by the New York Public Library, and the third, on "Arabisms" in French, by the Bibliothèque de l'Institut du Monde Arabe. 

Q: Necesito artículos de revista sobre el tema de los huérfanos.
Lo necesito desde la perspectiva social.
¿ En dónde está el de niños huérfanos a raíz de la emigración de Honduras? 

A:  http://redalyc.uaemex.mx/redalyc/src/inicio/ArtPdfRed.jsp?i
Cve=35103206>
Este artículos toca el aspecto social.
artículo*
http://www.scielo.org/cgi-bin/wxis.exe/applications/scielo-
org/iah/?IsisScript=iah/iah.xis&base=article^dart.org〈=i&nextAction=search&exprSearch=huerfanos&form=F&conectSearch=AND
En scielo hay varios otros artículos.
http://www.sc.ehu.es/sfwsedhe/seccion3/Herrera.pdf>
Y este artículo?
sólo es el resumen...
http://cih.upr.edu/presentaciones/presentacion%20OpCit_17.p
df
Este artículo trata sobre la violencia y los niños huérfanos.
http://www.coedu.usf.edu/zalaquett/SIP_pobreza/pers.html
Algunas estadísticas sobre pobreza y niños huérfanos.
http://iussp2005.princeton.edu/download.aspx?submissionId=5
1295
http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Comp/Derechos/menores.html
Leyes para la protección del menor.
http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/spanish/Sgeneralcomment3.h
tml
Derechos humanos para niños huérfanos enfermos de SIDA.

http://www.brookings.edu/articles/2008/spring_child_soldier
s_singer.aspx
Encontré un artículo sobre niños huérfanos a raíz de la emigración de Honduras.
http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:_s8lty4_FosJ:plaza.ufl
.edu/bestard1/doc/GLBPDLM.doc+huerfanos+infantil+sicologia+site:edu&cd=14&hl=en&ct=clnk
http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/etext/ciad/26/26.pdf
Este volumen contiene problemáticas sociales que afectan a los menors incluidos los huérfanos.
Lo de Honduras y la emigración:
http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Security/citizensecurity/hondura
s/documentos/analisis.pdf

Q:  Is there a central database for UPC Bar Codes?  If so, who owns it?  Is it possible to have access to their data?

 A:  EAN/UPC codes are assigned by the GS1 US (http://www.gs1us.org/about_us - "... a not-for-profit member-driven organization, administers the U.P.C. and develops worldwide standards and solutions for identification numbers, data carriers, electronic commerce, and global data synchronization ...). The GS1 US charges manufacturers a yearly fee for being able to acquire barcodes.

One site that should be of help is GEPIR - the Global Electronic Party Information Registry. "GEPIR is a unique, internet-based service that gives access to basic contact information for companies that are members of GS1.":
http://gepir.gs1.org/v31/xx/

"EAN/UPC symbology includes the UPC-A, UPC-E, EAN-13, and EAN-8 barcodes. These barcodes were initially developed for grocery stores to speed up the checkout process, reduce errors, and improve inventory management.
EAN/UPC symbology is specifically used for retail point-of-sale (POS). These barcodes are especially suited to be scanned by the typical 'flat bed' scanners that are commonly found at your local grocery store.
Marking your products with EAN/UPC barcodes ensures they are properly identified at retail point-of-sale terminals on a worldwide basis, speeds data collection, and improves inventory data for retailers by eliminating errors. The improved inventory data drives collaboration between you and your trading partners, making your value chain more visible, secure, and sustainable.
Did you know? Today, barcodes that use EAN/UPC symbology are the only barcodes allowed for trade items scanned at point-of-sale."

Here's a page with contact information that should be able to help:

GS1 US
7887 Washington Village Drive, Suite 300
Dayton, OH 45459
937.435.3870
Email: [email protected]

111 Adams Communications offers the following answer to the frequently asked "How Do I Get A List Of All The Product Codes And Their Respective Manufacturers?"
http://www.adams1.com/faq.html#upclist
"... There is now a complete, free on-line database that allows anyone to type in a UPC or EAN number and get the company name and address for the product. It is a project developed by GS1 and is called GEPIR. The number contained in the UPC or EAN barcode is now called the Global Trade Item Number or GTIN. You can go directly to the UPC and EAN search page by clicking here. Please note that sometimes GEPIR is down. If you get a 'page not available', try later or try the mirror site. Currently, the database contains some product descriptions. Searching 'trade item ownership' will returns the company name and address. Some records may contain the telephone number of the company. The web service is based on XML, so it is possible to integrate an application program with this database. That means that it will be possible for a small store to scan the barcode on a product, access GEPIR over the internet, and download product and manufacturer information over the internet to build a local database of products in the store for free. GEPIR is under continuous development and will soon also provide product images, dimensions, carton sizes, tracking and tracing data. This database is open to consumers as well as companies (unlike UCCNet, a project of the GS1-US).
There are other sources available too. There is a new resource for searching EAN barcode numbers at www.ean-search.org. You can search for EAN codes or browse through the database of over 500.000 EANs. There is a site which provides product descriptions. It's called the Universal Product Code Database, an on-line database for Universal Product Codes (UPC). The UPC Database Project is another public UPC database from Glenn J. Schworak. The site also has links to other UPC databases. Swiss companies and EAN/UPC codes can be looked up at EAN Switzerland.
If you are opening a store, you should ask your suppliers if they have their UPC product codes in a database you can download. If you have to build your database by hand, the best structure is to have a database entry system that allows you to scan the UPC on a product and then key in the description. That way you make use of the UPC bar code for at least some of the data entry.
1SYNC (former UCCNet) is a project of GS1-US to synchronize data between trading partners. Unfortunately, there is no 'public access' to the data being stored. If you are Wal-Mart or Home Depot, you can synchronize data from suppliers. If you are a small one or two lane Grocery store, you will NOT be able to obtain the databases from Pepsi - as an example. ..."

There are any number of sites that purport to offer free barcode information lookups, including the following:

http://www.searchupc.com
http://www.upcdatabase.com
http://www.upc-search.org
http://www.google.com (enter any UPC code for a search)
http://www.tagtoad.com/

 Q:  Je voudrais vous demander si vous pourriez me recomander des livres, des articles (meme sur l´Internet) concernant les arabismes dans le français contemporain.

A:  La Bibliothèque de l'Institut du monde arabe vous propose les références ou ressources suivantes :

- Dictionnaire des mots français d' origine arabe / Mohamed Ben Smail . - Tunis : Société tunisienne pour l'éducation récréative , 1994 .- IX-151-4 p. ; 25 cm
Dictionnaire

- L' Origine arabe de la langue française / Boualem Benhamouda .- Paris : Dialogues , 1996 .- 131 p. : couv. ill. ; 22 cm
2-911061-04-07

- Dictionnaire des arabismes / Hassane Makki .- Paris : Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner , 2001 .- 144 p. ; 20 x 13 cm .- ( Manuels )
2-7053-3697-4

- Les Arabismes dans la langue française du Moyen- âge à nos jours / Majid El Houssi .- Paris : L' Harmattan , 2002 .- 217 p. : couv. ill. en coul. ; 21 cm
Bibliogr. .- 2-7475-1401-3
Dictionnaire

- Les mots arabes dans la langue française : origines et mutations : dictionnaire français- arabe, arabe- français / Fatma Lakhdar Maktouf .- : , 2006 .- 1 vol. (760 p.) : ill., couv. ill. en coul. ; 24 cm
978-9973-61-468-1
Dictionnaire

- Dictionnaire des mots français d'origine arabe (et turque et persane), accompagné d'une anthologie littéraire, 400 extraits d'auteurs français, de Rabelais à ... Houellebecq / Salah Guemriche ; préface d' Assia Djebar,... .- Paris : Ed. du Seuil , DL 2007 .- 1 vol. (878 p.) : couv. ill. en coul. ; 23 cm
978-2-02-093269-1
Dictionnaire

- Etymologies arabes en langue française / Mohamed Ben Smail .- Tunis : Les éditions de la Méditerranée , 2005 .-
1 vol. : non paginé : couv. ill. en coul. ; 22 cm
Bibliogr.- 2ème p. de titre et préface en arabe .- 978-99732-2204-6
Dictionnaire

- Arabismen im Argot : ein Beitrag zur franzosischen Lexicographie ab der zweiten Halfte des 19. Jahrhunderts / Graciela Christ .- Frankfurt am Main : Peter Lang , 1991 .- 632 p. ; 22 cm .- (Europaische Hochschulschriften ; Franzosische Sprache und Literatur : 160 )
Index Ann. .- 3-631-43437-5

- Ressources en ligne :

- Liste des mots français d'origine arabe (sur Wikipédia)
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mots_fran%C3%A7ais_d%27origine
_arabe

- la langue française & les mots migrateurs par Henriette Walter :
http://ressources-cla.univ-fcomte.fr/gerflint/Italie4/walte
r.pdf

- Relations entre langue française & langue arabe : article du CIFOP
http://www.cifop.net/content/view/134/1/

Voir aussi le site du SELEFA : Société d'Etudes lexicographiques & étymologiques français-arabe :
http://www.selefa.asso.fr/

QuestionPoint install coming Sunday 8 May

Hello QuestionPoint subscribers:

We are pleased to announce that we will install a QuestionPoint upgrade this Sunday that will include new features and improvements, as well as a number of fixes.  The attached PDF outlines what’s coming.  Please let us know if you cannot access the file for some reason; we will also post the information on the QuestionPoint blog.

Please be advised that the QuestionPoint service will be unavailable for the following time period: 0600 – 0730 (GMT), Sunday, May 8.  It is imperative that you end any in-progress chat sessions at least 2 minutes prior to the scheduled system outage to avoid sudden communication interruptions to your patrons and potential “hung” sessions.  (You will be unable to click on any in-progress chat sessions from your Ask module list to get information to communicate with the patron.)

When service is restored, please check your “New” questions lists for any 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 but hope you will enjoy the new and improved functionality.

Regards,

The QuestionPoint Product Team

 

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1. New Features

Searching Current Transactions

The long-awaited ability to search your transactions (Q&As, transcripts) is introduced with this release! This enables you to search your current database of transactions or your Service History. The search can be as simple as a single keyword from the question or answer text, a patron name, or a Descriptive Code, or it can be a complex search query of phrases, truncated words, and excluded terms, and limited in ways that increase the precision of the results.

The Find ID box that is currently accessible on any questions list page in the Ask module, will become the Basic Search box. You’ll have the choice of searching a keyword from this box or a Question ID, as before. Image 1, below, illustrates the new look of this input box, and the drop-down Keyword/QID selection menu next to it.

Image 1: Basic Search box 

A link under the Basic Search box takes you to the Advanced Search page (Image 2). This is where you can construct a query that will help you focus your search to particular parts of the transaction (question or answer, descriptive codes, form fields, institution name, notes text, patron information) and to broaden or narrow your search by looking at transactions beyond just those owned by your institution (if you collaborate with others in a group) or at particular types—chat, Qwidget, e-mail, texting. You can even set limits on the date range of your results, looking at those received within the last 2 days, 7 days, 30 or 60 days.

Image 2: Advanced Search page

After executing your search, the results are displayed in a list as illustrated in Image 3. If in doubt about the results, you can take a look at your search criteria (Image 4). In the list, you see the question and question ID number, received date, and institution and patron names. Your search term is highlighted if it appears in the question. Question displays are truncated at 250 characters, but a plus sign (+) to the

left of the question indicates there is more text. If you click the plus sign, the question expands to display the entire question text. (See Image 5.)

Image 3: Results List

Image 4: Search Criteria

Image 5: Expanded question

Clicking on any of the linked questions takes you to the Full Question view (Image 6), where you can take any action on the question you would normally be able to take if you had accessed it from a questions list.

Image 6: Full Question view after searching

If you have elected to view 50 or fewer questions per page in the Results List, you can select any or all the questions on the page (click the check boxes) and click the View button to see all the full transactions on a single html page. Images 7 and 8 show how this works. The numbers on Image 8 are for illustrative purposes only. If you selected 50 questions per Results List page, there are no check boxes.

Image 7: Multiple transactions selection on Results List

Image 8: Multiple transactions viewed simultaneously

Online help is available via the Help link.

1.2 Searching Your Service History

Full transaction searching is also available for the Service History. Searching here is almost identical to searching current data, except that patron information, which has been stripped from the records, is not searchable. In addition, date range limits on the Advanced Search page are confined to full years; you can search multiple years if you wish. Note: For the first few days after the install, Service History indexing will run about one week behind (that is, transactions there will be 97 or more days old, rather than 90+). Indexing should be current for the archive within a few days.

Image 9: Service History

2. Improvements

2.1 New Language Option / Time Zone Functionality

Institution Administrators: a new General Settings page in the Administration module now encompasses the Outgoing E-mail Address page and the E-mail Notification page. In addition, two new options have been added: Default Service Language and TimeZone. Going forward, the Default Service Language will determine the language in which all system-generated emails are sent. This is an ongoing improvement that will eventually correct all email notifications to the librarians. Thus, if a question is assigned to a particular librarian, for example, the message that alerts them of the new assignment will be delivered in the language selected here.

Image 10: New General Settings page

The TimeZone setting will control the timestamps you and your librarians see as you work with your questions and chat follow ups. This new feature allows for greater accuracy in the Ask module display of the local time of any activity on a question or chat session (time entered, time answered, time of librarian-patron exchanges, time of note addition, etc.) for all timezones around the world. It accommodates timezones on the half hour, as well as accounting for those with and without daylight savings times. The beginning and end of daylight savings should, likewise, be reflected accurately in the Ask module without bi-annual manual intervention by administrators.

Note: This change has no effect on Activity Reports. Also, libraries that use the automatic forwarding capability of the virtual group coverage feature will still need to set their timezone as accurately as possible in the existing Timezone field in the Profile module. You should also be sure you have set the timezone in that module if you wish to participate in the Global Reference Network.

2.2 Descriptive Codes Now Those of the Patron’s Library

When you chat with a patron of another library, you will now see the descriptive codes for the patron’s library, not those of your own library. Caution: When answering questions for patrons from libraries outside your own regional group, librarians participating in the 24/7 Cooperatives should not assign descriptive codes at the conclusion of chat sessions. This standard 24/7 Cooperative policy has not changed.

Note: If a code appears in red type face with a number in parentheses, in the Descriptive Codes field of a Full Question display, it may be that the code was assigned by another library at the end of a chat session, from their own list of codes. This can no longer happen, but we encourage you to review these when you see them to determine if those old codes should be replaced with a code from your own library’s list. You may also see a red code if the list of Descriptive Codes for your library has changed and the assigned code is no longer in the list. You can leave these as they are or replace them with a current code.

2.3 Statistics for Various Statuses when Using the Add Question Feature

Administrators: QuestionPoint will now add a count for Questions Received (Home >> Reports) when your librarians use the Add Question feature and give the question a status of Pending, Answered, or Closed. An Answer Sent count is also added for these statuses whenever there is text present in the Answer field.

 

Image 11: Add Question feature

2.4 Updated Instructions for Mounting the Qwidget on Facebook

Administrators: We have updated the instructions for adding the Qwidget to Facebook. This revision reflects Facebook’s recent change that allows apps like the Qwidget to load in a Facebook tab. This has been the #1 request since we first published the instructions!

We now have two versions of the instructions, depending on the level at which you would like to integrate the Qwidget into Facebook. The basic instructions are available at http://www5.oclc.org/questionpoint/fbqwidget/QuestionPoint_Basic_Qwidget_for_Facebook_API.docx

This requires the library to build a Qwidget and maintain it on a separate HTML page to build a Facebook application that can be loaded in a Facebook tab.

The advanced instructions at http://www5.oclc.org/questionpoint/fbqwidget/QuestionPoint_Advanced_Qwidget_for_Facebook_API.docx requires the library to build a Qwidget and place it within a PHP file, and then use Facebook’s PHP Software Development Kit to build a Facebook application that can be loaded in a Facebook tab. This method will also allow other advanced Facebook features to be placed in the tab along with the app, such as tracking Facebook Qwidget usage, (see Facebook’s API documentation for more info).

Note: Libraries that place the Qwidget on Facebook are still subject to Facebook’s terms, conditions, and availability, regardless of which version of the Tab implementation they choose.

If you have any questions about the instructions, please contact [email protected].

3. Fixes

3.1 Serbian Available in All Modules

When Serbian was added to our line-up of languages in December, a couple of modules were, unfortunately, overlooked. We have now completed the addition of this language in all modules and functions.

3.2 Text Msgs now reported correctly in Form Field Review

Administrators: In the Form Field review (accessible by administrators via Ask >> Review Transcripts), text messages are now being correctly reported as such. They had been incorrectly reported as Chat Sessions.

3.3 Patron UI reply goes to correct librarian

A bug that caused patron replies sent from the patron’s QuestionPoint account to go to the chat librarian has been fixed. These are now correctly directed to the patron’s library. If you do not participate in a chat cooperative, you will notice no difference.

3.4 Message to same e-mail partner e-mail address no longer causes Recall message

Libraries that have a need to correspond more than once with an e-mail referral partner regarding the same question noted that the partner received a “question recalled” message simultaneously with the new message. This has been fixed. Recall messages to the initial referral will now only be sent when a referral (with accompanying question) is sent to a new e-mail address.

3.5 Updating e-mail forms no longer requires deselecting fields

Administrators: A bug in email form construction that required changed fields to be deselected and then reselected before republishing has been fixed.  Fields can now be edited and forms republished without this extra confusing step.

3. 6 Queue update alert to BME admin

Group Administrators: When the Chat Queue History is updated (for example, if Rollup times are altered) using Administration >> Subscription Group >> Chat Manager, QuestionPoint will now send an alert message to the BME Administrator and the 24/7 Administrator to see if any rules need to be updated. The message will read: “Please log into your QuestionPoint account and check the changes made to [queue name] by [login number and name]. You may need to adjust a Qwidget or Chat roll-up status.”

3.7 Queue selection wording updated to match new rules

The on-screen instructions about selecting queues when you first log into the chat module have been updated to accurately reflect changes made to queue selection in December 2010. As of that install, you no longer need to select your Primary Queue if you wish your patrons to roll immediately to your group’s monitors or to the 24/7 Cooperative even though you are also monitoring. However, if you do decide you want the chance to pick up your own patrons before others see them, you must click on the Primary Queue box.

Image 12: Chat Queue selection

3.8 Qwidget Typing Problem with Firefox

The typing issue experienced by some Qwidget users with Firefox 3.6 and higher has been corrected. For more information on this issue, please see

http://questionpoint.blogs.com/questionpoint_247_referen/2011/04/qwidget-typing-problem-for-some-patrons-using-firefox-36-or-higher-.html. If you have any additional questions about this issue, please contact [email protected]. Be sure to include the session ID number if you are reporting a problem with a specific session.

Installation prévue pour QuestionPoint le 8 mai, 2011

Chers utilisateurs de QuestionPoint,
Nous sommes heureux de vous informer que nous installerons une mise à niveau de QuestionPoint ce dimanche. Cette mise à niveau comportera de nouvelles fonctionnalités, plusieurs améliorations, et résoudra certains problèmes existants. Vous trouverez la description de ces changements dans le document PDF ci-joint. N’hésitez pas à nous contacter si vous ne pouvez ouvrir le document. Nous publierons également ces informations sur le blogue de QuestionPoint.

Veuillez prendre note que le service QuestionPoint ne sera pas disponible le 8 mai, de 06hr TU à 7:30 hr TU, le temps de l'installation. Vous devez absolument mettre fin à toutes vos sessions de Chat en cours au moins deux minutes avant le moment prévu de l’interruption afin d’éviter que la communication avec vos utilisateurs soit coupée et éviter de potentielles sessions « accrochées ». (Vous ne pourrez pas cliquer sur les sessions coupées mais visible «en cours » pour obtenir les informations afin de communiquer avec les utilisateurs.)

Lorsque le service sera rétabli, veuillez vérifier dans la liste de vos Nouvelles questions si des sessions de Chat ont été interrompues ou si vous avez reçu de nouvelles questions par courriel. Si vous éprouvez des problèmes après l’interruption du service, veuillez contacter votre fournisseur de service pour de l’aide.
Nous nous excusons des inconvénients causés par l' interruptios de service vous remercions de votre patience.

Bien à vous,
Votre équipe QuestionPoint

 

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1. Nouvelles fonctionnalités

1.1 Recherche dans les transactions

La possibilité de chercher dans vos transactions (questions-réponses, transcriptions) est enfin disponible! Vous pouvez maintenant chercher dans votre base de données active de transactions ou dans vos questions archivées. Vous pouvez faire une recherche de base par mot-clé dans la question ou la réponse, par nom d’utilisateur ou Code descriptif, ou faire une recherche plus complexe en inscrivant un segment de phrase, en utilisant la troncature et l’exclusion de mots, et en limitant la recherche pour des résultats plus précis.

La boîte Numéro de question qui apparaissait dans toutes les listes de questions a été remplacée par la boîte Recherche. Dans cette boîte, vous pourrez chercher par mot-clé ou par numéro de question. Dans l’image 1 ci-dessous, on voit la boîte de recherche de base et le menu déroulant qui permet de choisir la recherche par mot-clé ou par numéro de question.

 

Image 1 : Recherche de base

Un lien sous le menu déroulant vous amène à l’écran Recherche avancée (image 2). La Recherche avancée vous permet d’élaborer un énoncé de recherche portant sur des éléments plus précis (question ou réponse, codes descriptifs, zones du formulaire, nom de l’établissement, notes, informations sur l’utilisateur) et d’élargir ou restreindre votre recherche en cherchant parmi les transactions d’autres bibliothèques (si vous participer à des groupes de référence), ou en cherchant des types précis de transactions (Chat, Qwidget, courriel, messagerie instantanée). Vous pouvez même limiter les résultats par date (derniers 2 jours, 7 jours, 30 jours ou 60 jours).

 

Image 2 : Recherche avancée

Après la recherche, les résultats sont affichés dans une liste (image 3). Si vous doutez de la pertinence des résultats, vous pouvez vérifier vos critères de recherche (image 4). Dans la liste, la question et le numéro de question sont affichés, la date de réception, et le nom de l’établissement et de l’utilisateur. Les termes de recherche sont en surbrillance dans la question. Les questions sont tronquées après 250 caractères, mais le symbole + à gauche de la question indique que la question complète n’est pas affichée. Cliquez sur le + pour voir la question complète (image 5).

Image 3 : Liste de résultats

Image 4 : Critères de recherche

Image 5 : Voir la question complète

Cliquez sur n’importe quelle question en hyperlien pour aller à l’écran Question complète (image 6). Dans cet écran, vous pouvez effectuer n’importe quelle action que vous auriez pu effectuer si vous aviez accédé à la question à partir de vos listes de questions (Actives, Nouvelles, etc.).

Image 6 : Question complète après la recherche

Dans le résultat de recherche, si vous avez choisi d’afficher 50 questions ou moins par page, vous pouvez choisir n’importe quelle question, ou toutes les questions de la page (en cochant les cases), puis cliquer sur le bouton « Voir les transactions sélectionnées » pour voir toutes les transactions cochées dans un seul écran (images 7 et 8).

Image 7 : Sélection de transactions dans la liste de résultats

Image 8 : Affichage des transactions sélectionnées dans le même écran

1.2 recherche dans les questions archivées

Il est également possible de chercher dans les questions archivées. Les options de recherche sont presque les mêmes que pour la recherche dans les listes de questions sauf pour la recherche d’informations sur l’utilisateur puisque ces informations ont été supprimées dans les questions archivées. De plus, dans la Recherche avancée, vous ne pouvez pas chercher par date, mais par années. Vous pouvez chercher plusieurs années à la fois.

Note. – Les premiers jours après l'installation, l’indexation des Questions archivées sera plus ou moins une semaine en retard, c'est-à-dire que les questions dateront de 97 jours et plus au lieu de 90 jours et plus. Toutefois, ce problème sera réglé à l’intérieur de quelques jours après l'installation et l’indexation des Questions archivées sera effectuée comme auparavant.

Image 9 : Questions archivées

2. Améliorations

2.1 Nouvelle langue / Fuseaux horaires

Administrateurs d’établissements – C’est dans le nouvel écran Paramètres généraux du module Administration que sont maintenant configurés l’Adresse électronique générale et les paramètres pour les Avis par courriel. Cet écran contient également deux nouvelles options : Langue par défaut du service et Fuseau horaire. Lors de prochaines améliorations, la Langue par défaut du service déterminera la langue dans laquelle seront envoyés tous les courriels générés par le système. Par exemple, lorsqu’une question sera assignée à un bibliothécaire, le message envoyé à ce bibliothécaire pour l’informer de cette nouvelle assignation sera dans la langue qui aura été sélectionnée comme Langue par défaut du service.

Image 10 : Nouvel écran Paramètres généraux

L’option Fuseau horaire contrôlera les heures inscrites (horodatage) que vous voyez lorsque vous traiter des questions ou assurer les suivis pour le Chat. Cette nouvelle fonctionnalité apporte plus de précision dans l’affichage des actions dans le module Service de référence (heure de réception, heure de la réponse, heure des échanges entre le bibliothécaire et l’utilisateur, heure de l’ajout d’une note, etc.) pour tous les fuseaux horaires du monde. Les fuseaux horaires sont pris en compte de même que les zones où l’heure avancée (heure d’été) est appliquée. Le début et la fin de la période d’heure avancée devraient également être reflétés dans le module Service de référence sans l’intervention des administrateurs.

Note.- Ce changement n’a aucune répercussion sur les Rapports d’activités. De plus, les bibliothèques qui utilisent l’acheminement automatique de questions au groupe virtuel pour la couverture des services doivent toujours indiquer leur fuseau horaire dans la zone Fuseau horaire du module Profil. Si vous voulez participer au Réseau mondial de référence, vous devez également configurer ce paramètre.

2.2 Codes descriptifs maintenant ceux de la bibliothèque de l’utilisateur

Lorsque vous « chattez » avec l’utilisateur d’une autre bibliothèque, vous verrez maintenant les codes descriptifs de la bibliothèque de cet utilisateur et non ceux de votre bibliothèque. Remarque : les bibliothécaires de la Coopérative 24/7 qui répondent à des utilisateurs de bibliothèques qui ne font pas partie de leur groupe régional ne devraient pas assigner de codes descriptifs à la fin de la session de Chat. Cette directive n’a pas changé.

Note. – Si, dans la zone Codes descriptifs de la Question complète, un code apparaît en rouge avec un chiffre entre parenthèses, il est possible que ce code ait été assigné par une autre bibliothèque à la fin de la session et que ce soit donc un code descriptif de cette bibliothèque. Ceci ne devrait plus se produire, mais nous vous encourageons à examiner ces anciens codes descriptifs et à les remplacer par un code descriptif de votre bibliothèque s’il y a lieu. Il est également possible qu’un code descriptif qui apparaît en rouge soit un code descriptif assigné par votre bibliothèque, mais qui n’existe plus. Vous pouvez laisser ces codes ou les remplacer par les nouveaux codes descriptifs de votre bibliothèque.

2.3 Statistiques sur divers Statuts lors de l’ajout manuel d’une question

Administrateurs – QuestionPoint compilera maintenant le nombre de Questions reçues (Accueil >> Rapports) lorsque vos bibliothécaires utilisent l’option Ajouter une question et assigne le statut En attente, Traitée ou Fermée à la question. Le nombre de Réponses envoyées sera également ajouté pour ces statuts lorsqu’un texte est présent dans la boîte Réponse.

 

Image 11 : Ajouter une question

2.4 Mises à jour des instructions pour l‘ajout d’un Qwidget dans Facebook

Administrateurs – Nous avons mis à jour les instructions pour ajouter un Qwidget dans Facebook. Cette révision reflète les récents changements apportés à Facebook qui permettent de mettre sous un onglet des applications comme le Qwidget dans Facebook. Les utilisateurs de QuestionPoint nous demandent cette révision depuis que nous avons publié les premières instructions!

Nous avons maintenant deux versions de ces instructions basées sur le niveau d’intégration du Qwidget dans Facebook. Les instructions de base sont disponibles au : http://www5.oclc.org/questionpoint/fbqwidget/QuestionPoint_Basic_Qwidget_for_Facebook_API.docx

Utilisez ces instructions si votre bibliothèque crée un Qwidget et le met dans une page HTML différente afin de créer une application pour Facebook qui peut être chargée sous un onglet dans Facebook.

Les instructions avancées sont disponibles au http://www5.oclc.org/questionpoint/fbqwidget/QuestionPoint_Advanced_Qwidget_for_Facebook_API.docx

Utilisez ces instructions si votre bibliothèque crée un Qwidget et le met dans un fichier PHP, puis utilise le logiciel PHP de Facebook (Facebook PHP Software Development Kit) pour créer une application pour Facebook qui peut être chargée sous un onglet dans Facebook. Cette méthode permettra également de placer d’autres fonctionnalités avancées de Facebook sous l’onglet comme une fonctionnalité permettant de comptabiliser le nombre d’utilisations du Qwidget dans Facebook (voir la documentation de Facebook pour plus d’informations).

Note. – Les bibliothèques qui placent un Qwidget dans Facebook sont soumises aux conditions d’utilisations de Facebook, peu importe le genre d’implantation du Qwidget qu’elles choisissent.

Si vous avez des questions sur les instructions, veuillez écrire au [email protected].

3. Corrections

3.1 Serbe disponible dans tous les modules

Lorsque la langue serbe a été ajoutée à l’interface QuestionPoint en décembre, elle n’a pas été intégrée dans tous les modules. Nous avons maintenant terminé l’intégration du serbe dans tous les modules et pour toutes les fonctionnalités.

3.2 Messages Textes correctement identifiés lors de la révision des zones du formulaire

Administrateurs – Dans la révision des zones du formulaire (accessible par les administrateurs sous Service de référence >> Réviser les transcriptions), les messages textes sont maintenant identifiés comme tels. Auparavant, ils étaient incorrectement identifiés comme sessions de Chat.

3.3 Réponses de l’utilisateur maintenant envoyées à sa bibliothèque

À cause d’un problème récurent, les réponses d’un utilisateur envoyées à partir de son compte QuestionPoint allaient au bibliothécaire au Chat. Ce problème a été réglé. Les réponses des utilisateurs seront maintenant envoyées à leur bibliothèque. (Si vous ne participez pas au Chat coopératif, ce problème n’avait pas d’incidence pour vous.)

3.4 Plus d’avis de rappel lors de l’envoi de multiples messages à un même partenaire de référence

Les bibliothèques qui correspondaient plus d’une fois avec un partenaire de référence au sujet d’une même question avaient remarqué que le partenaire recevait un message de « rappel de la question » en même temps que le nouveau message. Ce problème a été réglé. Les messages de rappel au partenaire de référence initial seront uniquement envoyés lorsqu’une question est acheminée à une nouvelle adresse électronique.

3.5 Zones modifiées dans un formulaire Web pouvant être publiées immédiatement

Administrateurs – À cause d’un problème dans la construction du formulaire Web, il fallait désélectionner et resélectionner les zones qui avaient été modifiées avant de les publier. Ce problème a été réglé. Les zones peuvent maintenant être modifiées et publiées immédiatement.

3. 6 Avis à l’administrateur de groupe lors de la modification d’une file d’attente

Administrateurs de groupes – Lorsque l’historique de la File d’attente pour le Chat est modifié (par exemple, si les délais d’affichage sont modifiés) sous Administration >> Groupe d’abonnement >> Gestionnaire de Chat, QuestionPoint enverra maintenant un avis à l’administrateur du groupe d’abonnement et à l’administrateur 24/7 pour savoir si des règles doivent être mises à jour. Le message suivant sera présenté : « Veuillez vous connecter à votre compte d’administrateur de Groupe d’abonnement QuestionPoint et vérifier les changements apportés à [nom de la file d’attente] par [numéro d’utilisateur et nom]. Vous devrez peut-être ajuster le statut d’affichage d’un Qwidget ou du Chat. »

3.7 Nouvelles instructions pour la sélection des files d’attente

Les instructions affichées dans l’écran pour la sélection de files d’attente lorsque vous ouvrez une session dans le module de Chat ont été mises à jour pour refléter les changements apportés à la sélection des files d’attente en décembre 2010. Dorénavant, vous n’avez plus à sélectionner votre File d’attente principale si vous voulez que vos utilisateurs apparaissent immédiatement aux bibliothécaires qui surveillent votre groupe ou à la Coopérative 24/7 même si vous surveillez également cette file d’attente. Toutefois, si vous voulez avoir la possibilité de répondre à vos propres utilisateurs avant que les autres bibliothèques ne les voient, vous devez cocher la case File d’attente principale.

Image 12 : Sélection des files d’attente

3.8 Entrée de texte dans le Qwidget avec Firefox

Le problème lié à l’entrée de texte par certains utilisateurs du Qwidget avec Firefox 3.6 et les versions supérieures a été réglé. Pour plus d’informations sur ce problème, voir : http://questionpoint.blogs.com/questionpoint_247_referen/2011/04/qwidget-typing-problem-for-some-patrons-using-firefox-36-or-higher-.html. Si vous avez d’autres questions liées à ce problème, veuillez écrire à [email protected]. N’oubliez pas d’inclure le numéro de session si vous signalez un problème qui est survenu.

Did You Know . . .

Occasionally we're asked for functionality that QuestionPoint already has.  So we thought it might be good to revisit some features that are not new but about which you may not be aware.

In the next few weeks we'll post two or three features weekly in the form of questions you may have asked us or your QuestionPoint colleagues lately.  We hope you'll follow these postings to catch up on implementations to QuestionPoint over the years.  Please use the blog Comments feature to let us and others know your thoughts about these.

Our library needs to customize Descriptive Codes.  Is there a way to do that?  One of the most-asked for features of the last couple of years and which we can happily say we added in Spring 2010, was the ability to customize Descriptive Codes.  A new area in the Administration module (Administration >> Institution >> Settings >> Descriptive Codes) provides the QP account administrator with the option to choose only the codes your library needs, or to add a completely new set of codes.  Currently, the codes you can assign any question or transcript are those of yourlibrary, not those of the patron's library if you're assisting others' patrons in a cooperative.  In the latter case, you'll want to follow your cooperative's policy regarding assignment of Descriptive Codes to other than your own patrons.  Instructions for creating your own Descriptive Codes are at http://www.questionpoint.org/crs/html/help/en/admin/ad_descriptivecodes_task.html

How can I export transcripts?  All methods of exporting transcripts require administrative privileges-- group, institution, or "ask" administrator. You can export transcripts from the General review under Review Transcripts in the Ask module.  In the table check the box for the ones you wish to export, then select the export option from the drop-down menu at the bottom of the table.  This option exports in XML.

You can export entire transcripts also from the Offline review area (Ask >> Review Transcripts >> Offline).  Documentation about this option is available at http://questionpoint.org/support/documentation/gettingstarted/qp_reviewoffline_ref.pdf.  You must use this option if you want to export transcripts older than 90 days.  This option allows exporting in XML or HTML formats.

And, finally, you can export the data about transcripts from the Form Fields review area under Review Transcripts.  Here you have the choice of exporting a delimited file, an XML file, or an Excel spreadsheet.

Download Export_Reports

Will QuestionPoint introduce a knowledge base component in the near future? We need to save some questions so we can reuse them.  QuestionPoint has a knowledge base component!  Chat, e-mail, and texting transcripts can easily be saved, scrubbed and edited, and automatically indexed for searching in the QuestionPoint Knowlege Base.  The Global Knowledge Base is shared by all QuestionPoint subscribers; every group or single library not part of a group has its own local knowledge base, as well.  You can search and reuse any of the records in the KBs during you normal QuestionPoint activity; your library can also decide whether to offer these KBs to your patrons to search.   In addition to submitting answered Q&As to the KB, you can add records directly into the KB, so that e-mails and telephone questions can be included.

An hour-long introduction to the use of the QP KBs is presented from a link on the training page at http://questionpoint.org/education/index.html. 

If you have questions about any of the above or want more information pertaining to these features, e-mail Paula Rumbaugh at [email protected].

 

Curious about QR Codes?

Take a look at this article by Jeff Korhan, Social Media Examiner: How QR Codes Can Grow Your Business

The article describes quick response barcodes, what they are, and how to use them. The article provides basic information on QR (quick response) codes and provides examples of QR Codes in action. Under the section “Practical Uses of QP Codes”, he includes an example from a library (Naperville PL in Illinois).  According to Jeff, “the potential for QR Codes is limitless”.  

One of our 24/7 Reference Cooperative members, Jaclyn McKewan, the Virtual Services & Training Librarian for the Ask Us 24/7 service (Western New York Library Resources Council), has made a video on youtube on how the Qwidget is used on mobile devices.  She also shows how to make a QR code for your Qwidget URL, so mobile devices with cameras can capture the code.  You can then post the code in various locations around the library (or even around town!) to offer immediate access to your service.  Watch her video here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZJFUVXcKIw

If you have examples of how your virtual reference service is using QR Codes, post a comment to this blog!

Monthly Report for January 2011

QuestionPoint Members

       1,982   Active SUPs (service unit profiles)

       1,315   SUPs in the 24/7 Reference Cooperative

           29   Languages can be handled by QuestionPoint libraries 

6,319,094   Transactions have been received by QP libraries since 2002 (as of Jan. 31)

2,929,350   Patrons have asked questions via libraries with QP since 2002*

     37,630   New patrons have asked for help via QP libraries' websites in January*

     23,691   Active records in the Global Knowledge Base

          511  Libraries have contributed active, searchable records to the GKB

*Doubtless these numbers are lower than actual, as they do not include chat patrons who have not provided email addresses or texting patrons. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

QuestionPoint libraries are in 32 countries (listed by region):

Australia New Zealand --------------- China French Polynesia Japan India Thailand -------------- Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates ---------------- Botswana South Africa -------------- France Greece Germany Italy The Netherlands Spain

United Kingdom --------------------- Croatia Serbia Slovenia --------------- Russia ------------- Canada Mexico United States ----------------- Jamaica Martinique Puerto Rico Trinidad & Tabago -------------------- Chile Columbia Peru

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QuestionPoint Statistics for January 2011

47,088     Questions received via E-mail and Text Messages

45,902     Chat sessions requested

11,476     Chat sessions requested via Qwidget

43,983     Chat sessions accepted

  6,927     Chat sessions requested at non-24/7 Reference Cooperative libraries

    750     Sessions requested after hours at non-24/7 Reference Cooperative libraries

      80     Most concurrent chat sessions (up slightly from 78 last month)

      26     Average concurrent chat sessions

24/7 Reference Cooperative Statistics

66%  Overall “Answering Percentage.”  Cooperative libraries picked up 66% of all chat sessions, and Back Up staff picked up 31.06%, for a total of 97.06% pick-up.  See Sessions Abandoned, below.

11,719  Academic sessions requested; Academic members answered 8,617 (73.5%)

25,337  Public sessions requested; Public members answered 15,839 (62.5%)

  1,236  Sessions Abandoned (Patron disconnected before librarian picked up, may include some practice sessions)

January Questions of Note

Several languages are represented among the questions and answers activated in the Global Knowledge Base in January: in addition to English, French, Spanish, and German records were added.  Here is a sampling of January's interesting and potentially useful records.  To read the answers, you can search from your home page, My QuestionPoint, or go to the KB module and search.

QID 204196 was a question put to the Global Reference Network and answered at the Stellenbosch University Library.  What is the current recommended punishment in South Africa for a juvenile convicted of breaking and entering a private residence? To read the answer, just search for south africa juvenile in the Knowledge Base search box on your My QuestionPoint home page.

QID 204471 was contributed by the STRASBOURG Médiathèques de la ville et communauté urbaine: Je me renseigne sur la législation des noms de famille. Par mariage l'homme peut-il prendre le nom de son épouse, les deux peuvent-ils prendre les deux noms, ou avoir deux noms distincts etc. et auprès de quelle institution le faire? Avez-vous peut-être des indications d'ouvrages qui traitent du sujet ou des sites internet fiables à consulter? The user asks about legislation on the change of family name upon marriage.  The answer addresses each aspect of the question and has many useful citations.  Search for législation noms famille in the home page search box (diacritics are not necessary to include in your search).

QID 204332, contributed by the Worcester Public Library in Massachusetts, asks if the library has books that can be downloaded for the Kindle.  The library doesn't stop with responding in the negative, but offers four sites where Kindle-compatible ebooks can be downloaded for free, giving for each instructions on how to download.  Enter kindle download in the search box.

QID198883, wherein the Zentral- und Landesbibliothek in Berlin refers to the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek in Frankfurt the following: Ein Leser aus Frankreich sucht folgenes Gedicht / Sonett von Stefan Zweig in der deutschen Fassung. The Nationalbibliothek cites the 1922 Stefan Zweig work containing the sonnet and faxes a copy of the original poem, as requested. Search for stefan zweig.

And, finally, QID204218, contributed by the Universidad de Montemorelos, Mexico, asks Necesito información sobre el tema de cleptomanía infantil. Although an older question (from 2009), this was just added to the Global Knowledge Base.  For the answer, search cleptomanía from your home page (diacritic is not required).

A national virtual reference service for the U.S?

A majority of U.S. libraries provide virtual reference services through their individual library web sites using local library staff.  Many libraries participate in regional or statewide collaborative virtual reference services, and many of those are members of the international 24/7 Reference Cooperative. But while many countries have national virtual reference services, the US does not. At ALA Midwinter 2011, we convened a meeting to discuss what a national 'ask a librarian' service could look like, and how it could be accomplished.  The meeting was held on Sunday January 9, from 10:30 AM until noon.  Over 40 people attended.

Why a national service?  OCLC’s Perceptions of Libraries 2010 report (which had not been published at the time of the ALA MW discussion) and the earlier 2005 Perceptions report vividly illustrate the challenge library virtual reference services face today.  Americans are online:  the most widely used information sources in the U.S. are email (94%) and search engines (92%) [Perceptions 2010]; this is up almost 30% when compared to the 2005 Perceptions report.  66% of Americans use “social sites” (includes social media like YouTube and social networking like Facebook).  But, no one begins their search on a library web page:  2005 Perceptions found 82% begin their search in a search engine, 1% begin on the library web site.  The 2010 Perceptions study found 84% begin in a search engine, 3 % begin on Wikipedia and no respondents (zero!) began on the library web site.  However, 33% (in both 2005 and 2010) do use a library web site at some point, and 6% use online databases.

More Americans are using “Ask An Expert” (question and answer) sites:  usage increased from 15% [2005] to 43% [2010].  This is particularly striking with young adults, whose use increased 350% in the five years between reports.  But, Ask A Librarian sites have increased only slightly during the same period, from 5% in 2005 to 7% in 2010.  Most libraries provide virtual reference services. According to ALA, 68.9% of libraries provide online reference:  62% use email/webform; 31.4% use chat; 19.5% use IM [Public Library Data Service 2009 Report. Chicago, Public Library Association, 2009]; the Perceptions 2010 reports 58% of libraries provide an Ask a Librarian service.

Susan McGlamery of OCLC QuestionPoint began the ALA MW discussion by reviewing a survey conducted for OCLC by Harris in December 2009.  The survey reinforced the data presented in both the 2005 and 2010 OCLC Perceptions reports, illustrating that more consumers use social Q&A sites and search engines rather than library virtual reference services. 

From the data presented in the OCLC Perceptions reports of 2005 and 2010, and the Harris consumer survey of 2009, it’s apparent that library virtual reference services are underutilized by consumers, despite the expertise of librarians and the convenience of virtual reference services (widely available through library web sites and some statewide portals).  It was proposed that a prominent national “Ask” service would raise the visibility of library reference services and channel more reference activity to libraries.  A national service would also allow for higher impact integration into popular social Q&A sites, to further increase the visibility of library reference services.

In addition to the survey data presented, McGlamery discussed examples of national and international collaborative virtual reference services.  Tom Peters of My Info Quest discussed the collaborative texting service currently offered by 25 libraries nationwide [see My Info Quest site], as an example of a national ask a librarian service.  Tom discussed the importance of texting as an information channel, providing examples of how text questions can be different from “typical” reference questions received at the desk or via chat.  It’s important to make library virtual reference services part of the flow, and not something out of the ordinary.

Four options were presented for a possible national (U.S.) virtual reference serivce (with a 5th option: Other):

1. Promote “Ask” [like “Read”]:

2. Intelligent re-direct to existing services based on IP, geolocation, etc

3. Triage: National “Ask” handles “easier” questions, with referral to local or subject experts for more complex

4. Allow/encourage end-user participation

5. Other?

Discussion:

Regarding the models, Bill Pardue (the Slam the Boards founder, calling into the meeting via Skype) suggested that a national campaign (#1) without a national service wouldn’t have the impact of an actual national service.  Rather than triage from a national service to local (#3), he suggest the reverse:  start by sending everyone to a local service (#2) but if there is no virtual reference service at the local level, then send to a national collaborative (the national “ask” service).  Ellen Meltzer (California Digital Library) suggested providing a Google Scholar plug-in for “Ask” services. 

Continue the discussion through comments to this blog, or visit our new National VR page on Facebook!

QP User Group notes, ALA Midwinter 2011

The QuestionPoint user group meeting was held on Sunday, January 9 from 4:00 – 5:30 PM at ALA Midwinter in San Diego, California.  Approximately 30 people attended. 

Susan McGlamery provided the QP Community update (latest numbers are provided monthly in the QP Blog; see http://bit.ly/ekxBta for the Dec 2010 report).  Carol Bonnefil then reviewed the latest changes to QP chat, including queue roll up and wait messages, as well as changes to the Ask module.  Susan then reviewed the changes made to the Policy Page template (Sept 19 install). This prompted a lively discussion on the policy pages and issues within the 24/7 Reference Cooperative of libraries that need to provide better/clearer information on their policy pages, as well as librarians who do not seem to use the policy pages when answering questions.  The Qwidget Roll Up pilot was briefly discussed (libraries that participate in the 24/7 Reference Cooperative with an Answering Percentage of at least 75% may opt for their Qwidget to roll up to the Cooperative, thus ensuring a 24/7 Qwidget).   Here are the presentation slides for the meeting:

QP user group ALA MW 2011

View more presentations from OCLC.

Several discussion topics had been proposed by chair Vince Mariner, including: 

•centralized training

•Integrating questions answered into QP’s live chat and reports

•National Virtual Reference Service (US)

•Assessment: using QP as an assessment tool; other metrics/tools needed?

•Texting: notification of new text message (for TAL integration)

However, the preceding discussions relating to queue roll up, policy pages and Cooperative policies took up most of the meeting time, such that no time was left for the planned discussion topics.  Those attending the meeting suggested additional discussion topics:

· Discussion groups based on library/user types (academic queues, public queues, back-up staff)

· Incorporating Jing (?) into QP service

· More virtual meetings to discuss QP

· Continue virtual reference topics

Most of you were unable to attend the user group, so we have scheduled a series of Virtual User Group meetings.  The announcement for these meetings and registration link will be posted on the Blog today.

Questionpoint service interruption Sunday Dec 19

Due to OCLC systems maintenance, the Questionpoint service will be unavailable on Sunday Dec 19 beginning at 1 A.M. Eastern (6:00 UTC).

The projected outage is 1.5 hours, however it may be shorter. If your service is usually open and monitored at that time, we recommend that you check periodically to see if service has been restored.

We will also notify this list when the service is back up and running.   

Regards,
Your Questionpoint Team

QuestionPoint Install Sunday 12 Dec 2010

We are installing a couple of new features, improvements, and fixes to QuestionPoint on  Sunday morning, December 12.  Attached are the Release Notes for this install.

Please be advised that on Sunday morning, the QuestionPoint service will be unavailable for the following time period: 07:00 UTC (2:00 a.m. EST) to approximately 07:30 UTC (2:30 a.m. EST). 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.

Paula Rumbaugh

for the QuestionPoint Team

 

1. New Features

1.1 Patron Wait Messages for Chat Queues.

Group admins (BME admins) can now configure a series of waiting messages for chat patrons triggered by elapsed wait time, for each Chat Queue in their subscription.

 

Up to 5 messages can be included (or if desired, omitted) using either default or custom text. Each chosen language can be customized independently. The time periods of the message display are as follows:

Initial Message = Upon patron form submission. This is a required message. It cannot be suppressed, but can be customized.

First Message sent after 50 seconds of waiting.

Second Message sent after 80 seconds of waiting.

Third Message sent after 120 seconds of waiting.

Fourth (last) Message sent after 190 seconds of waiting.

If any message is not included, the subsequent message is not accelerated. It will appear at the designated time interval.

 

1.2 Patron Waiting messages for Qwidget

Institution Admins can create a similar series of up to 5 Patron waiting messages for their Qwidgets from the Create Qwidget link, in the Forms Manager of the Instituion Admin module.

The Qwidget default messages are shorter, as befits the smaller Qwidget screen, but again, can be selected and customized as desired.

 

2. Improvements

2.1 Support Link Removed from Patron UI

We have learned that, despite cautions to the contrary, many end users (patrons) are contacting OCLC Support through this link to ask questions about the status of their request with a library. Since our Support desk is not equipped to help them in this way, it has become clear that the link is causing more wasted time and confusion for the patron than help, and the best option is to just delete the link altogether. Without the misleading link, users are more likely to see, once they have logged into their account, that they can confer directly with the library using their original request as the link to a form that is sent to the library.

2.2 Include Library Name in E-mail Sent from Policy Pages

As an aid to quick turnaround for a comment or request for correction or update regarding a library’s policy page, the e-mail sent to the contact from the Policy Pages module includes the institution’s name and ID. This will enable group administrators who are the contact for all libraries in the group to quickly determine who needs to be notified to make changes or to make those changes him or herself in the correct library account.

2.3 View/Hide Option No Longer Available in Policy Pages

All edits to active policy pages will be immediately viewable to a chatting librarian helping one of your patrons. Because a direct link from the chat monitor to a library’s policies is not available until the Policy Pages have been submitted and approved and activated by QuestionPoint staff, information added by new libraries just setting up their Policy Pages cannot be accessed by chatting librarians. However, that information is visible to the Policy Pages editor and to anyone who uses the QuestionPoint Policy Pages search utility to find a library’s policies.

3. Fixes

3.1 Serbian Available in All Modules

When the Serbian language was introduced in September to accommodate our new Serbian members, some modules were not updated. That has now been done, and Serbian appears as a language choice in the knowledge bases, profiling, and the Global Reference Network.

3.2 Patron-is-typing

A bug that displayed the “patron is typing” status to the librarian at inappropriate times has been fixed. This messages appears now only when it should.

3.3 Queue Closing with Qwidget

A bug that caused QuestionPoint to drop a Qwidget patron when a librarian de-selected a queue was fixed in October. At the time of queue de-selection, all in-progress sessions will remain in progress until deliberately ended by librarian or patron.

3.4 Patron Chat History Snaps to Bottom of Transcript

A problem that, in some browsers, caused the transcript to continually display from the beginning has been fixed. Now, in all browsers, every time there is an update to the transcript (the patron or librarian types a message or a transfer is made), the transcript automatically scrolls to the bottom to display the new message(s).

3.5 Referrer Field Now Displaying for New Style Chat Forms

For a short time, a bug caused the referrer information to not display if the patron had used a form built in the QuestionPoint Forms Manager. That bug was fixed in October. Information about what page the patron was on when they requested a chat session displays as it should in the Referrer field under the Info tab in the chat monitor.

3.6 Qwidget Diacritics

A bug that was causing whole phrases to not display in the Qwidget when certain diacritics were used has been fixed. Diacritics should now cause no unusual behavior in Qwidget question submissions.