QuestionPoint: 24/7 reference services

Known Issue with Form Field Reports

When an administrator runs a Form Field report (Ask >> Review Transcripts >> Form Field) and selects a Session Type, several Default Fields are displayed for the administrator to choose from.  Data from all checked fields should display in the report.  However, we have found that unless the administrator checks the Descriptive Codes field, no data from any of the following fields, even if checked, will appear in the report.

For example, if Chat Sessions is selected as the Session Type, the Default Fields are:

• Question ID
• Date Entered
• Patron E-mail Domain
• Form Type
• Resolution Codes
• Session Time
• Wait Time
• Descriptive Codes
• IP Address
• Referer
• Browser/OS
• Cebrowse
• Category

If the administrator indicates they want Question ID, Date Entered, and Referer fields only, data from the Referer field will not appear.  The administrator must also check Descriptive Codes in order for Referer data to appear in the resulting report.

We will fix this bug as soon as possible and announce its implementation.  Thank you for your patience.

Monthly Report for October 2011

QuestionPoint Membership for October 2011            1,817    Active SUPs (service unit profiles)            1,152    SUPs in the 24/7 Reference Cooperative                 29    Languages can be handled by QuestionPoint libraries    7,132,966    Transactions had passed through QuestionPoint as 30 Sept.    3,245,419    Patrons have asked questions via libraries with QP since 2002*         41,248    New patrons asked for help in October*         24,959    Active records in the Global Knowledge Base             525     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. QuestionPoint libraries are in 33 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 Puerto Rico Trinidad & Tabago -------------------- Brazil Chile Peru     QuestionPoint Statistics for October 2011 50,286     Questions received via E-mail and Text Messages 56,150     Chat sessions requested 18,382     Chat sessions requested via Qwidget 54,321     Chat sessions accepted 13,347     Chat sessions requested at non-24/7 Reference Cooperative libraries      722     Sessions requested after hours at non-24/7 Reference Cooperative libraries        81    Most concurrent chat sessions (up from 71 last month)       29     Average concurrent chat sessions (up from 23 last month) 24/7 Reference Cooperative Statistics   63.9%  Overall “Answering Percentage” (Cooperative libraries picked up 63.9% of all chat sessions, and Back Up staff picked up 33.9%) 19,408  Academic sessions requested; Coop members answered 13,172 (67.9%) 23,395  Public sessions requested; Coop members answered 14,192 (60.7%)      940  Sessions Abandoned (Patron disconnected before librarian picked up, may include some practice sessions)

Installation prévue dimanche 13 novembre

Chers utilisateurs de QuestionPoint,  

Nous sommes heureux de vous informer que nous installerons une mise à niveau de QuestionPoint ce dimanche, 13 novembre . Cette mise à niveau comportera de nouvelles fonctionnalités et certains améliorations. 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 13 novembre, de 02hr TU à 04hr 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'interruptions de service et vous remercions de votre patience.

Carol Bonnefil

Sr. Product Analyst

QuestionPoint

OCLC

[email protected]

 

Nouvelles fonctionnalités et améliorations

1. Upside Wireless : une autre option pour les textos

Les bibliothèques qui ont un compte Upside Wireless (http://www.upsidewireless.com/), une solution pour messages textes basée au Canada (mais également vendue aux États-Unis, au Royaume-Uni et dans d’autres pays), peuvent maintenant intégrer ce compte dans QuestionPoint. Les administrateurs doivent effectuer quelques configurations faciles dans le module Administration pour établir le lien entre les deux services. Voir les illustrations ci-dessous.

Comme avec le service « Text a Librarian » de Mosio (intégré à QuestionPoint en mars 2010), les messages textes seront envoyés au module Service de référence et les bibliothécaires devront répondre à ces messages à partir de ce module. Lors de la réception d’un message texte, les bibliothécaires recevront un avis d’Upside Wireless et un avis de QuestionPoint si cette fonctionnalité est activée dans QuestionPoint. Les réponses aux messages d’Upside Wireless peuvent contenir un maximum de 160 caractères (un compteur indique le nombre de caractères entrés dans la page de réponse).

L’image ci-dessous montre comment une bibliothécaire a utilisé le minimiseur d’URL pour raccourcir l’adresse URL afin de l’inclure dans son message.

2. Nouvelles zones ajoutées dans les pages de politiques

Deux nouvelles zones ont été ajoutées à la page de politiques modèle pour les bibliothèques coopératives : Recherche de revues électroniques et Résolveur Open URL. Ces deux zones peuvent être liées aux zones correspondantes dans le WorldCat Registry si l’éditeur de la Page de politiques le veut. Les informations peuvent aussi être copiées du WorldCat Registry et adaptées pour la Page de politiques. Finalement, l’éditeur peut les entrer directement dans la Page des politiques.

De plus, la zone Établissement principal peut maintenant être liée au, ou copiée du, WorldCat Registry.

Avantage du lien au dossier du WorldCat Registry : lorsqu’une information doit être modifiée, elle n’a qu’à être modifiée dans le WorldCat Registry et non dans chaque service OCLC.

Pour savoir quelles informations inscrire dans la Page de politiques, voir les directives au : http://wiki.questionpoint.org/w/page/13839472/Policy%20Page%20Guidelines .

 

L’image ci-dessus montre les nouveaux liens dans l’écran de l’éditeur et dans celui du bibliothécaire.

3. Exportation des données des sessions et des formulaires de question

Comme première étape dans l’amélioration de la production des rapports statistiques pour les formulaires (formulaire Web, formulaire de Chat), des modifications ont été apportées à l’exportation des données (Service de référence >> Réviser les transcriptions >> Exportation). L’image ci-dessous montre comment les administrateurs doivent d’abord sélectionner la Date, le Format puis le Type de session : formulaire de question et question sur place (Ajouter une question); sessions en direct (Chat); et messages textes.

Les zones affichées dans la deuxième partie de la page dépendent du type de session sélectionné. De plus, le format par défaut est maintenant Fichier Excel et les libellés sont affichés Comme des titres de colonnes.

Veuillez noter que, pour cette installation de QuestionPoint, nous avons restructuré la façon dont les zones de formulaires sont nommées, entretenues et stockées. Pour profiter pleinement de cette nouvelle structure (si vous êtes appelé à modifier les zones de formulaires), vous devriez utiliser les formulaires disponibles dans le module Administration sous Gestionnaire de formulaires. Note. – Les bibliothèques qui utilisaient les formulaires disponibles dans le Gestionnaire de formulaires devront recréer ces formulaires pour profiter pleinement des améliorations. Des instructions décrivant cette procédure assez simple seront publiées après l’installation.

4. Mise à niveau du formulaire test pour le Chat

Le formulaire pour tester le Chat a été mis à niveau et intégré dans le Gestionnaire de formulaires. Si votre bibliothèque a un formulaire pour le Chat dans le Gestionnaire de formulaires, votre administrateur peut choisir d’inclure toutes les zones et options de ce formulaire dans le formulaire test. Sinon, les zones par défaut seront affichées dans le formulaire test : Nom, Adresse électronique et Question.

Si vous voulez tester le Chat, cochez la case « Test » pour que votre session soit transférée à la File d’attente test (le bibliothécaire au Chat doit sélectionner la File d’attente test dans le Moniteur de Chat). Si vous voulez tester le Chat dans un environnement réel, la case doit être décochée et une file d’attente réelle doit être sélectionnée dans le Moniteur de Chat. Lorsque le formulaire test est utilisé, les données des sessions ne sont pas comptabilisées dans les rapports statistiques.

L’image ci-dessous montre un formulaire test qui contient les zones configurées dans le Gestionnaire de formulaires.

5. Configuration des formulaires pour question sur place dans le Gestionnaire de formulaires

Toujours dans le but d’améliorer la production de rapports statistiques sur les données des formulaires, la configuration des formulaires pour les questions sur place, qui devait auparavant être effectuée dans le module Service de référence (Ajouter une question), est maintenant effectuée dans le Gestionnaire de formulaires. Ainsi, tous les formulaires sont maintenant regroupés en un même endroit ce qui vous permet de mieux contrôler leur uniformité. De plus, grâce au nouvel emplacement des formulaires pour les questions sur place, vous pourrez maintenant sélectionner des options dans des menus déroulants.

L’image suivante illustre l’endroit où vous pouvez maintenant configurer les formulaires pour question sur place.

Dans l’image suivante, un exemple de formulaire pour question sur place configuré dans le Gestionnaire de formulaires.

6. Ajout de l’irlandais

Les administrateurs peuvent maintenant sélectionner la langue irlandaise dans les forces (profondeur) de la collection dans le Profil de l’établissement (module Profil) et les éditeurs de la Base de connaissances globale peuvent également ajouter des notices en langue irlandaise.

Corrections

1. Fuseaux horaires

Lors de l’installation précédente, une plus grande flexibilité pour les fuseaux horaires a été implantée afin de permettre plusieurs fuseaux horaires par pays. Étant donné que des dates différentes ont été adoptées par certains pays pour le passage de l’heure normale à l’heure avancée (et vice-versa), le changement automatique d’heure dans QuestionPoint n’était pas approprié dans certains cas. Ce problème a été réglé et le changement automatique d’heure (avancée et normale) sera maintenant correctement effectué pour les fuseaux horaires représentés dans QuestionPoint.

QuestionPoint Announces Materials for LIS Schools

 

Library schools can obtain a free QuestionPoint account, which will allow faculty members and students to use the QuestionPoint virtual reference software.

A unique teaching vehicle.
QuestionPoint in the classroom will maximize students’ LIS education and develop their virtual reference skills.  Students can experience simulated chat reference interactions and become familiar with an online reference management environment.  Transcripts of chats can be saved and reviewed in class to provide discussions on best practices and reference service provision.

Learning resources available with free LIS account:

• Access to software librarians use and ability to conduct chats and email and review transcripts within class setting.
• Training and information modules on virtual reference and  best practices.
• Sample questions and transcripts to use for classroom exercises.
• List of suggested readings and lessons on virtual reference.

 

For more information on the LIS account, contact:
Becky Hawk at [email protected]
Or visit http://www.oclc.org/community/education/lis

Monthly Report for September 2011

QuestionPoint Members

        1,940    Active SUPs (service unit profiles)

        1,276    SUPs in the 24/7 Reference Cooperative

             29    Languages can be handled by QuestionPoint libraries

 7,031,965    Transactions had passed through QuestionPoint as 30 Sept.

 3,204,171    Patrons have asked questions via libraries with QP since 2002*

      36,122    New patrons asked for help in September*

      24,851    Active records in the Global Knowledge Base

          525     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.

QuestionPoint libraries are in 33 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 Puerto Rico Trinidad & Tabago -------------------- Brazil Chile Peru

QuestionPoint Statistics for September 2011

43,144     Questions received via E-mail and Text Messages

43,740     Chat sessions requested

13,919     Chat sessions requested via Qwidget

42,316     Chat sessions accepted

  9,612     Chat sessions requested at non-24/7 Reference Cooperative libraries

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

       71     Most concurrent chat sessions (up from 46 last month)

       23     Average concurrent chat sessions (up from 14 last month)

24/7 Reference Cooperative Statistics

67.1%  Overall “Answering Percentage” (Cooperative libraries picked up 67.1% of all chat sessions, and Back Up staff picked up 30.7%)

15,259  Academic sessions requested; Coop members answered 10,503 (68.8%)

18,869  Public sessions requested; Coop members answered 12,404 (65.7%)

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

September Questions of Note

One of our members--actually, the OCLC Information Center, right in our back yard—was able to get useful information for a question he was working on.  In answer to the question about free Internet access in libraries in France, the librarian got an answer straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak:  Global Knowledge Base record ID 99934 provided him with a directory of public libraries in the major towns of France, as well as the URL for the Association of French Librarians.  But more to the point, while the UK librarian was working on the original question documented in the GKB, a library user from France happened on the UK enquiry desk and described Internet access in France’s public libraries. 

Although of 2005 vintage, the URLs in the answer are still valid, and there is little reason to believe the French patron’s information is not still the general situation in France.  Nevertheless, our librarian is contacting the Association of French Librarians and promises to update KBID 99934 when he receives additional information.

Search for “association french librarians” (include quotation marks) in the search box in the left margin of this blog.

If you have a story about the Global Knowledge Base to share, please send it to Paula Rumbaugh, at [email protected]. 

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

In September 32 English-language records and 43 French-language records were added to the GKB. 

A 76th record was Spanish-language but answered by the Bibliothèque de l’Institut du Monde Arabe.  KBID 210698 provides a lengthy bibliography for an Argentinian student on the history of Arab culture in France.  Search in the blog search box for “buenos aires” arabe francia (include quotes).

Our thanks, as always, to our volunteer editors for reviewing, copy editing, and formatting records submitted to the Global Reference Network by member libraries.  If you are interested in learning more about the QuestionPoint knowledge base feature (both local and global), see The QuestionPoint Knowledge Bases: An Introduction,” at http://questionpoint.org/education/index.html.  

QuestionPoint transactions pass the 7M marker!

 

Congratulations to the University of California San Diego library, which handled the 7,000,000^th QuestionPoint transaction on Wednesday, 9/21, at 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time. The question, inquiring about the open hours of Academic Computing and Media Services labs, came via an SMS text message.

The question received prompt attention. The librarian’s answer demonstrates the on-page utility to shorten long URLs—with her answer, she provided a minified URL for further information on lab hours. First introduced with the QuestionPoint texting capability, the minifier is especially useful in helping to keep the character count of text message answers low.

UCSD has been offering texting service through QuestionPoint since August 2010 (texting in QuestionPoint was introduced in March 2010). UCSD reports indicate steady texting usage throughout 2011, making up just over 14% of UCSD total questions received by all methods, including web form, chat, and Qwidget.

Free QuestionPoint training at OCLC training portal

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

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

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

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

QuestionPoint Administration 1 - Starting Your QuestionPoint Service

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

QuestionPoint Administration 2 - Generating and Interpreting Reports

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

QuestionPoint Librarian 1 - QuestionPoint Overview and E-mail Reference

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

QuestionPoint Librarian 2 - Using Flash Chat

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

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

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

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

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

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

Monthly Report for August 2011

 

QuestionPoint Members

        1,937    Active SUPs (service unit profiles)

        1,274    SUPs in the 24/7 Reference Cooperative

             29    Languages can be handled by QuestionPoint libraries 

6,948,840    Transactions have been received by QP libraries since 2002 (as of

                     August  31)

3,168,049    Patrons have asked questions via libraries with QP since 2002*

     29,391    New patrons asked for help via QP libraries' websites in August*

     24,777    Active records in the Global Knowledge Base

          525    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 in the 33 countries listed below by region. 

Australia                                   United Kingdom   

New Zealand                                 England

---------------                                Scotland

China                                           Wales

French Polynesia                      ---------------------

Japan                                        Croatia  

India                                         Serbia

Thailand                                    Slovenia

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

United Arab Emirates                  Russia

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

Botswana                                   Canada

South Africa                               Mexico

--------------                               United States

France                                     --------------------

Greece                                      Costa Rica

Germany                                    Jamaica

Italy                                           Martinique

The Netherlands                         Puerto Rico

Spain                                         Trinidad & Tabago

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

Republic of Ireland                       Chile

                                                  Colombia

                                                  Peru

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

QuestionPoint Statistics for August 2011

37,170   Questions received via E-mail and Text Messages

29,333   Chat sessions requested

  9,031   Chat sessions requested via Qwidget

28,228   Chat sessions accepted

  6,655   Chat sessions requested at non-24/7 Reference Cooperative libraries

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

       46   Most concurrent chat sessions (down 4 from last month)

       14   Average concurrent chat sessions (down 1 from last month)

24/7 Reference Cooperative Statistics

72%  Overall “Answering Percentage”!  Cooperative libraries picked up 72% of all chat sessions, and Back Up staff picked up 26%, for a total of 98% pick-up.  See Sessions Abandoned, below.

  7,876  Academic sessions requested; Academic members answered 6,020 (76.4%)

14,802  Public sessions requested; Public members answered 10,326 (69.76%)

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

August Questions of Note

Just activated for you to search: students at the Highline Community College in Washington state asked who the “most famous librarian in history” is . . . or was.  A back-up librarian picked up this question in a chat session (KB record 199606), and immediately found two sources of the same top-25 list.  What makes this KB record worth pointing out here is how it illustrates the ability to update existing records by adding an Addendum to the original.  In this case, at least two other librarians answered the same question; the editor was able to combine the three KB records into one by adding the additional information as addenda.  You can search for “most famous librarian” using the search box in the left pane of this blog page.

This new addition may get a smile from some of you: Someone contacted the Library of the American Library Association asking, "Is it true NYPL staff make $600,000?' Could you send information on the average salary, or posted salary range, for a "typical" reference librarian, or similar position. Also for a branch head.  To find out if there are reference librarians lurking somewhere with such attractive salaries, search for “salary reference librarian.”  You may see some other interesting questions and answers regarding librarian salaries in the same results list.

Don’t forget to submit answered questions to the Global Knowledge Base.  Your answers may contain research that could be of use to your colleagues around the world.  All submittals are reviewed for appropriateness for the global community, corrected for spelling, scrubbed of personal information, and sometimes summarized for succinctness.

Monthly Report for July 2011

QuestionPoint Members

       1,936    Active SUPs (service unit profiles)

       1,274    SUPs in the 24/7 Reference Cooperative

           29    Languages can be handled by QuestionPoint libraries 

6,882,337    Transactions have been received by QP libraries since 2002 (as of July 31)

 3,138,658    Patrons have asked questions via libraries with QP since 2002*

     30,295    New patrons asked for help via QP libraries' websites in July*

     24,721    Active records in the Global Knowledge Base

         524    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 in the 33 countries listed below 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 ----------------- Costa Rica Jamaica Martinique Puerto Rico Trinidad & Tabago -------------------- Chile Colombia Peru

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QuestionPoint Statistics for July 2011

38,956   Questions received via E-mail and Text Messages

28,533   Chat sessions requested

 8,154    Chat sessions requested via Qwidget

27,433   Chat sessions accepted

 6,252    Chat sessions requested at non-24/7 Reference Cooperative libraries

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

      50    Most concurrent chat sessions (just up 1 from last month)

      15    Average concurrent chat sessions (down 2 from last month)

24/7 Reference Cooperative Statistics

67%  Overall “Answering Percentage”!  Cooperative libraries picked up 67% of all chat sessions, and Back Up staff picked up 31%, for a total of 98% pick-up.  See Sessions Abandoned, below.

7,628  Academic sessions requested; Academic members answered 5,305 (69.5%)

14,653  Public sessions requested; Public members answered 9,593 (65.47%)

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

July Questions of Note

Did you ever try searching the Global Knowledge Base when you thought you'd exhausted resources to answer a question at hand?  It may still be rare that the GKB has the directanswer to the question you're researching--after all, there are numerous aspects to all areas of inquiry and except for ready-reference facts, it's unlikely that most Q&A databases will have exactly the question you're asked.  But previous research in a subject area may well note a book or newspaper or journal or web site that you had not encountered before.

Browsing through the GKB recently, we decided to focus on answers contributed by the Library of Congress's Science and Technical Reports reading room.  Not only are they thrown some real curiosities (Is the pinky finger fractured more than any other finger? QID 209616), but they are also often called on to answer very practical questions (What speed should one drive to obtain the best mileage? QID 209594) and to provide resources for graduate-level research (What were the contributions of the Jeep to the Allied defenses in World War II, with particular reference to Normany? QID 91706). 

Over the almost 10 years since QuestionPoint's introduction, the Science and Technical Reports reading room has contributed 327 records to the Global Knowledge Base.  In fact, in June 2002, the month QP was introduced, this reading room submitted a question about Bulldog vehicles.  It's 327th contributed record to date is about telling the temperature by the sounds made by insects (QID 210185).

In July, 28 French-language records were made active in the GKB, 23 English-language, and 5 Spanish-language.  Don't forget to submit your own answered questions, via the QuestionPoint Ask module, if you think they could be useful to others.  Even if they are about local matters, they may provide just the information someone else is looking for.  Editors will correct spelling and standardize the formatting for the GKB.

Dates Set for Next QuestionPoint Virtual User Group Meeting

We look forward to “seeing” you at the Second 2011 QuestionPoint Virtual User Group meeting.  This meeting will be held in three sessions 30-31 August and 1 September, to accommodate the many time zones of the QuestionPoint global community.  We will cover the enhancements that have been implemented since our last meeting in February 2011, including our next scheduled install on 21 August, and answer any questions you may have.   We’ll also share feedback from the User Group meeting held at ALA Annual.

Our update should take 20-30 minutes.  The remaining hour will be yours to discuss topics of interest to you.  Between now and 26 August, please e-mail me topics you’d like the group to discuss.  Send your requests to [email protected].

Please choose one of the following sessions. (Times are shown for both the Eastern time zone in the U.S. and GMT time for international participants.)  Registration is required so we can distribute the necessary log-in/call-in information to you.  Please be sure that messages from [email protected] are allowed through to you so your confirmation and log-in information is not caught in a spam blocker.

Tuesday, 30 August, 11:00 to 12:30 ET (15:00 to 16:30 GMT)  Best for eastern and central North America and South America.  Please register at https://oclc.webex.com/oclc/j.php?ED=159769037&RG=1&UID=1238067797&RT=MiMxMQ%3D%3D   

Wednesday, 31 August, 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM ET (4:00 PM to 5:30 PM PT; 23:00 to 00:30, 31 August, GMT)  We expect western North American and Central American users to find this time best for them, as well as Australian and Asian users.  Please register at https://oclc.webex.com/oclc/j.php?ED=159769852&RG=1&UID=1238073907&RT=MiMxMQ%3D%3D

Thursday, 1 September, 8:00 AM to 9:30 AM ET (12:00 to 13:30 GMT)  We hope this time will be convenient for European, South African, and Middle Eastern users. Please register at https://oclc.webex.com/oclc/j.php?ED=159772277&RG=1&UID=1238084842&RT=MiMxMQ%3D%3D. 

Sessions will be conducted in English and recorded for those who cannot attend.