tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-95160382011-04-21T15:02:59.164-07:00Maricopa County Library District is planning to launch a new service, online research assistance, where customers get help through live chat on our Web site. Read all about it through this blog. We welcome your posts!MCLDnoreply@blogger.comBlogger321100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1123095468293066832005-08-03T11:57:00.000-07:002005-08-03T11:57:48.293-07:00

Participating Libraries would have to agree on the system chosen.• Participating Libraries would need to coordinate their library services hours to make the most of the cooperation.• Funding should be sought from NSTA money from the Az. State Library for start-up. After that, the libraries would have to fund the system.• A project coordinator should be named to oversee the setup and manage the

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1123095361293543922005-08-03T11:51:00.000-07:002005-08-03T11:58:34.226-07:00

Virtual Reference Forum World CafeJuly 27, 2005The Question: What would it take to have a successful collaborative Virtual Reference service in Arizona? Some of the Answers:• Cooperation throughout the state – from library staff and leadership (the powers that be)• Time – especially allocation of staff• An agreement of the amount of time each library would contribute, such as 2 hours of public

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1123095047826320362005-07-27T11:06:00.000-07:002005-08-12T12:27:15.720-07:00

What a great day! We heard from Joe Thompson, from Maryland and also from librarians that manage local live chat services. Thanks to Questionpoint: 24/7 Reference (OCLC) for providing refreshments and breakfast snacks as well as the afternoon's spread during the World Cafe discussion. Other speakers that participated in the forum included:Mary Grace Oakes, Reference LibrarianCity of Mesa

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1122326277348561222005-07-25T14:15:00.000-07:002005-07-25T14:17:57.356-07:00

The results of our virtual reference survey are posted on our site and available for anyone to see. You can even sort by zip code, so if your library linked to the survey, and some did, you will be able to see how respondents answered questions in your zip code. Thanks to our very wonderful and talented Web developer for creating this utility!

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1121972351013411002005-07-15T16:49:00.000-07:002005-07-21T11:59:42.926-07:00

Based on our experience thus far (since we began implementing the service in February 2005) we've learned so much! First, we learned that no matter how much you read about it and how much you study what other libraries have done, although it certainly helps, your experience will be different. It took implementing it for us to learn how things work best here at MCLD, for us, our librarians, and

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1118786714963287672005-06-19T10:10:00.000-07:002005-07-21T11:45:29.280-07:00

As the grant year winds down we are preparing our final report. Here are the outcomes we intended to track although our evaluation isn't complete.Outcomes/Activities/EvaluationThe outcomes of the project would include an increased awareness of the value-added services a librarian provides to researchers and an awareness of the premium resources libraries offer.Outcome No. 1: Customers who use the

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1118786684745462532005-06-14T15:04:00.000-07:002005-07-21T11:38:18.140-07:00

The more I learn about the 24/7 and QP (QuestionPoint) merged product I get excited! The service is certainly maturing as the software and its features evolve. It's not just about live chat anymore. Live chat is a part of it. Email reference is a part of it. There's also the ability for staff to add questions to the queue. Multiple librarians can log into the queue and answer questions and

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1118786697728287462005-05-14T14:05:00.000-07:002005-07-21T11:22:05.956-07:00

We finalized plans for the Virtual Reference Forum. Initially we intended to have a vendor showcase, but then realized that the software offers much of the same features and are conceptually similar. So, we decided on a keynote speaker and we are lucky enough to have Joe Thompson from Maryland AskUsNow!, the recipient of the 2004 Virtual Reference Desk Exemplary Service award, come and speak to

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1118786613704648442005-04-14T16:07:00.000-07:002005-07-21T11:47:33.143-07:00

We're hoping to create a training binder to organize all of the training materials a librarian would find useful. In doing this, we've tried hard not to reinvent the wheel. 24/7 has a great online tutorial that we direct our librarians to before they attend the hands-on training. We also perused other library's training material (Anytime, Anywhere answers--Building Skills for Virtual Reference

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1118786640273510702005-04-14T10:03:00.000-07:002005-07-21T10:33:39.666-07:00

The merger of 24/7 Reference and Questionpoint is getting closer and closer. With that we are really excited to see how the two services will interact and how that will impact our service and the workflow. Currently all of our email questions come through Outlook and the live chat questions come through live chat. Questions that cannot be answered in real time are coded to AZ follow-up so that

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1118786295859436172005-03-14T14:53:00.000-08:002005-06-14T14:58:35.293-07:00

When customer questions cannot be answered the librarian will code the question to a local follow up queue which is monitored by a librarian. Here at MCLD our electronic resources librarian (ERL) monitors the queue a few times a day. Many of the questions, of course, are sent to follow up by librarians working outside of MCLD. Also, many of these questions are circulation questions, and cannot be

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1118785962611121472005-03-05T14:46:00.000-08:002005-06-14T14:52:42.616-07:00

24/7 Reference allows librarians to IM each other via the software. This, we think, will offer a huge advantage so that librarians, MCLD and others, especially when serving the global desk, will allow librarians to communicate. Unfortunately, due to County restrictions, we are unable to open the ports that will allow us to do that. We hope that in the future, when we are on our own network we

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1109976744650607582005-03-04T14:39:00.000-08:002005-03-04T14:52:24.650-08:00

Everyone trained in 24/7 Reference has now completed at least one hour of coverage on the service. Thanks to all MCLD librarians for a terrific job with this expansion of our existing reference services. We did have a few glitches which we expected and which were beneficial in helping us learn about the service. Overall, our implementation phase went very well.StatisticsSince February 2nd, we

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1118786591937571882005-02-22T15:02:00.000-08:002005-07-21T10:13:54.616-07:00

24/7 Reference Integration with Polaris PowerPacToday we are rolling out the second phase of the 24X7 Ask! service that includes integration with the Powerpac. The completion of this project further develops the portal concept so that customers are able to log in to their account and access their personal information—renewals, requests, fines and fees, saved searches, reading history, and now,

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1109251143885213512005-02-14T05:16:00.000-08:002005-02-24T05:19:03.886-08:00

An email group, Virtual Librarians, was created so that we are able to easily communicate with all of our librarians. We need a way to communicate software updates or request assistance in coverage, and help with questions.

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1109250888104897792005-02-04T05:06:00.000-08:002005-02-24T05:14:48.106-08:00

MCLD librarians will have one more (optional, for those who sign up) training opportunity in the form of directed practice exercises. They will work with one of our three trainers (Susan, Jeremy, or Paula) and follow scripted exercises that will allow them to use all the features of the software (text chat, scripted text messages, pushing pages, scripted web pages, viewing before sending,

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1109250352192694482005-02-02T05:00:00.000-08:002005-02-24T05:05:52.193-08:00

Today we placed the 24/7 Reference link on our home page. The librarians from 24/7 Reference will be staffing our service until our librarians begin staffing on February 14th. This allows us a couple of weeks of "ramp up" time while we promote the service on our site. Many of the transactions the 24/7 Reference librarians helped us with were test by us. So, we thank them for their patience. We

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1109249977835770542005-02-01T04:56:00.000-08:002005-02-24T04:59:37.836-08:00

Our service has a name! And a logo! We asked the question in our survey and the results were inconclusive. So we decided to take a combination of the most popular choices. We needed something that worked online as well as offline. We are planning to drop "Jeannie" (the girl with the magnifying glass) at some point in the near future and simply use the 24X7 ASK! text on the golden triangle.

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1106375109759616932005-01-24T22:17:00.000-08:002005-02-24T04:37:12.453-08:00

We are planning to email our customers an invitation to take the survey available on our home page. The email will read something like this:______________________________________________________Subject Line: Maricopa County Library District Online SurveyText of Message: The Maricopa County Library District invites you to answer a brief survey about a new service we will soon be offering through

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1106373042423804372005-01-20T21:38:00.000-08:002005-01-21T21:52:00.046-08:00

We are approaching the third training this month for Advanced Virtual Reference Librarianship. This training did not touch on the software, but moreso on the process (virtual reference interviews, chat etiquette, evaluating your own transcripts, and advanced search techniques). It was quite successful and we received fairly positive reviews from staff. We still have one more training on January

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1109249535362229012005-01-17T04:39:00.000-08:002005-02-24T04:55:11.026-08:00

A recent article touting the more successful virtual reference services experiences focuses on statewide initiatives. The article, Virtual Reference: Alive & Well, is written by Brenda Bailey-Hainer and references previous articles written by Steve Coffman and Linda Arret (To Chat or Not To Chat. Part I, Part II) which cautioned libraries to contemplate how best to serve the customer (chat,

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1103743204021581982004-12-22T11:15:00.000-08:002004-12-22T15:47:11.756-08:00

Today Susan V created the MCLD Policy Page within 24/7 Reference software. The policy page outlines MCLD-specific policies so that librarians outside of MCLD that are serving our customers have quick and easy access to information that will assist them in answering District-specific questions. The policy page includes statements such as where our databases are located, hours of operation, contact

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1103743418604136532004-12-17T11:21:00.000-08:002004-12-22T11:24:52.266-08:00

Susan is monitoring the DIG-REF listserv since and a recent conversation on the DIG_REF listserv turned up these promotional ideas: ------------------------------------------- At UNC-CH's Undergraduate Library, we distribute business card-sized stickers at the Reference Desk and in instruction sessions with our buddy name on it (we use AOL's IM). These stickers are a huge hit with students

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1106372252102426282004-12-09T21:09:00.000-08:002005-01-21T21:37:32.103-08:00

Training of over 30 librarians throughout the District was accomplished over a two-day period (December 8th and 9th). We surveyed the librarians after the training to gather input on whether or not they felt prepared to work the virtual reference desk. The majority of the librarians felt they needed more time practicing with the software. They also needed more training on the database and

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1102490443438848242004-12-07T17:16:00.000-08:002004-12-07T23:20:43.436-08:00

Today we met with Carol from 24/7 Reference for the better part of the afternoon. Today's training was set for administrative staff. We covered setting up accounts, usernames and screen names, policy pages, scheduling, global vs. local coverage, training, and much of the logistics in administering the service. At today's training was Jeremy, the District's trainer; Susan, Electronic Resource

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1102490608578000312004-12-06T23:21:00.000-08:002004-12-07T23:43:10.940-08:00

Part of the grant was to report back on the 'readiness' or acceptance of such a service. Are the residents of Maricopa County ready for live chat reference services? In order to find out we decided on a survey on our home page. We will have this up for one month, but the link will stay live. We are inviting any library in the state to use the survey. The survey will be live until the end of the

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1102491630706041402004-11-12T15:38:00.000-08:002004-12-07T23:40:30.706-08:00

As you may know the Library District is planning to offer our customers a virtual reference (live chat) service where customers can get answers to their questions in real time with a go-live date of February 1, 2005 (or thereabouts). The District will continue offering email reference to its customers as well. This project is involving the assistance of many library staff members. Librarians

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1102494711971477392004-09-01T01:24:00.000-07:002004-12-08T00:31:51.970-08:00

To Chat or Not to Chat — Taking Yet Another Look at Virtual Reference, Part 2 Again, worthwhile to read. "The purpose of this paper has not been to argue for or against chat, but rather to suggest that libraries should approach the whole issue of virtual reference with much more careful and deliberate consideration. " Okay, so now we are embarking on our new venture and Steve Coffman and Linda

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1102495455545422172004-08-01T01:38:00.000-07:002004-12-08T00:44:39.443-08:00

The Library District's ILS vendor, GIS Infosystems, allows Tutor.com customers the ability to wrap the whole virtual reference service into the portal. By that I mean a few things. For one, a link to the virtual reference service appears in the results of the catalog and two, when library customers log in to their account a separate tab appears called "Virtual Reference" where transcripts of

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1102494048493808592004-07-01T01:10:00.000-07:002004-12-22T15:51:28.790-08:00

To Chat Or Not to Chat — Taking Another Look at Virtual Reference, Part 1. This article is well worth your time. It gives a solid background on where we've been with virtual reference and the current landscape of successful and not so successful services. It highlights the KnowItNow service in the Cleveland, Ohio, area. KnowItNow comes from a small consortium called Clevnet consisting of

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1102492231146643352004-06-07T23:44:00.000-07:002004-12-07T23:50:31.146-08:00

Aaargh...hmmm...what can I say? Great news for 24/7 Reference, great news for OCLC, too. The two are merging. What does that mean for us and the grant. Well, the buzz had been traveling around for quite a while and it was finally confirmed in many of the news reports. We'll have to wait this one out, but I can say with some certainty that if they take the best of 24/7 Reference (live chat) and

MCLDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9516038.post-1102491506260532822004-06-01T23:27:00.000-07:002004-12-07T23:42:12.393-08:00

We just received word of the LSTA funding. Unfortunately the grant was not fully funded. Understandably, the State Library is interested in questions regarding the future of a state-wide cooperative but more importantly there were other questions yet unanswered. Some of these questions included whether or not there would be sufficient amount of potential customers and how to prepare staff. The

MCLDnoreply@blogger.com