Attention, staff!
- Would you like to create your own scripts and bookmarks for your personal use inside the Agent Console?
- Did you learn the steps during an Ask a Librarian workshop, but just can’t quite remember what to do?
As you grow with Ask a Librarian, no doubt you will find yourself retyping certain phrases, sentences, questions, or specific wordings time and time again. Maybe there is just a word or two in an existing script that is otherwise brilliant (:]), and it would save you both time and energy to have your preferences already in place. When you create your own scripts and URL bookmarks, you won’t lose the statewide ones found in the Account Default folders; those scripts and URLs will still be there. Instead, what you will see is an additional folder with your name on it, right above the Account Default folder – and this folder will contain your private creations.
To help with this, we’ve created a new demo to show you how to create your own scripts and bookmarks! Just log into the Ask a Librarian Toolbox, click on the Practice/Training link on the left, and then click on Scripts and Bookmarks Demo in the Training Demo Videos section. (Need help? Email me at avett@tblc.org.)
Well-written scripts offer a ton of benefits in virtual reference, especially with consistency in customer service and with saving time. Customer-service-oriented scripts are especially vital in virtual reference because we don’t have some of the personal and social cues (gestures, inflection, tone of voice) that support in-person transactions. Just like thoughtful greeting/welcome and closing messages in phone calls to your library establishes a basis for professionalism and courtesy, well-written scripts communicate in no uncertain terms that the user is welcomed rather than tolerated, and can even act as a “customer service” buffer in cases where you and the user have different communication styles.
Enjoy your weekend!