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October 2012 Statistics – Chat, Email, and Text

Nov 8, 2012 | ,

October 2012 Stats

Usage Summary

askalibrarian.mobi Mobile Chat Sessions182
Standard Chat Sessions3,355
Instant Invite Chat Sessions99
Widget Chat Sessions2,008
Total Chat Sessions5,644
E-mail Sessions1,632
Text Sessions535
October 2012 total sessions7,811
Fiscal 2012-20137,811
Total use 2011 -201283,400
Participating Libraries126

Top entry by chat

  1. Florida State University
  2. University of South Florida Libraries
  3. University of Florida
  4. St. Petersburg College
  5. Nova Southeastern University
  6. Orange County Public Library Sytem
  7. Tampa Hillsborough Public Library System
  8. University of Central Florida
  9. Miami Dade Public Library System
  10. Jacksonville Public Library

Training

  • Total Trained: 26
  • Number of Sessions: 4
  • Classes Offered: Introductory Training Series, Texting, My Virtual Community, and custom webinars

Live Chat

Local Desks1,711
Academic642
Collaborative3,291
Total Chat5,644

Local Stats by Entry Point

Widgets

Ask a Librarian widgets embedded on a web page allow your patrons to chat, text, or email without leaving your website. The Ask a Librarian SmartButton indicates whether chat is being staffed. Choose from the pool of existing designs, or tell us your preferred characteristics and color scheme for a truly customizable user feature. An iframe tag places the AaL hosted widget anywhere on your page, although it’s also possible to use our documentation to place the code on your own hosted page without using an iframe.

This widget was created for SCFMS and is on their Primo page.

Instant Invite

Instant Invite is a proactive chat that can be set it up so when a patron arrives on a library page the chat will pop onto the screen. Or if they run a search in the catalog and receive no results, a pop up will ask them if they want to chat with a librarian. Everything about this can be customized. Find out more about Instant Invite. Contact us if you would like to set one up for your library.

November 2012 SuperStar Winner

Nov 7, 2012 | ,

Lora Glass

Lora Glass, November 2012 SuperStar

Each month, the Ask a Librarian team picks an outstanding member that has shown exceptional participation in the program. This month’s AAL SuperStar winner is Lora Glass from Niceville Public Library!

Lora has been with the Niceville Public Library since 1983. She started out as the Library Assistant and when the new library facility opened in 2000, became Head of Reference and Interlibrary Loan.  She is a numerous exemplary reference award winner, being awarded in August 2007 for a  teaching chat , July 2009 for a teaching, and January 2011 for a detailed chat. AskaLibrarian is one of her favorite duties because she is constantly challenged.  Her favorite question which she has been asked numerous times is “Are people from Niceville always nice?” Her reply is always, YES.

Lora is a wonderful asset to the Ask a Librarian team. She is a member of the Quality Assurance Workgroup, helping award our wonderful staff that makes Ask a Librarian the terrific service it is. Lora is always reaching out to help staff the desk, willing to help her statewide colleagues.

Lora is an awesome supporter of Ask a Librarian!

Please help me welcome this month’s SuperStar winner, Lora Glass!

 

Participate in VR Research via Phone Interview!

Nov 1, 2012 | , , ,

Participate in VR Research via Phone Interview

Dear Virtual Reference Librarian:

Greetings! We are looking for people interested in taking part in an important study of virtual reference services (VRS). We are willing to pay you for your time.

We hope you will be interested in sharing your opinions and insights about live chat VRS in our grant-funded research project titled, “Cyber Synergy: Seeking Sustainability through Collaboration between Virtual Reference and Social Q&A Sites.” We need librarians willing to participate in a phone interview. Please access the following link to sign up for the survey:

http://bit.ly/cybersynergy

The phone interview will take approximately 45 minutes and participants will receive $30 in compensation. All responses will be kept strictly confidential.

Prior to the interview, we will need a signed consent form. When you respond to this email by responding to the above URL and stating that you are willing to participate, we will send you a one page consent form for you to download, sign, and fax back to us. More instructions about this will follow to confirm your participation.

Cyber Synergy will evaluate sustainability of VRS and explore collaborative models for subject expertise among librarians and other experts systems, such as Social Q&A sites. This study is funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Rutgers University, and OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc.

We, the principal investigators of Cyber Synergy, thank you for your interest in the study.

Marie L. Radford, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Rutgers University

Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist
OCLC, Inc.

Chirag Shah, Ph.D.
Rutgers University, Assistant Professor

More information can be obtained at the project website:

http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/synergy/default.htm

Questions?
Contact Alyssa Darden at dardena@oclc.org

= = =

Chat, Text, and Email Statistics – September 2012

Oct 10, 2012 | ,

September 2012 Stats

Usage Summary

askalibrarian.mobi Mobile Chat Sessions234
Standard Chat Sessions3,080
Instant Invite Chat Sessions92
Widget Chat Sessions1,874
Total Chat Sessions5,280
E-mail Sessions1,567
Text Sessions674
September 2012 total sessions7,521
Fiscal 2011-201283,400
Total use 2011 -201275,712
Participating Libraries126

Top entry by chat

  1. Florida State University
  2. University of South Florida Libraries
  3. University of Florida
  4. Tampa Hillsborough Public Library System
  5. Orange County Public Library Sytem
  6. Nova Southeastern University
  7. University of Central Florida
  8. Broward County Library
  9. St. Petersburg College
  10. Jacksonville Public Library

Training

  • Total Trained: 51
  • Number of Sessions: 4
  • Classes Offered: Online Introductory Training Series, Hot Topics Customer Service or How to Win an Exemplary Reference Award, Ask a Librarian Texting

Live Chat

Local Desks1,829
Academic481
Collaborative2,970
Total Chat5,280

Local Stats by Entry Point

Widgets

Ask a Librarian widgets embedded on a web page allow your patrons to chat, text, or email without leaving your website. The Ask a Librarian SmartButton indicates whether chat is being staffed. Choose from the pool of existing designs, or tell us your preferred characteristics and color scheme for a truly customizable user feature. An iframe tag places the AaL hosted widget anywhere on your page, although it’s also possible to use our documentation to place the code on your own hosted page without using an iframe.

This widget was created for SCFMS and is on their Primo page.

Instant Invite

Instant Invite is a proactive chat that can be set it up so when a patron arrives on a library page the chat will pop onto the screen. Or if they run a search in the catalog and receive no results, a pop up will ask them if they want to chat with a librarian. Everything about this can be customized. Find out more about Instant Invite. Contact us if you would like to set one up for your library.

October 2012 SuperStar Winner

Oct 4, 2012 | ,

Susan Smith, October AAL SuperStar

Susan Smith, October AAL SuperStar

Each month, the Ask a Librarian team will pick an outstanding member that has shown exceptional participation in the program. This month’s AAL SuperStar winner is Susan Smith from Hodges University!

Susan is a Librarian and Site Coordinator for Hodges University. She was an Exemplary Reference Award winner for a brief chat in October 2008, a detailed chat in January 2010, and a detailed chat September 2011.She was also on Ask a Librarian’s SMS Committee, and served an integral role in choosing the best solution to meet the text messaging needs of residents across Florida.

Susan is a real go-getter, always ambitious and ready to help her colleagues on the Ask a Librarian desk. Whether it is to pick up an extra shift or fill in for someone who had a last minute obligation to fill, Susan is always right there to help!! She also helped her library roll out local desk customizations successfully to better serve their students.

Susan is an awesome supporter of Ask a Librarian and her commitment to the program is EXTRAORDINARY!

Please help me welcome this month’s SuperStar winner, Susan Smith!

 

FEL Training from the State Library of Florida

Sep 14, 2012 | , , , , ,

This is just a friendly reminder that the State Library of Florida offers terrific on-demand and live webinar training opportunities (in-person by request) on Florida Electronic Library resources.

“The Florida Electronic Library—your gateway to superior electronic resources that offer access to comprehensive, accurate, and reliable information—offers a training program designed to meet the needs of all library staff. With its blended curriculum, you can take advantage of the training that best suits your learning style: on demand, live webinar, or on-site in your library.”

Register Today!

Check out these upcoming trainings:

The New Demographics Now: Sep 18, 2012 11:00 am
FEL Resources and the Common Core: Sep 19, 2012 8:30 am
Finding Online Resources For Library Programming: Sep 24, 2012 3:30 pm
FEL Homework Help Resources: Sep 25, 2012 12:00 pm
FEL Health Resources: Oct 1, 2012 1:00 pm
The New Demographics Now: Oct 17, 2012 1:00 pm

Chat, Text, and Email Statistics – August 2012

Sep 11, 2012 | ,

August 2012 Stats

Usage Summary

askalibrarian.mobi Mobile Chat Sessions186
Standard Chat Sessions2,079
Instant Invite Chat Sessions49
Widget Chat Sessions1,110
Total Chat Sessions3,424
E-mail Sessions1,460
Text Sessions516
August 2012 total sessions5,400
Fiscal 2011-201275,782
Total use 2010-201175,712
Participating Libraries126

Top entry by chat

  1. Orange County Public Library Sytem
  2. Tampa Hillsborough Public Library System
  3. Florida State University
  4. University of Florida
  5. Jacksonville Public Library
  6. University of South Florida Libraries
  7. Nova Southeastern University
  8. Broward County Library
  9. University of Central Florida
  10. Miami Dade Public Library System

Training

  • Total Trained: 84
  • Number of Sessions: 6
  • Classes Offered: 1.5-Hour Refresher; Custom Training; High Anxiety: Increasing your Comfort Level on the Statewide Desk; Online Introductory Training Continued; Online Resources in the Agent Console

Live Chat

Local Desks1,011
Academic315
Collaborative2,098
Total Chat3,424

Local Stats by Entry Point

Widgets

Ask a Librarian widgets embedded on a web page allow your patrons to chat, text, or email without leaving your website. The Ask a Librarian SmartButton indicates whether chat is being staffed. Choose from the pool of existing designs, or tell us your preferred characteristics and color scheme for a truly customizable user feature. An iframe tag places the AaL hosted widget anywhere on your page, although it’s also possible to use our documentation to place the code on your own hosted page without using an iframe.

This widget was created for SCFMS and is on their Primo page.

Instant Invite

Instant Invite is a proactive chat that can be set it up so when a patron arrives on a library page the chat will pop onto the screen. Or if they run a search in the catalog and receive no results, a pop up will ask them if they want to chat with a librarian. Everything about this can be customized. Find out more about Instant Invite. Contact us if you would like to set one up for your library.

Hot Topics Webinar: Customer Service Excellence, or How to Win an Exemplary Reference Award

Sep 5, 2012 | , , , , , , , , ,

  

Hot Topics: Customer Service Excellence, or How to Win an Exemplary Reference Award 

Wednesday, September 26, 2012
2-3 pm ET

We all know the importance of customer service in reference, but the unique environment of chat reference sometimes presents a few unique challenges, too. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to ensure a helpful and efficient chat reference experience for you and your virtual patrons.
In this webinar, Susan Livingston of South Florida State College, who has won four Exemplary Reference Awards, will provide the tips and tricks she has developed for superior customer service. Pat Barbier of St. Petersburg College, co-chair of the Quality Assurance Workgroup, will provide valuable tips and insights from the QA perspective on how you can ensure excellent customer service for your patrons.
Let Susan and Pat give you all the tools you need to provide customer service excellence in the virtual reference environment. Register today!