Tag: Customer Service

Last Chance to Register! Gale, eBooks, & You Webinar

Time is running out!

Sign up now to reserve your space in this timely webinar on nonfiction ebooks in the new GVRL interface.

Gale, eBooks, & You: The New Interface of the Gale Virtual Reference Library

Thursday, May 17, 2-3 pm ET

With electronic reference books from Gale and their publishing partners, you can help your patrons instantly access nonfiction eBooks (with any Internet-connected device) through the Gale Virtual Reference Library. The GVRL is one of many incredible resources available through the Florida Electronic Library… but there’s a new interface in town!

Learn about the Gale Virtual Reference Library and how to utilize its new interface to best help your library patrons in this webinar taught by Julie Pepera of Gale-Cengage.

OCLC’s Virtual Reference Series

Best Practices in Virtual Reference: 
Finding Your Virtual Reference Users Online
DATE: Thursday, May 17, 2012
TIME: 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm EST
LOCATION: OCLC’s virtual classroom

The OCLC Research report Seeking Synchronicity found that one of the biggest obstacles to a successful virtual reference service was getting users to simply know the service existed.  Virtual customer service has become increasingly familiar for commercial business however odds are that most users won’t even know what “Ask a Librarian” means. Many users of all generations don’t even know that virtual reference services exist and that stands for public, academic and special library users alike.

Look at what signs have been effective in letting users know about the service. What works best in both drawing users’ attention and getting them to know what the service is about? With our constantly changing technical vocabulary, are you really saying what you want to say?

Continuing the Best Practices in Virtual Reference Series, Susan McGlamery of OCLC, Bill Pardue, Digital Services Librarian at Arlington Heights Memorial Library in IL as well as Jo John , National Service Coordinator  of Enquire in the UK will lead a discussion on finding your users where they are and meeting them at the point of need. Join us to share what works for your library (or what doesn’t) and hear from your colleagues.

Click here to register with OCLC

Last Chance Webinars in Ask a Librarian

My Virtual Community: Reaching out to your Local Patrons through the Local Desk
Monday, April 30, 2012 (registration closing soon!)
10-11 am ET

Gale, eBooks, & You: The New Interface of the Gale Virtual Reference Library
Thursday, May 17, 2012
2-3 pm ET

High Anxiety: Increasing your Comfort Level on the Statewide Desk
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
10-11 am ET

E-Gov and the Get Help Florida Website
Monday, June 11, 2012
2-3 pm ET

Time is ticking for these upcoming webinars, so why risk it? Register today!

Last Chance Webinars in Ask a Librarian

E-Books! Putting OverDrive e-Books onto e-Readers
Monday, April 2, 2012 (registration closing soon!)
2-3 pm ET

Free Online Health Resources
Wednesday, April 4, 2012 (registration closing soon!)
2-3 pm ET

Ask a Librarian 1.5-Hour Refresher
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
2:30-4 pm ET

Audiobooks! Putting OverDrive Audiobooks onto Portable Players
Monday, April 16, 2012
2-3 pm ET

Time is ticking for these upcoming webinars, so why risk it? Register today!

Calling all evening-shift library staff!

TBLC Presents… 

 How to Deal with Angry Customers

(Yes, it’s an evening workshop!)

Thurs., Feb. 16, 2012   ~   7:30-8:15 pm ET

 

What is the secret to handling situations with difficult or angry customers while maintaining your composure and professionalism?
In this webinar, Andrew Sanderbeck of PCI Webinars/People Connect Institute will teach you a five-step approach to help you effectively diffuse and resolve these situations with less stress AND more confidence! 

Seeking Synchronicity Revelations and Recommendations for Virtual Reference (OCLC research report webinar) and AaL facilitated discussion

OCLC Research in partnership with Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey pulled over five years of virtual reference research into a summary with specific and actionable suggestions in Seeking Synchronicity: Revelations and Recommendations for Virtual Reference.

Seeking Synchronicity: Revelations and Recommendations for Virtual Reference

an OCLC research report webinar

DATE: January 31, 2012

TIME: 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm  (EST)

LOCATION: OCLC’s Online Classroom

and

an Ask a Librarian facilitated conversation

DATE: February 1, 2012

TIME: 10:00 am – 11:00 am  (EST)

LOCATION: TBLC’s Online Classroom

On January 31, 2012 from 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. (EST), co-authors Lynn Silipigni Connaway (OCLC Research) and Marie L Radford (Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey) will review the report’s findings and address topics such as:

·         The exaggerated death of ready reference
·         The importance of query clarification in Virtual Reference
·         Boosting accuracy and building better relationships in Virtual Reference
·         Learning from Virtual Reference transcripts
·         Convenience as a “hook” to draw users to Virtual Reference
·         Generational differences in how people perceive reference interactions and determine success
·         The need for more and improved marketing of Virtual Reference

For more information about the Seeking Synchronicity: Revelations and Recommendations for Virtual Reference report click here.

To register with OCLC for the January 31st webinar click here.

After this OCLC-sponsored webinar, participants are invited to return on Wednesday, February 1, 2012 from 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. when Ask-a-Librarian staff facilitates a continuing discussion among Florida librarians.  For more information about the discussion session and to register click here.

Hot Topics webinars: OverDrive E-Books & Audiobooks

Forgot to register before the holidays?  Space is still available in our two Hot Topics webinars on OverDrive… register for both today!

 

Hot Topics: E-Books! Putting OverDrive E-Books onto eReaders: A Guide For Library Staff

Wed., Jan. 11, 2012, 2-3 pm ET

Hot Topics: Audiobooks! Putting OverDrive Audiobooks onto Portable Players: A Guide For Library Staff

Wed., Jan. 18, 2012, 2-3 pm ET

Audiobooks and E-Books

 

OverDrive audiobooks & ebooks are popular with library patrons. But many of them have a hard time putting it all together: finding available e-books or audiobooks on the digital download site and then transferring them to their PC, e-reader, or listening devices. With information presented by TBLC’s own resident genius & System Administrator Al Carlson, these two webinars will equip public service staff of all library types with the skills they need to assist patrons at any stage of the process.

 

 

Topics include:

  • Finding immediately available audiobooks (Hot Topics: Audiobooks!) or e-books (Hot Topics: E-Books!) on an OverDrive site, installing Adobe Digital Editions and creating an Adobe identity.
  • Downloading audiobooks (Hot Topics: Audiobooks!) or e-books (Hot Topics: E-Books!) to a PC, and transferring (sideloading) them to e-readers/listening devices.
  • Direct downloads to smart phones, iPads, and other web-enabled devices.

Register for both webinars today!

July 2011 Exemplary Reference Awards

The Quality Assurance Workgroup is happy to award the following transcripts for the July 2011 Exemplary Reference Awards. Transcripts were awarded in three categories: Best Detailed Chat, Best Brief Chat, and Best Teaching Chat.

The three winning transcripts are at: http://askalibrarian.org/blog/july-2011-exemplary-award-transcripts/

Show your statewide colleagues that you value the customer service they provide to your patrons and students with a nomination. You can nominate yourself or your co-workers sessions in the Ask a Librarian Toolbox at: http://info.askalibrarian.org/ or when closing a live chat session.

A huge thanks to everyone for all their hard work on Ask a Librarian – without each of you, Ask a Librarian would not be a success.

Brief Exemplary Chat:Jiame
Jiame Goldman , Ask a Librarian Staff  (Jiame is now a Reference Librarian at NOVA Southeastern University)
Jamie found excellent resources very quickly for a student who needed to find members of Congress and their party affiliations.

Detailed Exemplary Chat:
Christine Boatright, Florida Gateway College 
Christine helped a patron with trying to locate a law from the Florida Administrative Code and gave the patron the link to the section. When the patron needed more, Christine gave the patron a lead on who to contact to find out more about the law.

Teaching Exemplary Chat:
Dora Schilling, Lee County
This chat epitomizes an excellent teaching interaction online! Dora shows patience, first making sure that she was following what the student needed to understand about documented essays by sending useful websites that the student evaluated and found helpful. Then Dora moved on to helping the student find some suggestions for topics for an essay, and finally she left the student on the home databases doing searches. She completed the chat by asking the student if more help was needed and to return in the future.

Congratulations to our winners!

Each month we receive numerous nominations for fantastic reference. Here are the other nominees:

Brief Chat:

Larry C, UCF Library
Paula B, St. Pete College
Sandra J, Bay County
Paul McD,  University of Florida
Richard R., Martin County
Diana M,  Santa Fe College
Amy M,  Santa Rosa County
Yossi G,  Everglades University
Bronwyn M,  Ask a Librarian Staff
Susan S,  Hodges University
Kaya vB,  USF St. Petersburg
Lena P,  South Florida CC
Susan S,  Hodges University
Guy A,  Jacksonville PL

Detailed Chat:

Susan S,Hodges
Paula B, SPC
Matt T, USF
Marni, Northwest FL State College
Bronwyn M, Ask a Librarian Staff
Yossi G, Everglades University

Teaching Chat:

Nance L, Santa Fe College
Neil L, Broward College
Jennifer K, Fort Walton Beach
Eric, Florida Keyes C C
Phil H., Martin County
Marian, College of Central FL
Jan S, University of Florida
Susan W, Florida International University
Christine B, Florida Gateway College
Kaya vB, USF St. Petersburg
Susan S, Hodges University
Sharyn B, Tampa Hillsborough
Stephanie K, State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota