AskAway Blog

QP Emergency Service Interruption

Submitted by admin-boss on

QP is going to be down for 15 minutes at 6 PM tonight for an emergency install. If you are staffing AskAway at 6 PM, you need to end any sessions 2 minutes before 6, log out, and then log in again after 15 minutes.
I've created a script for you to use called Close - Emergency shut down:
"AskAway is undergoing an emergency software shut down at 6 PM. It should only last 15 minutes. Please exit chat and return at 6:15 PM, when we will be able to help you again. Apologies for any inconvenience!"
Let me know if you have any questions about this.
Cheers,

ACRL Online Course: Virtual Reference Competencies

Submitted by admin-boss on

Virtual Reference Competencies (Multi-week Online Course: June 22 - July 31, 2009)
In this six-week seminar, participants will engage in learning activities, supported by readings as well as lecture and discussion, to acquire and improve the technical competencies required by effective virtual reference librarians. During this course, engage in learning activities supported by readings as well as lecture and discussion, to practice and expand the communications competencies required by effective virtual reference librarians.

Marie Radford BC Library Conference presentations available

Submitted by admin-boss on

Weren't able to make it to the AskAway sponsored sessions at the BC Library Conference this year? No worries! Marie Radford's powerpoint slides are now available on the Staff Portal:
Staff Tools --> Training
Effective Reference Encounters: Drawing from her extensive research into reference interactions, Marie presented tips and tricks for making the most of your in-person or virtual reference encounter.

AskAway Librarians' Portal Upgrade

Submitted by admin-boss on

As requested by many AskAway service providers, the AskAway Librarians' Portal has been upgraded and reorganised!
Please take a few minutes before your next shift to look over the new website.
If you had the main page of the old portal bookmarked, you'll find that your link now takes you to the Staff Tools section of the website. This page contains links to the webpages that you are most likely to use as an AskAway service provider.

Update for March 18, 2009

Submitted by admin-boss on

In this update:
AA News: AskAway Traffic Up 95% Over Last Year! | AskAway Adds Value Toolkit Now Available | Software Selection Committee | An AA Success Story | Jing Video Tutorials | Joint AA/eHLBC Brown Bag | New Service-wide Scripts Available
How do I… Cope with increased traffic?
AA FAQs: Which Resolution/Descriptive Codes do I use?
AA Stats: Reaching New Audiences
Absolutely Amazing Patron Feedback
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Capilano University Holdings Problems

Submitted by admin-boss on

Capilano University is reporting problems with their GODOT holdings display:
"When anyone from off-campus (such as a student or an Askawayer), clicks on "Where can I get This?" to link to holdings from any of our databases, the screen that comes up shows the SFU holdings screen not the CapU one. The links all require an SFU login so our students are not able to access any links nor to request the item.
SFU and Cap are working on this and hoping to solve it as soon as possible.
Thanks to the Askawayers who brought this to our attention."
- Sunni, BC ELN

Did you know? Searching by DOI

Submitted by admin-boss on

If someone has a DOI, and no other information about an article, how do you search for that article?
You can go here, to The DOI System:
http://www.doi.org/
Scroll down the page, and look for the section: Resolve a DOI name
Copy and paste (or type) your DOI into the search field, and click the submit button.
Presto! The article's information is displayed. Now you can search by journal title, article title, author, or whatever you like.

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