AskAway Updates

Hi Folks,

The first 2011 AskAway stats and user feedback are now available on the AskAway Portal:

Usage statistics for January have been posted.

User feedback from the patron exit survey can be found here.

It was a short month, but there were many enthusiastic and positive comments about AskAway!

Highlights of January user feedback:

The December AskAway stats and user feedback are now available on the AskAway Portal:

Usage statistics for December have been posted here: http://www.eln.bc.ca/askaway/index.php?page=statistics
The stats include the number of sessions accessed via Qwidget, the total number of sessions and other interesting facts.

QuestionPoint is holding virtual user group meetings February 8-9.  These meetings are open to any interested AskAwayers - registration information is below.

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From QuestionPoint:

Our next virtual meeting will be held at 3 different times February 8-9. We will cover the enhancements and share feedback from the User Group meeting held at ALA Midwinter.

As we move into the beginning of another AskAway term, here’s a couple of tips for ‘getting back in the saddle’:

1.  Get familiar with the Staff Portal again.  This is where you’ll find links to all the tools you need to staff your shift (QP login, Campfire login, scripts, library guest logins, policy pages, etc..).

We've started a series of Secrets of AskAway Success Spotlights on AskAway institutions focusing on how AskAway is promoted and managed at institutions who see a lot of AskAway usage. The aim of these Spotlights is to highlight and share information about successful strategies being employed across a broad range of institution types and locations.  The first two of these Spotlights are available on the Staff Portal Secrets of AskAway Success page:

With the new mobile AskAway option and the prevalence of laptops in libraries, AskAway service providers are responding more and more to patron security complaints & queries. At times it can be difficult to know what to do when an upset or stressed patron asks for help... Should we provide them with contact information or call and pass along the concern/complaint ourselves?

Do you work end of the day AskAway shifts?  Then you know how frustrating it can be wrapping up your chats while also juggling incoming after-hours questions.  Now you don't have to!

QuestionPoint has added the ability to deselect the active Queue and still continue with existing chats at closing time. This allows librarians to finish up with current questions without the added pressure of sending out the Closed scripts to new patrons arriving after hours.

Just a reminder that today is the first day of AskAway service for the fall term.  What can you do to be ready for your first shift?

1.  Get familiar with the Staff Portal again.  This is where you’ll find links to all the tools you need to staff your shift (QP login, Campfire login, library guest logins, policy pages, etc..):

QuestionPoint has new typing indicators for both the patron and librarian. In the Librarian view the patron typing is indicated by the "...is typing" above the chat viewport as well as the (!) exclamation point indicator which can stack with the (+) new message indicator.

The results from the AskAway Patron Exit Survey for the past year have been sorted and here's some of the comments and results you may find interesting.

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Between May 2009 and April 2010 there were 19,502 AskAway calls and a total of 1,240 (6.36%) Patron Exit Surveys completed. Almost 65% of patrons responding to surveys were new to AskAway and 96.5% of all respondents would use AskAway again.