Chat Reference

I love chat reference and our Meebo sessions. I wish it was available to our students 24/7, but I certainly do not want to be the person working in the wee hours of the night. :)

One of the sessions that I attended at the MLA Conference (November 2008) was about a digital reference services that is 24/7. In the future, we might want to consider a similar option through a cooperative service. This service is through Minnesota Libraries and QuestionPoint, a National Reference Cooperative.

Name of the session: AskMN: The Librarian Is In

This session explained how many libraries are teaming up to have 24/7 instant messaging services for patrons. They are now able to have the librarians at a site get first “dibs” on a question posed by their patron. If the librarian at that location is not able to answer the question after a certain period of time OR if their library is closed, the question will be picked up at another location. The participating libraries pay for this service. They provide logins and passwords so librarians that are not working for the institutions where the questions are posed are then able to access the same databases granted to those patrons. Therefore, they are able to “see” what the virtual patron is navigating. This would be a great service for Rasmussen due to the 24/7 availability. The only login and password would be needed as the Non-Rasmussen librarian logged into the Student Portal. The website for this services is AskMN.org, and participating libraries can put the widget on their library homepages. The libraries that are currently utilizing this service are both academic and public. This session was led by Carla Steinberg Pfahl from MINITEX.

Meebo Math

We've been recording our Meebo chats for over two months now and I wanted to take a look at our statistics to get a picture of which days and times are more popular. I'll just be straightforward and give you the numbers I crunched.

Disclaimer: The results may be skewed because everyone would record their sessions differently. Some of us would record a request to be added to the buddy list as a transaction and some of us didn't. When a student would navigate away from a chat window and then come back, some of us would record that as multiple sessions while others would count it as one. If a chat session wasn't recorded in the Google Documents session, then naturally it won't influence the results here. Finally, I'll admit to rounding, estimating and even human error on my part. Counting seemed so much simpler in first grade.

April and May Overview:

April: 81 chat sessions over 122 hours for a rate of .67 questions per hour.
May: 143 chat sessions over 133 hours for a rate of 1.08 questions per hour covered.

That's an improvement of 62%!

Morning, Afternoon and Evening Chat Overview:*

I divided up the chat sessions into three time periods. The first period is the morning period and it covers any time before 1 p.m. Central. I didn't second guess the times entered, however. If a librarian was on the east coast and said their session went from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., I counted it as an afternoon session even though it was technically only 1 p.m. Central when the session ended. There were a few times when two librarians would have the same hours covered because of this. The afternoon time period went from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The evening time period covered any time after 5 p.m. That technically makes it the longest time period but most of the evening chat sessions were done before 9 p.m. Central. If a session went from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., I'd split the session up and give one hour to the morning and another to the afternoon. If there were an even number of questions recorded, I'd divide them equally between the two time periods. If there was an even number or an easily dividable number (3 questions over 3 hours), it was random which time period received the extra. Overly scientific, this is not.

Morning: 57 questions over close to 80 hours with a rate of .71 questions per hour.
Afternoon: 99 questions over 111.25 hours covered with a rate of .88 questions per hour.
Evening: 110 questions over 95.75 hours covered with a rate of 1.15 questions per hour.

*These figures include the past week's June sessions so the numbers aren't just April and May.


Days of the Week Overview:*

The most popular days of the week were Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday with averages over one question per covered hour. The least popular were Friday and Saturday with about one question per every two hours.

*Listed by most popular days to least popular days.

Tuesday: 60 questions over 43.75 hours for a ratio of 1.37 questions per hour.
Sunday: 27 questions over 24.5 hours for a ratio of 1.1 questions per hour.
Wednesday: 62 questions over 57.75 hours for a ratio of 1.07 questions per hour.
Thursday: 54 questions over 62.25 hours for a ratio of .87 questions per hour.
Monday: 37 questions over 46.25 hours for a ratio of .8 questions per hour.
Friday: 13 questions over 24.5 hours for a ratio of .53 questions per hour.
Saturday: 13 questions over 25.75 hours for a ratio of .5 questions per hour.

It should be noted that most of Friday and Saturday's chat sessions were done in the morning or early afternoon which could influence how low they are since morning is the least active time period. In the same vein, all of Sunday's sessions were done in the evening which is, according to the time period comparison, the most popular time for chat sessions. The numbers aren't weighed down by inactive morning or afternoon sessions.

*These figures include the past week's June sessions so the numbers aren't just April and May.

There is a rough glance at the numbers. We can perhaps study these to determine which time periods are important to cover as best we can while leaving room for a life. Or maybe just look at them because numbers are cool.

-Krista

Meebo Best Practices

Here is a list of Best Practices I've compiled to follow for virtual chat reference modeled after RUSA's guidelines. If you have any more suggestions, post them here or e-mail them to me.

I. Introduction

a. Introduce yourself.

b. Include your position/title.

II. Show Interest

a. Ask how you can help.

b. Maintain word contact. In other words, make sure they know you’re paying attention or where you are at all times. For example, say ‘okay’, ‘thank you’, ‘I see’…etc. to show that you’re “listening.”

c. If you know you’re going to be “quiet” for a while, let the person know. Tell them when you’ll be back or let them know what you’re doing so they know why you’re not responding. “I’m going to search this database but I’ll still be here.” “I am going to go look on the shelves.” “I have to take this phone call, I’ll be right back.”

III. Listening/Inquiring

a. Restate provided information using your own words so they can see how you interpreted their information request.

b. Ask clarifying questions.

i. What are the details of your assignment? This is an important question to determine if you could provide them with information they might not know they need right now. APA help, for instance.

ii. What types of information sources are acceptable? (Databases, books, websites…etc.)

iii. What information have you already found?

c. Ask open ended questions.

i. What more can you tell me about your topic?

ii. How much information do you need?

d. Maintain objectivity.

IV. Searching

a. Find out what sources the student has tried.

b. Verify spelling and facts provided.

c. Explain your search process to the student.

i. Identify search terms used.

ii. Let them know which library services you are using to perform the search such as a specific database, the Internet, bookmarks or NetLibrary.

iii. Ensure they know where to find the services on the library’s website for future independent searching.

iv. When showing them how to find information on the website, make sure they open a new browser as to not navigate away from your chat window.

v. Once you have found the information, ask if it meets their needs.

V. Follow-Up

a. Ask patrons if their question has been answered completely.

b. Ask them if they have any more questions.

c. Based on the information you’ve discovered during the reference transaction as to the reason they need the information they’re seeking, suggest other library services they may find helpful in the future.

i. APA help.

ii. Other databases they may want to search for further information.

d. Let them know how to contact you or other librarians.

i. Let them know how long you will be available on Meebo and if another librarian will be at their disposable after your shift is over.

ii. Give them an e-mail address where they can contact you.

iii. Inform them of the “Ask a Librarian” e-mail option on the main library page.

iv. If necessary, provide them with a telephone number.

v. Set up an in person appointment if necessary and possible.

e. Do not end the interview prematurely. Let them end it.

General Tech Tips:

1. Use Firefox. Meebo .

2. Open a separate window for Meebo. Some of the signs of an incoming message won’t appear if more than one tab is open in the same window from which you’re accessing Meebo.

3. If you have to step away from the computer, make sure you leave an away message. To add an away message, click on the “I’m available” link underneath the smiley faces on the Meebo Buddy list window and choose the “Custom” option. A window will appear allowing you to type in a message for students to see. Be specific!

4. Don’t forget to record your shift, number of reference interactions and the nature of those questions in the RCLS Google Docs account.

Sources:

RUSA. (2007) Guidelines for Behavioral Performance of Reference and Information Services Professionals. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/ala/rusa/protools/referenceguide/guidelinesbehavioral.cfm

~Krista Jacobson