Foley Library User Services Training Guide

What is the virtual chat?

Our chat service is available to patrons 24/7. There are three sets of people who might respond to a chat from our patrons. Our chat service will try to send the chat to the first group, and if it doesn't get a response, it will send the chat on to the second group, and so on.

1. Local staffing (librarians, staff, and student employees at Foley library)
2. AJCU staffing (librarians from other Jesuit colleges & universities)
3. Backup service (paid service to answer any chats that fall through the above two layers)

Librarians, library staff, and student employees are all in the first group of people who may receive chats from Foley patrons. Think of the chat as another way that a patron might get in touch with the library, similar to phone calls and patrons who walk up to the desk. Chat questions may ask about a wide variety of topics, just like with other patron questions, and like those questions, chat questions can also be categorized as informational, reference, or research.

 

The chat schedule vs. Research questions

The chat may be staffed by a librarian, library staff member, or a student employee at any given time.

 

Who is on-call for research questions?

Just because someone is staffing the chat does not mean that they are on-call for research help. This is a change from previous years. For walk-up research help, please instead use the Zoom channel to see if a librarian is available to help.

 

How to use LibraryH3lp

Prior to logging into the chat client, make sure that the volume on your machine is turned up loud enough for you to be able to hear the notification chimes when someone sends you a new chat.

When you are first logging into the chat, you have several options for your shift. In order to make sure the chat automatically logs out at the end of your shift, you can set a timer (1 hour), or use the clock (1:00 pm), or select “Never” if you want the chat to stay logged in indefinitely. If you select "never," please make sure to log out when you are done staffing the chat—navigating away from the chat webpage will not automatically log you out!

Once you are logged in, you will be able to see any other librarians or library staff who are also staffing the chat.

In this case, you could click on Anthony’s name (gonzaga-tardiff) and send him a chat to get advice on answering questions via the chat.

 

Answering Incoming Chats

Make sure you answer a chat as soon as it comes in! This not only provides good customer service to our patrons, but also ensures that the chat will not drop to the back up service (it is set to do so after 30 seconds).

Typing a quick "Hello!" or "Hi!" is sufficient to give you time to answer.

Duties of Staffing the Virtual Chat

from Nicole Gustavsen's "Virtual Reference Service Standards" document.

• Stay by the computer for the duration of your shift. If you really need to step away, put yourself on “away” mode first.
• Respond to every chat question that comes in.
• Answer each question to the best of your ability.
• Refer questions beyond your ability to librarians and other experts.
• Make sure each user’s question is answered before closing. le. Make sure to ask if there are any other questions, and thank the user for using chat services.