from Nicole Gustavsen's "Virtual Reference Service Standards" document.
If a question at any point needs to be referred to a particular person (a librarian, ITS, etc), communicate this to the user as soon as you decide this is the case. Present this information as being beneficial to them: “I want to make sure your question is fully answered, so I will need to refer you to a librarian.”
To refer a user to someone at the library, follow these steps:
- Get the user’s email address;
- Give the user the full name and email address of the person you’re referring them to;
- Explain why you’re referring (“the Engineering Librarian will be best equipped to answer your question about concrete mixes”);
- If you’re referring the user to a librarian, send them the link to schedule an appointment;
- At the end of the chat, flag the transcript in LibH3lp or email the transcript directly to the person you’re referring the user to. Doing this step ensures that you are giving a "robust referral" and library staff & faculty can follow up on the chat as needed.
