Beyond the Basics - TIPS & TRICKS
Answering more than one chat at a time
When you feel confident with the service, please feel free to answer more than one chat at a time. This will help boost our answering percentage. You can see what your chat window will look like when you are working on more than one question. By clicking on "My Active" you can see all of your active chats. Just click on the patron's name for the interaction to appear in your chat monitor.
Chatting with other librarians
If you'd like to send an IM to a librarian who is monitoring the same queue you are, click on the IM tab at the top of the chat monitor, click on the librarian's name, and an active IM session will appear in the chat monitor.
If you receive an IM from another librarian, you will see an alert that states a new IM request has arrived. Close the alert and click on the IM tab to see the message and chat back and forth.
If you receive an IM from another librarian, you will see an alert that states a new IM request has arrived. Close the alert and click on the IM tab to see the message and chat back and forth.
Transferring a chat to another librarian
You can transfer an active session to a librarian who is monitoring the same queue as you by clicking on the Transfer link at the bottom of the chat. A list of other librarians who are monitoring the same queues will appear. Click on the librarian's name to transfer the chat to them. The words "Transfer Request" will appear. From here, you can ask the librarian if you can transfer a patron to them. Wait for them to reply and then click Transfer. If you receive no reply, click Cancel.
If a patron is transferred to you, you will see an alert that says "New transferred chat session in your 'My Active' tab. Please respond to the patron!" Click OK and then click on the Patron Chat tab to return to the chat area. From there, click on the My Active tab and then on the patron's name.
If a patron is transferred to you, you will see an alert that says "New transferred chat session in your 'My Active' tab. Please respond to the patron!" Click OK and then click on the Patron Chat tab to return to the chat area. From there, click on the My Active tab and then on the patron's name.
Referring a chat to another Fresno State Staff member for follow up
To refer a question to another librarian or staff member, you can use the "Refer To" drop down menu shown below to select "E-mail Partner."
Then, in the blank box, enter the email of the person you want to refer the question to.
Since we'd like to have most, if not all, questions dealt with in the QP interface, try to refer to those who have QP accounts set up already and who can log in to QP and answer the question there. This includes Christine, Amanda, Jane, Allison, Carol, Hiromi, Paula, Chris, David, Susan, and Dave. From here, the person who the question is referred to can send the patron an email and select "Move To > Closed" when done.
Referred questions will be emailed to you and will show up in the left side menu on the QP home page when you log in under "My Questions."
Referred questions will be emailed to you and will show up in the left side menu on the QP home page when you log in under "My Questions."
Referring a chat to quality control
When reviewing chat transcripts, or looking at questions that have been flagged for follow up, you may run across transcripts which you may want to refer to QP Quality. If the patron is given inaccurate information or you just don't think library did the best job he/she could have, please don't hesitate to refer. Several of us at Fresno State have had questions flagged for follow up by QP Quality and it isn't a big deal. Usually, the Quality staff will just let you know what it was that was problematic and make suggestions. We all make mistakes, but it's best that inaccurate info/assumptions/etc... aren't perpetuated. QP is sometimes the student's first interaction with the library, after all.
Here is a quick Jing video showing how to refer a transcript to QP Quality for review:
Here is a quick Jing video showing how to refer a transcript to QP Quality for review:
UK Patrons
If you answer a question from a patron in the UK and they have questions about access to library resources, check the library's policy page. Thanks to the SCONUL access scheme, library users can borrow materials from member libraries throughout the UK. Check the Access Policies and Reciprocal Arrangements field in the policy page.