NCknows March 2014 Monthly Report

Monthly Activity

This Month:

2806 (coop and backup coverage) + 572 (libraries monitoring their own queues)

= 3378 transcripts + 822 FAQ views this year

Last Month:

2119 (coop and backup coverage) + 952 (libraries monitoring their own queues)

= 3071 transcripts + 600 FAQ views

This Month Last Year:

This Month:  2103 (coop and backup coverage) + 673 (libraries monitoring their own queues) =

2776 transcripts

Check Your Own

There's been a few changes to the tool for individual statistics, http://ncknows.philblank.net/tools/LibStats.php

Not only does it have a new look, it also goes back to August 2011, when NCknows switched to the LibraryH3lp platform, and it shows activity on internal queues as well as on the shared, co-op staffed queue.

If there's anything else you'd like to see monthly statistics for on a regular basis, let me know and I'll see if I can't add it.

New Libraries: Welcome to Belmont Abbey College and Roanoke Rapids Public Library! Thanks to Heather Smith (BAC) and Jeff Watson (RRPL) for their help. And thanks to the librarians at Belmont Abbey College who have expressed interest in staffing the cooperative service. 

Training Site:  If you would like to train a new person from scratch or just want to check on something you may have forgotten, please see: http://ncknows.org/staffncknows.html

As always, if there is a topic you want help with, let me know- someone else is sure to want it as well and I’d be happy to make a page or video for you.

Students like chat: “Online chat was rated highest in effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction. One reason for this was because of how fast the transactions were in comparison to all other services. In addition, participants noted other prominent factors such as real-time interaction, the ability to multitask while chatting, the convenience of ‘already being on the computer,’ and the visual and archival aspects of text-based chat that also allows for the sharing of links.” from http://crl.acrl.org/content/75/3/309.full.pdf+html .

Remember that NCknows can help you design and implement your own chat service. This means you can monitor your own patrons (academic or public) and have the NCknows coop back you up whenever you are unable to monitor yourself. This is a great way to give your patrons the best service possible whenever your schedule allows it. Ask us!

NC LIVE embedded chats: We are starting to see more and more chats with referring urls of “eds.ebscohost...” These are from patrons who are using Ebsco’s discovery service or are in a results page from an ebsco database. Chat widgets have been added to all NC LIVE proquest and ebsco databases but unless you specify otherwise, they have been given a generic attribution. If you would like help integrating chat with your other discovery services or have any questions at all, contact us at ncknows@gmail.com

Feedback Form: We have an advisory board meeting in early May and it is always helpful to have your input when reviewing our activity and planning for the future. It’s been a busy and eventful year. Among other things we updated our entire website, added FAQs, implemented “by library” reporting, reached out to almost every library in NC personally, cleaned up all profiles and admin info, re-did the listservs, revamped our training materials, changed scheduling software, updated the libraryh3lp client, made transcripts content-searchable, added blocking of patrons, integrated chat in nclive databases, experienced record breaking traffic and more! Future plans include designing a mobile app and better implementation of SMS. Please feel free to use this form as a way to tell us your experiences and thoughts:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/156wavtQs7xs80-eom4MqW7NXLFvEPfT12TQgC29kpwI/viewform

Good, bad, or indifferent- we love to hear how this service looks from your perspective. This form is completely anonymous.

Transcript of the Month:

This month Sarah Bonner from Chowan University takes the rare extra step to help a patron with the writing of their paper. As librarians we aren’t expected to do this, but when you have the time to offer a little help, it is often much appreciated. Sarah does a wonderful and patient job of working with this patron. If your local writing centers want to implement chat, tell them to get in touch with us (Sarah does a great job of checking if the patron’s school has a writing center, but alas, they were closed).

Sarah says about this transcript: “When helping the public, I believe it is important to make sure that the patron both learns how to help themselves and walks away satisfied with your service. I find answering questions like the one in this transcript challenging because it can be difficult to find a balance between helping a person and doing the work for them.” Thanks Sarah!

Sarah Bonner from Chowan University

08:11 Patron Good morning. I'm currently having difficulty figuring out what I should do to shorten my intro paragraph. I'm following the outline that was provided for my essay and after I have included everything my paragraph ends up being 434 words. This what the outline calls for: I.tIntroduction (one paragraph)na.tIdentify the specific policy that you have selected and discuss its history and the reasons it was establishednb.tIdentify who the policy affects and how, highlighting its negative affects or unintended side effectsnc.tInclude a thesis statement listing the reasons that the policy should be changed and summarizing your proposed changesn

08:11 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com hello

08:13 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com did the teacher say how long they wanted the intro paragraph to be?

08:15 Patron No, just what is to be included. But I feel as ifs lengthiness is undesirable. Also do you typically answer these type of questions?

08:16 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com well mostly we help people find information that they need, but I work at a college and I am use to these types of questions

08:17 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com could you send me your paragraph?

08:17 Patron Oh I see. I apologize, this is my first time using NC knows. Sure.

08:18 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com hey we want to help you

[patron sends document through the send file function]

08:20 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com I see what you mean it is a long paragraph

08:21 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com do you think it is possible to answer all his questions with just 1 sentence?

08:22 Patron I would normally break it up since there are clearly areas where the topic could create a new paragraph. I just want to make sure that I am providing enough info. I feel like if I left out too much than things wouldn't be understood.

08:23 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com I understand what the policy is about and why it is bad, but I don't see your thesis statement

08:26 Patron Oh.. Well I suppose I need to add in another sentence. I wasn't sure if my thesis was clear or not..

08:28 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com the thesis statement should be your last sentence

08:29 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com and according to what you told me earlier this is what the teacher wants in the statement: "thesis statement listing the reasons that the policy should be changed and summarizing your proposed changes"

08:29 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com I don't really see what your proposed changes are just that it needs to be changed

08:31 Patron Alright, thanks for the advice. Since this will lengthen my intro further do you think it would be okay to space it out into separate paragraphs somewhere?

08:32 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com the teacher did say he only wanted 1 paragraph for the intro

08:34 Patron Well this poses quite the problem for me then. I feel that I can't cut out any more without losing vital information. I could just keep it and ask about it after spring break

08:34 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com you could

08:35 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com let me look at your paragraph to see it I can help you shorten the history of the policy

08:35 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com I think that is where you can make it shorter

08:35 Patron Alright thanks.

08:38 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com ok this part right here could be shorten

08:38 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com This ultimately led to the creation of the CSA, which was first announced in 1969 by President Nixon. He announced that the Attorney general was preparing a “new measure” to better regulate the abuse of drugs and narcotics at the federal level. This measure was the CSA, which combined all previous laws into one uniform policy.

08:39 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com to say something like: This ultimately led to the creation of the CSA, which combined all previous laws into one uniform policy.

08:39 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com it still gets your point across but is less wordy

08:40 Patron Alright that certainly makes sense. I do have some trouble with wordiness... Thanks. This is definitely a step in the right direction, but is it enough?

08:41 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com well I think there are other places you can cut some stuff to...

08:43 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com like this part: This ultimately led to the creation of the CSA, which was first announced in 1969 by President Nixon. He announced that the Attorney general was preparing a “new measure” to better regulate the abuse of drugs and narcotics at the federal level. This measure was the CSA, which combined all previous laws into one uniform policy.

08:43 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com sorry let me send the right text

08:43 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com The main goal of the CSA is the regulation of the use, distribution, manufacture, possession, and importation of controlled substances in the United States. Within the CSA are five classifications known as Schedules which were created with the intention of classifying the world’s various drugs into categories based several factors such as risk for abuse, beneficial uses, health risks, and others. The DEA and FDA are

08:44 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com You could cut that down to 2 sentences

08:45 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com does your school have a writing center?

08:45 Patron It does, but we are on break and only the libraries are open.

08:45 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com ah I see

08:47 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com when is the assignment due?

08:48 Patron The rough draft is due the tuesday after break.

08:48 Patron the 25th

08:50 Patron Also about the other suggestion you had about what I could shorten. Its already two sentences, so do you mean it could be simply made more concise?

08:50 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com yes

08:52 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com Here is my suggestion to help you make your paragraph more concise

08:52 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com read through it and break it into groups based on what you are trying to say

08:53 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com After you do that work with each group to make it less wordy but still say the same thing

08:53 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com it might help if you give yourself something visual to look at when breaking the text into groups

08:54 Patron Alright, that makes sense. Thanks for the help. I'll definitely try that. Well I'll let you go now so you can help others. I think I know what I need to do now.

08:55 chowansb@libraryh3lp.com you’re welcome I am happy to help you... good luck with your paper

08:55 Patron Thanks, have a great day