Ask-WA Statistics – October, 2009

Ask-WA picked up significantly in October, beating September and August in every category. Except Qwidget requests, which remained about even, percentage-wise. In numbers:

• Email questions received: 4287
• Chat sessions requested: 5303
• Chat sessions accepted: 4343
• Qwidget requests (% of total): 1282 (24.2%)

As a cooperative we maintained an answering percentage of 81.9% for the month, which is down nearly 5% from September (probably because of the increased traffic), but remains well over the goal rate of 75%. Keep up the good work! The email aspect of the service continues to enjoy plenty of traffic, though the chat service blossomed this month and beat email by over 1,000 questions. Qwidget traffic remains consistent at around 1/4th of the total chat traffic.

The word cloud highlights some of the most-used words left in survey comments throughout October. The larger the word, the more it was used, so it’s nice to be able to easily pick out (because of their size), words like: great, helpful, wonderful, excellent, useful, impressed, nice, easy, and love.

Kudos – Academic Cooperative

There was a very close two-person race for my favorite academic chat session in October. Being the sap that I am, I choose both of them for top kudos this month. Rachel Goon at Tacoma Community College rocked her session with a student from Minnesota. Rachel provided an exemplary walk-through on how to find articles using the student’s databases, and in the process she was friendly, patient, communicated clearly and, in a word, did everything right. The student left a glowing comment: “Rachel Goon was awesome! I am so happy this service is available!”

Claire Murata at Shoreline Community College also rocked in October. Claire helped a student from Spokane Falls Community College figure out their login idea to get into their school’s databases. Since there were some issues logging in, Claire took a proactive approach, asking the student what they wanted to research in the databases in the first place, and found the student numerous free resources they could use to get started. By the end of the session, the student had figured out how to log in to their databases, but also had numerous excellent resources already in hand. The comment the student left is great, because it shows that they started with pretty low expectations of what a librarian could do for them, and finished with a much different opinion: “My librarian was much more helpful than I expected. If I ever have to use this chatroom [again] (which is highly likely) I hope it reaches the standards I had during this visit.”

Well done Rachel and Claire!

Some of my other favorite comments in the academic cooperative include (parentheses include name and location of librarian):

• I received much useful information for my further studies. Thank you for your help. (Doug A @ Clover Park TC)
• Quick service and easy to use. I would use it again. Very helpful. Thanks. (Stephen B @ Columbia Basin College)
• Debbie from Renton was awesome. She helped me so much. (Debbie C @ Renton Technical College)
• I was amazed that a librarian from a college in Washington helped! A great system! (Kent M @ Olympic College)
• Barbara was fantastic. (Barb O @ Wenatchee Valley College)
• Thank you! This is a fantastic service! (Amanda H @ UW)

Kudos – Public Cooperative

There are always a ton of great comments to look through in the public cooperative, and a handful stood out. There is, however, one comment that really shone, because how often is the work we do considered miraculous? Sara Sunshine Paschal at Tacoma Public Library helped a Maryland patron with a question that had stumped other librarians over the years (according to the comment) and found the full-text of a poem that the patron’s mother used to recite, and of which the patron only remember a few of the actual words. Sara not only answered this stumper, she was also friendly and communicative, and she did it all in under ten minutes! To say that the patron was overjoyed would be an understatement, and she left this comment: “I had been searching for this answer for several years. Had tried at my local Maryland library, Houston library, had several librarians working on this for me but never got an answer. Thanks to this site I was MORE than satisfied!!! It was like a miracle.”

Great job, Sara!

Some of my other favorite comments in the public cooperative include (parentheses include name and location of librarian):

• The lady, Ginny, was pretty cool. She found exactly what I needed within seconds. Good job. (Ginny R @ Sno-Isle)
• I love my libraries. They always take care of me. (Kreg H @ Seattle Public)
• I was surprised at how quickly I got a response! The help was fast and very informative. (Maria M @ KCLS)
• The person that I was chatting with was very useful I liked her very much ! I would use this again of course! (Marilyn N @ NCRL)
• John did a great job in assisting me, and understanding my situation. Thank you very much. (John S @ Seattle Public)
• The librarian was very helpful and friendly. The librarian provided excellent and useful information, and did a good job answering my question. More libraries should offer this service. Thank you. (Lee-Anne F @ FVRL)
• Thank you for this service it enhances the whole library experience! (Rodney P @ KCLS)
• She showed me a database I didn’t know existed. It was extremely helpful! (Ellen P @ Spokane County)
• Very helpful and persistent librarian. I had a tricky question and she gave me an excellent suggestion. (Heather K @ Timberland Regional)
• I think this service is awesome. Thank you for providing it! (Karen K @ Seattle Public)
• Jill was very helpful and went the extra mile to help me. She was pleasant and knowledgeable about the library system… an asset to the KCLS. (Jill K @ KCLS)
• Cynthia @ Yakima Valley Libraries was extremely helpful! She was very nice and did a great job finding me good resources for my paper. This site is amazing!!!!! (Cynthia G @ YVL)
• I am totally impressed by the speed of this service! I was able to solve my problem quickly and effectively and the librarian was very helpful in explaining what could and could not be accomplished. I have never ‘chatted’ before, so this was a pleasant introduction. (Toby T @ Seattle Public)
• Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! (Amy S @ FVRL)
• Really helpful. I always come here when I’m stuck with homework I don’t understand. Sometimes more helpful then my own teacher. Thanks =] (Sean D @ KCLS)
• Excellent service, Jay went beyond what I expected in customer service these days. Thank you! (Jay W @ Timberland Regional)
• Thank you! Great, friendly service! (Laura Y @ Timberland Regional)
• The Librarian was very helpful and used very clear directions. (Laura MB @ Seattle Public)
• Great help! Thank you so much! (Christa W @ Sno-Isle)
• Wow — what a great system. SPL is an incredible resource. Thanks! (Linda R @ Seattle Public)
• The person helped me find some great sites! (Sharon W @ KCLS)

Kudos – Back-up Librarians

We like to help our own patrons, but we can’t always be there for them. In the past we’ve given thanks to the QuestionPoint 24/7 back-up staff and to national cooperative staff separately, this month we got some great service from both groups, and I’d like to thank them and highlight some of the great comments they received from our students and patrons:

• Niki is on her job. Thank you so much for your help, and I will visit again and I will also tell others about your site. (Nicolette S @ 24/7)
• The librarian was extremely helpful and easy to work with. Great program. (Yvonne R @ Bergen CC in NJ)
• I’m a first time user and was very impressed. Thank you for such a wonderful resource! (Zelantha P @ Queens Library in NY)
• Thank you so much I found really good answers and it helped a lot. (Syvlia C @ 24/7)
• Fabulous! I had heard of the service but never used it before. She found exactly what I needed. (Sybil F @ 24/7)
• At night I get Raul and he is always very helpful, thanks for having this service 24/7. (Raul C @ 24/7)
• This is awesome and a shout out to Miss Myra in Fort Bend Texas.Thanks a lot for the help:) (Myra P @ Fort Bend County Libraries in TX)
• Boston Librarian was very helpful and quick. I got exactly what I needed and will be using this feature again. Thanks! (Michael S @ Boston Public Library in MA)
• I used this service for the first time, and I am very impressed indeed! (John D @ 24/7)
• I thought the timeliness of the answers I received were very speedy and informative for this young lady not to be in Seattle where I am. Thank you very much for the service and I believe it will be a continuing wealth of help for others. (Laura F @ Falmouth PL in MA)
• Lovely helpful staff with great resources. Thank you! (Alma O @ 24/7)
• Tim at Kenosha Public Library helped me and he was wonderful. He quickly gave me everything that I needed and more. I will definitely use this service again. (Tim O @ Kenosha Public Library in WI)

Great job, everyone, and thanks for making Ask-WA such a valuable service to library users in Washington State. Keep up the good work!