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Tag: virtual reference

Ref22: Using Screencasts in Virtual Reference

Ref22: Using Screencasts in Virtual Reference

What: Ref22: “Using Screencasts in Virtual Reference” When: Tuesday, October 13th, 8:30 – 9:30 am PST Where: Wimba WA_TrainingRoom1 Tuesday, October 13th, we will host our very first webinar in what will be a monthly series called Ref22 (it’s “22” because it’s the 2nd Tuesday of every month). Ref22 is meant for reference and virtual reference librarians in particular, and will cover a variety of interesting and practical topics. This month we are happy to feature Lauren Ray, Educational Outreach…

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Join Ask-WA for Free in 2010

Join Ask-WA for Free in 2010

Dear libraries of Washington State, Are your users on the internet? I’m willing to bet that a lot of them are. Do they use chat software to communicate? IM tools like ICQ and AIM have been around since 1996/1997 (respectively), and companies like Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! all provide IM services. Chat and IM aren’t new, and lots of people use them to communicate with friends, family, and colleagues. Chat and email are probably the two most-used methods for online…

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Get great answers to tough questions, online and 24/7.

Get great answers to tough questions, online and 24/7.

Your librarians will answer your questions, day or night. Have you ever had a question you couldn’t answer? Has Google left you empty-handed – or overwhelmed? Have you considered asking an expert for help? Your library has professional information specialists (we just call them librarians) who know how to go beyond Google to find you the information you need. And now asking a librarian is just as convenient as searching the Web. Over 60 libraries in Washington State have joined…

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Ask-WA(tch): Stats, Kudos and Comments for August 2009

Ask-WA(tch): Stats, Kudos and Comments for August 2009

Ask-WA Statistics – August, 2009 Ask-WA maintained a busy service during the month of August, with email again outpacing chat service. In numbers: Email questions received: 3821 Chat sessions requested: 3067 Chat sessions accepted: 2599 Qwidget requests (% of total): 789 (25.7%) As a cooperative we maintained an answering percentage of 84.7% for the month, which is lower than in July but remains well over the goal rate of 75%. Keep up the good work! The email aspect of the…

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Ask-WA(tch): Stats, Kudos and Comments for July 2009

Ask-WA(tch): Stats, Kudos and Comments for July 2009

Ask-WA Statistics – July, 2009 Despite a fairly quiet academic cooperative, Ask-WA maintained a busy service during the month of July. In numbers: Email questions received: 3512 Chat sessions requested: 3238 Chat sessions accepted: 2927 Qwidget requests (% of total): 883 (27%) As a cooperative we maintained an answering percentage of 90.4% for the month, which is well over the goal rate of 75%. Keep up the good work! The email aspect of the service remains robust, and outpaced chat…

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Ask-WA Quality Tip: Updating Flash/Java/Web Browsers

Ask-WA Quality Tip: Updating Flash/Java/Web Browsers

If QuestionPoint seems more buggy than useful to you, it may be because certain settings on your computer are causing issues. Here are a few tips that may help improve your QuestionPoint experience. Update Java and Flash You can get the latest version of Java here: http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp – and the latest version of Flash here: http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/. Keeping both of these updated will improve your QP performance (generally), and will help you get the most out of your web experiences in…

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Ask-WA Quality Tip: Resolution Codes

Ask-WA Quality Tip: Resolution Codes

They appear simple, but within their murky depths lurks weird issues you may have never considered. Here’s a quick guide: ANSWERED: If you’re not using this most of the time, you might want to review how you are helping people. You don’t have to stay on the line with them until their paper is written or their family tree thoroughly researched. You SHOULD spend the time, though, to identify why they came to us in the first place, and to…

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Ask-WA: Quality Tips of the Week

Ask-WA: Quality Tips of the Week

Some tips of the week for staffing Ask-WA: Washington’s Statewide Virtual Reference Cooperative. Tip #1: No such thing as anonymous follow-up Please make sure that there is a way for the patron’s library (even if that is you) to follow-up before you close a session and before you code for follow-up. Even when patrons submit an email address with their question, it is worth checking to make sure that is the correct address at which they would like to be…

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QuestionPoint Trainings for Ask-WA (and a Survey)

QuestionPoint Trainings for Ask-WA (and a Survey)

Over the last two weeks we had some very successful QuestionPoint training sessions online using Wimba software. At least, I’d like to think they were very successful. Thanks to everyone who attended the sessions; I enjoyed your great questions and hope the trainings were useful and worthwhile. If you attended either (or both) of the trainings, PLEASE fill out the survey linked below. It should take you about 10 minutes and will be immensely helpful for me, both for statistical…

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