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Juggling Lessons How do librarians work with simultaneous users in QuestionPoint? Kate Pittsley, Eastern Michigan University Michigan Virtual Reference Service Collaborative Annual Meeting, April 8 2011

Juggling Lessons

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Juggling Lessons. How do librarians work with simultaneous users in QuestionPoint ? Kate Pittsley , Eastern Michigan University Michigan Virtual Reference Service Collaborative Annual Meeting, April 8 2011. Questions. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Page 1: Juggling Lessons

Juggling LessonsHow do librarians work with simultaneous users in

QuestionPoint?

Kate Pittsley, Eastern Michigan UniversityMichigan Virtual Reference Service Collaborative

Annual Meeting, April 8 2011

Page 2: Juggling Lessons

Questions1. Are you comfortable juggling 2 questions at a time? Have you ever handled 3 or more at once?

2. How do you decide whether to grab an additional question? What factors do you consider?

3. What techniques do you use to successfully work with multiple students?

4. Are there pitfalls to watch for when juggling multiple questions?

Page 3: Juggling Lessons

Participants

• All EMU QP librarians participated

• Dedicated to VR during shiftsSome one hour shifts, some eve shifts

• All tech savvyVR experience/frequency varies

• IMO, all very good reference librarians!

Page 4: Juggling Lessons

Juggling Comfort

• 13 of 15 are comfortable juggling 2 questions

• 3rd question? - 3 say never (or almost never)

- 7 will, but don’t frequently- 5 routinely juggle 3

Page 5: Juggling Lessons

“Uber-Jugglers” are Rare

Only one librarian felt comfortable doing more than 3 at once

Page 6: Juggling Lessons

2 of 15 are not comfortable

One doesn’t do VR frequently and isn’t comfortable with texting in general

Both have philosophical reasons related to customer service.

Page 7: Juggling Lessons

Do I take that 2nd question?

Where is the question from?always if EMUusually if Michigan (& other MI librarian not available)

more selective if out-of-state

Page 8: Juggling Lessons

Where: Is Anybody Out There?

Ten mentioned scanning to see if librarians from that state/region are available

& hesitating longer if they had 0 questions

Page 9: Juggling Lessons

Timing: The End is in Sight

Four mentioned that they are more likely to pick up a 2nd question when the first seems like it’s almost finished.

Page 10: Juggling Lessons

Timing: The Space In-Between

Nine indicated response time of current patron as a factor:

—less likely to pick up a second when first has “quick back and forth”

— more likely with long “gaps in communication.”

Page 11: Juggling Lessons

Timing: Student Wait Time

Eight will pick up an additional question if a student has been waiting “too long” to be picked up.

Definitions of “too long” vary from 30 or 40 to 200 seconds. Most librarians don’t have a specific number of seconds in mind.

Page 12: Juggling Lessons

Timing: Quitting Time

Seven said they were less likely to pick up a 2nd question if it was near the end of a shift.

Page 13: Juggling Lessons

Timing: Time of DayEarly shifts likely to pick up extra California users.

Evenings are especially busy.

On multiple hour shifts, the librarian is likely to pick up extra questions at the top of the hour.

Page 14: Juggling Lessons

Questions: Complex or SimpleMost librarians read the question and judge it’s level of complexity as a factor. - Most thought juggling 2 complex questions less than ideal.

- Half were less likely to pick up a 2nd question, if 1st was “complex”, “involved,” or required “sustained attention” or “hand-holding”.

- Almost all said more willing to pick up a 2nd,if it looked “easy,” “straightforward,” or “quick.”

Page 15: Juggling Lessons

Question: Subject Expertise

Six were more likely to pick up a 2nd question if it was in their area of subject expertise.

Page 16: Juggling Lessons

Juggling Pitfalls

Four reported accidentally sending answers to the wrong person,but all thought this wasn’t a big problem.

Page 17: Juggling Lessons

Juggling Pitfalls

Two people worried that we might spend less time on the reference interview and give quicker answers when juggling multiple questions.

Page 18: Juggling Lessons

Oops!

- Forgetting someone who’s waiting

- Forgetting what school they are from

- Losing track of time with involved ?

- Blocking out the response beeps

Page 19: Juggling Lessons

Do we tell?

• Librarians were evenly divided between those that usually tell students they are working with another student and those who don’t.

• There are also some in the middle who sometimes tell depending on the situation.

Page 20: Juggling Lessons

Something to do

Four librarians described “giving the user something to do,” then getting back to them after spending time on another patron.

Page 21: Juggling Lessons

Follow-up & Referrals

Four mentioned referring complex questions to follow-up or providing contact info for subject librarians.

Page 22: Juggling Lessons

Multiple Windows

Some mentioned many open windows as a problem (or at least annoyance); one librarian developed a “1 window per user” solution.

From the policy page, use the mouse wheel to click on links so pages open in tabs.

Page 23: Juggling Lessons

The Open Window

Two librarians mentioned that they don’t hurry to close out questions that seem finished

- patrons sometimes came back with follow-up questions.

Page 24: Juggling Lessons

Better with Practice

A few reported that they felt stressed when juggling multiple patrons.

But, a few also reported that with practice they have “no more anxiety” juggling more than one.