ASKAWAY: guiding students through the virtual wilderness

1. ASKAWAY: guiding students through the virtual wilderness WEMTA Conference 2010 Reference and Loan Library Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction

2. AGENDA • Introduction to AskAway • Why your students need it • How AskAway works from the patron’s perspective • Hands on exploration – logging in to chat • Debrief on the first hands-on session • How AskAway works from the librarian’s perspective • The AskAway/QuestionPoint community • A brief history of AskAway in Wisconsin schools • Implementing AskAway in your school • AskAway support sites and services • Hands on exploration - exploring AskAway links and information • Debrief on the second hands-on session and wrap up

3. Introduction to AskAway WEMTA 2010 Wisconsin Reference and Loan Library

4. What is AskAway? • 24/7 chat and email reference service available through public library websites, the DPI websiteand some school websites. • Any Wisconsin resident (including you, your students, your colleagues and your family members) can login to the chat service. • Chat staffing is handled by librarians in participating libraries in Wisconsin and nationwide. • The AskAway service is offered by OCLC as “QuestionPoint”. • Email service cannot be made available to schools at this time.

5. Why are we here today? • AskAway is one great tool for teaching important information literacy skills. • The chat service is very popular among young people in Wisconsin and across the country - ranging from grade 3 through college. • Wisconsin schools are adding links to AskAway – 30 schools have added links this year alone. • Young people are excited about getting immediate answers to their questions – they like having a “high tech” way to connect with experts. • AskAway chat will be available for I-phones and other smart phones later this year.

6. AskAway interface – patron view

7. Why is AskAway especially important for students? • This 24/7 chat reference service offers students a way to work with trained, experienced reference librarians around the clock. • Many students prefer to use online sources and services. • But many students who are comfortable on Facebook or twitter or chat don’t really know how to do quality online research. • AskAway librarians recommend YOUR resources to your students and offer high quality training and assistance. • Chat librarians are encouraged to train students on how to select and use online and print sources – rather than just sending “the answer”. • School age patrons and young adults may be learning about AskAway in their school, even if your library doesn’t actively promote the service.

8. Why should your school consider AskAway? • Posting a link and hosting a policy page makes your school library media center’s resources more readily available to chat librarians. • Your commitment of time and effort is minimal, and the potential benefits are large. • This is another way to provide service to students and demonstrate your commitment to their academic success. • AskAway service is being offered to your school at no additional charge. • It’s really a win-win proposition!

9. How does it work? • The chat librarian conducts a reference interview with the student. • The student is given help locating and using resources made available by: • Their school library • Their public library • BadgerLink • Authoritative web-based sources • Students who need additional help can be referred to their home library (public or school) after the session has ended, if the library has its own AskAway page and staffing.

10. What happens during and after the session? • Librarians ask clarifying questions during the chat to verify that patrons are finding the information they need. • When the patron confirms that they’ve received enough information to proceed with their research on their own the librarian may end the chat, or wait for the patron to logoff. • The patron receives a copy of the chat transcript by email (if they have entered an email address). • After the session ends the librarian codes the outcome, and if the patron needs more information the chat librarian can send the chat transcript to the patron’s library for follow-up (but only if the patron verifies their email address during the chat). • Libraries generally follow-up the next day. • Chat libraries review transcripts regularly to report any concerns about the quality of service provided to their patrons.

11. Detailed information on chats • Patrons login and librarians staffing chat pick up their questions to begin a session. • Librarians conduct reference interviews with patrons and begin by checking the policy page for the patron’s library to verify the sources available to that patron. • Librarians may co-browse with patrons, which allows either party to move to different websites together. • Co-browse functionality has some issues, so it’s used by all librarians. • When not co-browsing, chat librarians will push links to pages to the patron.

12. Students and the public can login from the Reference and Loan launch page

13. Logging in to Chat Fill in these boxes and click connect to begin your chat

14. Patron’s view of the chat interface Type your questions into the box below.

15. Patron’s view of a URL sent by a librarian

16. Transcript sent to patron after the session

17. AskAway Hands-on Exercise WEMTA 2010 Wisconsin Reference and Loan Library

18. Find your way to AskAway • If your school has a link to AskAway, please go to it and login to the service. • If your school doesn’t have a link, please go to your local public library’s website and look for the link to AskAway. • You can find your local public library’s AskAway page at: http://www.askaway.info/ • If you don’t find a link either place, please login from the DPI website at http://dpi.wi.gov/rll/qp_form.html

19. http://www.askaway.info/

20. Time to log in and explore! • Ask any question or questions you have to the chat librarians on the service. • Plan to spend 15 to 20 minutes exploring. • If you’re done early, please take a break, but be back here by… • When we reconvene, we’ll compare notes on your experience.

21. If you’re stumped for research topics – here are some ideas • Where can I learn about teacher licensing requirements in Wisconsin? • Where can I find newspaper articles on Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, written at the time of his death? • Where can I learn more about the BadgerLink databases, and find recordings of training sessions on the BadgerLink databases? • Where would I find information on Wisconsin model academic standards? • Where can I find information on traffic cameras and road congestion on Wisconsin highways?

22. Debrief on linking to AskAway • Any problems finding a link? • Does your school have a link? • Does your public library have a link? • Was it easy or hard to find? • Did you have any problems logging in?

23. Let’s talk about your experience • Was your question picked up in a timely way? • Was the chat librarian helpful? • Did they ask clarifying questions? • Did they help you find appropriate resources? • What other questions do you have?

24. AskAway chat from the librarians’ perspective WEMTA 2010 Wisconsin Reference and Loan Library

25. A bit of background before we begin • In the AskAway/QuestionPoint world you’ll hear about 2 different kind of “policies”: • Library Policy Pages – available to chat librarian s, they contain links to the library’s website, online public access catalog (OPAC), licensed research databases and additional information on hours of service, fines, etc. • QuestionPoint 24/7 Reference Collaborative Policies and Procedures – apply to libraries and librarians who participate in the consortium – ensure quality control.

26. Here’s what chat librarians see • The desktop includes several panes: left side • Patron information tab: question, name, email, referring URL (where they linked in from). • Scripts tab: libraries can create unique scripts that can be sent to their patrons by any chat librarian – they may cover the greeting or closing, notes to students “misbehaving” and more. • URL tab: librarians use this to send URLs to web-based sources. • Notes tab: librarians use this to send notes to patrons or librarians.

27. Starting from the left…

28. And now, from the right… • The live chat transcript pane (top right): • Displays everything typed by the librarian and the patron • This is the transcript that will be sent to the patron after the session ends (ONLY if they enter their email when they log into the chat) • The text entry window (bottom right) • This is where patrons and librarians type their message. • Cobrowse button (rarely used, doesn’t function well). • Transfer button (librarians can transfer chat sessions underway to other librarians). • End button – librarians use to end the session.

29. Functions on the right side

30. Library policy pageLinks to the library’s home page, catalog and research databases Policy page displayed for a patron is determined by the chat login page they use

31. Sending the transcript to the patron’s library

32. AskAway on Tremper High School Library Website

33. AskAway on Homestead High School Library Website

34. AskAway librarian policy guidelines protect learning objectives • QuestionPoint policies for chat librarians specify that students logging in to the service should be directed to the resources of their school and/or public library and offered assistance selecting and using resources. • The inclusion of links to your library’s website, databases and catalog make it possible for chat librarians to direct students to those tools. • The intent of the service is to instill information literacy skills, not to provide “instant answers.” • Does that always happen? Unfortunately no.

35. What sources do chat librarians recommend to students? • Resources provided by the student’s own library (online or in print). • BadgerLink databases. • Authoritative sources found on the web: • Including those in the reference librarian’s wiki • Credo reference sources available to chat librarians

36. The AskAway & QuestionPoint community WEMTA 2010 Wisconsin Reference and Loan Library

37. Current AskAway chat schedule

38. Wisconsin public library system AskAway contacts

39. Participating Wisconsin colleges and universities

40. QuestionPoint Public Consortia

41. QuestionPoint Academic Consortia

42. Quality control procedures for Wisconsin schools • The Reference and Loan library and the Milwaukee Public Library review chat transcripts regularly. • Anytime a chat has not resulted in the best service for your student, we will notify the QuestionPoint quality control coordinator. • We will also reach out to the student, and your primary program contact to provide a more robust and/or appropriate response.

43. Quality control procedures for Wisconsin schools • We add specific comments and critiques on the chat. • The QuestionPoint quality control coordinator will notify the administrator for the library that handled the chat. • The administrator will work with the librarian to ensure better service in the future.

44. What triggers quality control review? • The librarian doesn’t appear to understand the student’s question or need. • The librarian doesn’t provide a full response to the student. • The librarian doesn’t interact appropriately with the student. • The librarian disconnects unexpectedly.

45. Quality control for the public and academic consortia • The referral to quality control is the same. • The feedback to the chat librarian’s administrator is the same. • The primary difference is that each participating library reviews their own chat transcripts and can close the loop with their own patrons.

46. A history of AskAway in Wisconsin schools WEMTA 2010 Wisconsin Reference and Loan Library

47. A brief history of AskAway in Wisconsin schools • Some schools have added links to the service unilaterally over time. • In May 2007 five schools were selected to participate, in a trial of AskAway in the schools. Four were able to proceed - other schools expressed interest, but were unable to participate due to a variety of factors. • Participating schools were: • George Nelson Tremper in Kenosha • South Division High School in Milwaukee • Mosinee School District • Homestead High School in Mequon

48. The 2007 school trial • The Milwaukee Public Library agreed to support South Division High School. • Reference & Loan agreed to support the other schools. • Use during the trial period grew gradually, with fluctuations according to class workload and academic schedule.

49. School Trial Statistics

50. What did the trial show us? • Reviews of the trial held with Reference and Loan, participating libraries and Milwaukee Public Library reveal that: • It’s important to present training to students both in the library and the classroom – training drives student use of the service. • Repeat presentations may be necessary to build student’s confidence in the service, and to develop constructive, appropriate use of the service. • Training fellow teachers and school staff also builds use of the service and understanding of its value. • Use by school faculty and staff builds more slowly.