Basics
To best capture our reference service activities, please use the LibAnwers platform to follow up with patron questions or refer them to another Ask service or specialist.
Record all in-person, chat, SMS, and ticket transactions in Ref Analytics.
Do not answer or refer a question "off system" (i.e., from your own email); do not send files from your own email.
Introduction
Viewing and claiming open tickets on the LibAnswers dashboard - see Springshare directions for details
When you first log into LibAnswers, you see the Dashboard, which lists the 'unclosed' tickets in the Reference queue (our default setting).
Monday through Friday, the dashboard tickets are monitored by the staff according to "Ask the Library" weekly schedule. On weekends, it's the responsibility of the librarian assigned to the weekend shift to check for tickets.
Our goal is to provide a response within 24 hours.
Basic actions
- To claim a ticket, click on the question.
- If you'd like to preview the entire question without claiming the ticket, click on the Quick Look (eye) icon next to the question.
- To delete or close a ticket, click on the Delete or Close this Ticket (barred circle) icon.
- If the ticket needs no further action, perhaps the patron replied with a simple 'thank you,' you can close the ticket via this icon. Closing the ticket from here is the same as changing the status of a ticket to Closed from the ticket's page, but without having to view the ticket directly.
- To flag a ticket as spam, click on the Mark this ticket as spam (trash can) icon.
- Flagging tickets as spam can help the LibAnswers spam filter better identify spammy tickets in the future, helping them bypass your open tickets entirely.
Best Practices
- Submit ticket responses as closed
- A ticket will re-open if the patron responds; even if you don’t need to reply, submit it as closed to remove it from the dashboard
Assign/Transfer Tickets
Assigning & transferring tickets - see Springshare directions for details
If a ticket you claimed is better suited to a particular user or queue, you can reassign and/or transfer it accordingly. This can be helpful if a circulation question was submitted to your reference queue, or if a particular research question would best be answered by a subject specialist.
Best practice - transfer to another department
- Transfer to: Queue (department). Do not select "User" because the person may not be available.
- In the next line, use the dropdown menu with "Select the queue to transfer to"
- In the last line, leave as "Do not assign to a specific user". Note: do not assign to a person because they may not be available, or monitoring the service.
- Adding to RefAnalytics
- In the line that says "Add to Analytics", use the dropdown menu to select "Reference" (or your own department queue).
- In the line that says "Question Type?", select "Referral to Another Ask Service"
- Set the status as New. The ticket will appear as New in the other department's queue.
Best practice - transfer to another person in same department
- Transfer to: User (person)
- In the next line, use the dropdown menu with "Select the user to won this ticket"
- Adding to RefAnalytics
- In the line that says "Add to Analytics", use the dropdown menu to select "Reference" (or your own department queue).
- In the line that says "Question Type?", select "Referral to Specialist"
- Set the status as New.
Best practice - transfer to another person in a different department (rare occurrence)
- Transfer to: Queue (department).
- In the next line, use the dropdown menu with "Select the queue to transfer to"
- In the last line, "Do not assign to a specific user", select the person from the drop down menu.
- Adding to RefAnalytics
- In the line that says "Add to Analytics", use the dropdown menu to select "Reference" (or your own department queue).
- In the line that says "Question Type?", select "Referral to Specialist"
- Set the status as New.