Have you used the Helmke Library’s IM chat service recently? You might want to give it a look – it’s easier than a phone call and faster than e-mail. Well, at times.
Helmke Library first began plans for an IM chat service back in 2006, when the entire Instant Messaging concept was gaining momentum and the library was getting an increase in the number of questions that were being e-mailed to the reference department. “The project was launched on a shoestring…no new personnel or funding were allocated, but as the numbers show, it has grown by leaps and bounds and is considered an integral part of our reference service now,” said Judith Garrison, the Assistant Librarian at Helmke who helped to initiate Helmke’s IM chat service.
For the several years that the service has been available, the number of users has increased. In 2007, there were only 45 IMs. But in 2009, there were 608 IM chats that took place. It should be noted that Helmke changed their IM software in 2008 to a system that is more user-friendly and that keeps track of the number of chat requests that come through. For the 2007 and early 2008 stats, the number of chats had to be recorded by the librarians answering them, so there’s a possibility that there were more than 45 chats in 2007.
Today, a number of librarians are trained to answer the IM chats that come in during regular library hours. “There is a mix of staff that the questions go to. When a chat comes in, it will go the “first responders,” either to the Information Assistants at the Service Desk or to Librarians that are logged in,” said Greg, who was answering the IM chat service on Friday. “Everyone who uses IM/chat is trained on how to use the software and all the people involved are part of our regular reference service so we all are handling these sorts of questions each day,” added Garrison. “About once or twice a year we will have a staff training session focused on IM/chat reference specifically.”
Students, professors and a few non-IPFW affiliated people have contacted the library IM chat service in the past. “We find that we receive a lot of non-library and non-research related questions,” said Garrison. Questions about classes and degrees, locations of buildings and the purchasing of books have all been filtered through the library’s service. If there is a question that the library can answer – such as something about overdue books or fines – then the IM chat responder can forward that question to the appropriate librarian who handles that topic. Other questions sometimes result in a referral to the campus bookstore or to another IPFW department. But the library does handle research questions – short reference questions, especially. “Our challenge is to answer as much as we can online, but know when it makes more sense to transfer to phone conversation or make an appointment for a face-to-face research consultation,” said Garrison.
With the convenience of modern technology, students can now stay on the computer, typing their paper while chatting with a librarian about different research terms. However, the service does lag a bit when the library is closed, or there are no responders available for immediate answers. When there is an IM chat waiting but there are no available librarians, the message can be sent as an e-mail to the library. Then it is answered in approximately twenty-four hours, just like the regular e-mail that the library receives.
While there are some library IM chat systems that allow the user and responder to be anonymous (for example, the University of Virginia, Charlottesville and Indiana University, Bloomington, library chat services do not require any identification), the Helmke Library IM chat service requests that users enter their name and an e-mail address. Users have the option of using the IM chat anonymously – i.e. with a faux address. But the address serves a purpose in that the entire conversation can then be e-mailed back to the person who contacted the library. This comes in handy when the librarian types down addresses and telephone numbers or book titles that are necessary for the student’s research.
In summing up the value of the library’s IM chat service, Garrison put it this way: “For many IM/chat users it is the first time they have contacted the library for help… I think we are providing a new ‘door’ to the library that is more attractive to some folks than the traditional ways of asking for help from library staff.”
