Best Practices in the Chat Environment

1. Acknowledge IM user promptly with a friendly greeting. (See the canned messages.) Use your professional judgment when two or more patrons are waiting.
2. Maintain contact with the IM user to convey interest in the question.
3. Explain what you’re doing: describe your search strategy, as well as sources to be used.

• If you’re taking longer than expected, keep the user informed and give him or her something to do in the meantime. Remember, an IM patron cannot see what you are doing. Use the “delay” canned messages.

4. Encourage the IM user to return if he or she has further questions.
5. Refer the user to another source or institution if the question cannot be answered with resources available to them through the library,
6. Break up long responses into shorter blocks (two or three sentences a piece).
7. Keep the conversation flowing. Thirty seconds of dead air is a LONG time for the IM user. Try to establish a rhythm of sending a message every 30-45 seconds.
8. Allow enough time for the user to read, think, and respond before beginning your next major activity or search strategy. Ask for cues from the patron to determine pacing.

• E.g., “Let me know when you get into the database.”

Privacy

Folke Bernadotte Memorial Library respects the privacy of users, but cannot guarantee the confidentiality of files, electronic mail, or other information stored or transmitted electronically.  Use of both chat and e-mail reference service constitutes consent for the library to use transcripts for research and statistic-gathering purposes and to evaluate service quality.

These messages are for quick copy and pasting during chat reference sessions.

Greetings

Welcome to our IM reference service. Please tell us if you are a Gustavus student, faculty, staff, or alumnus, or general public, and how we can help you.

Delay

Please hold while I look for that information.

Thank you for waiting.

All librarians are currently assisting other users. A librarian will be with you shortly.

Sorry for the delay. I'll be with you in just a minute!

Please wait. I am assisting another patron.

Hi, we're still here. Just one moment, please.

I need to check a couple of other resources to find the answer. Please give me a few minutes, and I'll be with you.

Are you still there? Do you have any more questions?

End Chat

No problem. If you need any more assistance, we'll be here! Good bye.

I will need to get back to you later to answer your question. Please tell me your first name and e-mail address, or you can email your question folke@gustavus.edu.  Thank you.

Out of Scope

This question involves intensive research and multiple sources. I suggest that you come to the library and talk to one of our reference librarians. Our hours are available here: https://libcal.gustavus.edu/

I'm sorry, but this question falls outside the scope of this service. Please contact your local library for assistance, or visit the Internet Public Library at http://www.ipl.org/ Thank you.

Any More Questions?

Can I help you with anything else right now?

Do you have any more questions that I can help you with?

Does this clarify?

If you are experiencing difficulty, please email folke@gustavus.edu and we can schedule a Google Meet/Zoom session.

End Inappropriate Chats

Your comments are an inappropriate use of this service. I am terminating this chat.