Author: Kelly Doty

View who is currently monitoring from your local library without logging in to chat.

Holiday or Hurricane closures coming up and you’re not sure what to do about Ask a Librarian?

Here are two important questions to ask yourself:

Will my library miss a collaborative desk shift (Statewide or Academic) because of the closure?

NO – If the collaborative desk is also closed and no one will be monitoring your local chat desk, no further action is needed. When no chat desks are online and monitored, the chat widget displays an Offline message with the option to submit an email ticket instead.

YES – If the collaborative desk will be open and your closure means missing a shift, please email the listserv (askref@askref.simplelists.com) with the date, time and collaborative desk that needs coverage.

Do I need to notify patrons submitting email or SMS questions that we’re not available?

NO – If you use your own email form outside of Springshare or don’t need to signify your closures through email, there are no further action needed.

YES – There are a few options for site coordinators to indicate a delay in response due to closures: Edit your Question Form Header, change the success message displayed when a question is submitted, AND/OR enable and edit an automated email response once a question is submitted. These options are not available if you use your own email form outside of Springshare. You can also set up an auto-reply for SMS questions.

**If you change these Queue settings, don’t forget to reset them once your library opens again!

Don’t forget, site coordinators can kick library staff accounts linked to your local department off of the chat dashboard. This feature is helpful if someone forgets to log out before a long break.