Category: Announcements

October 2020-September 2021 Holiday Closings

Kelly Doty

The Ask a Librarian collaborative desks (Statewide and Academic) will close on the following days. You will not see the option to staff these desks until we reopen them the next day. Your library’s local desk will remain available to staff if you choose to do so during these closures.

November 2020

*Special Academic Desk Closure November 26 through January 1*

11/11 (Wednesday) Veterans Day

11/26-11/28 (Thursday, Friday, Saturday) Thanksgiving

December 2020

12/24-1/1 (Thursday through the next Friday, Opening Jan. 2) Winter Break

January 2021

*Academic Desk Reopens on 1/2 along with Statewide after the Winter Break*

1/18 (Monday) MLK Jr. Day

April 2021

4/4-4/5 (Sunday and Monday) Easter and Passover

May 2021

5/31 (Monday) Memorial Day

July 2021

7/4 and 7/5 (Sunday the 4th and Monday the 5th) Independence Day

September 2021

9/6 (Monday) Labor Day

If your library will close outside of these dates, please seek coverage help from the AskRef ListServ: askref@askref.simplelists.com

October 2019-September 2020 Holiday Closings

Kelly Doty

The Ask a Librarian collaborative desks (Statewide and Academic) will close on the following days. You will not see the option to staff these desks until we reopen them the next day. Your library’s local desk will remain available to staff if you choose to do so during these closures.

November 2019

*Special Academic Desk Closure November 28 through January 1*

11/11 (Monday) Veterans Day

11/28-11/30 (Thursday, Friday, Saturday) Thanksgiving

December 2019

12/23-1/1 (Monday through the next Wednesday) Winter Break

January 2020

*Academic Desk Reopens on 1/2 along with Statewide after the Winter Break*

1/20 (Monday) MLK Jr. Day

April 2020

4/12 (Sunday) Easter Sunday

May 2020

5/25 (Monday) Memorial Day

July 2020

7/3 and 7/4 (Friday the 3rd and Saturday the 4th) Independence Day

September 2020

9/7 (Monday) Labor Day

 

If your library will close outside of these dates, please seek coverage help from the AskRef ListServ: askref@askref.simplelists.com

October 2018-September 2019 Holiday Closings

Kelly Doty

Ask a Librarian collaborative desks (Statewide and Academic) will close on the following days. You will not see the option to staff these desks until we reopen them the next day. Your library’s local desk will remain available to staff if you choose to do so during these closures. 

November 2018

*Special Academic Desk Closure November 22 through January 1*

11/11-11/12 (Sunday and Monday) Veterans Day

11/22-11/23 (Thursday and Friday) Thanksgiving

December 2018

12/23-1/1 (Sunday to Wednesday) Winter Break

January 2019

*Academic Desk Reopens on 1/2

1/21 (Monday) MLK Jr. Day

April 2019

4/21 (Sunday) Easter Sunday

May 2019

5/27 (Monday) Memorial Day

July 2019

7/4/18 (Thursday)- 4th of July

September 2019

9/2 (Monday) Labor Day

 

2018 Holiday Closings

Kelly Doty

Ask a Librarian collaborative desks (Statewide and Academic) will close on the following days. You will not see the option to staff these desks until we reopen them the next day. Your library’s local desk will remain available to staff if you choose to do so during these closures. 

JANUARY 

1/15/18 (Monday)- MLK Day

APRIL

4/1/18 (Sunday)- Easter

MAY

5/28/18 (Monday)- Memorial Day

JULY

7/4/18 (Wednesday)- 4th of July

SEPTEMBER

9/3/18 (Monday)- Labor Day

2017 Planning Committee Recommendations

Kelly Doty

Improvements for Ask a Librarian in 2018 and Beyond

 In response to the visioning and brainstorming in which the AAL Planning Committee participated in May, 2017, Ask a Librarian administrators will work to ensure the following service improvements are made:

Improvements to the Knowledge Base-

We are currently working to move the knowledge base to the toolbox site. This would make it possible to change the search functions and layout as well as enable the shared Springshare sites access without having to log in through the AAL side. The toolbox site is password protected, so no information will be made available to the public. Announcements about the move and training for using the new site will be made available as soon as we are able to “go live.”

Training- 

Improvements to training include a more specific service expectations page, reference skills webinars, benefit sharing tools, and links to helpful resources which can be used while staffing the desk.

 

Communications-

Welcome packets for new site coordinators and users will include a checklist of items to review and complete as well as helpful information about how to successfully integrate with the AAL Team. Site coordinators will receive yearly check-ins to confirm their library’s needs are being met through this service.

 

Software Improvements-

We have sent a request to Springshare about showing which department is answering the chat. We know this has been an issue since moving to the new platform and that it is not easy to identify if a statewide librarian is answering or if it is their local library. We are hopeful Springshare will be able to accommodate our needs or provide an alternate solution.

 

Desk Staffing-

One of the issues brought up is that we need more man-power on the collaborative desks. This includes asking larger libraries to contribute more hours if they are not staffing proportionally and requiring no less than 3 hours a week for all libraries involved. Local desk use has been shown to successfully divert many of the library-specific questions to the appropriate source first, and we will encourage and provide benefits for their use as well as simultaneous staffing of collaborative.

 

Your involvement in this program is the reason Ask a Librarian is able to provide its reference services throughout Florida, and AAL staff are working diligently to ensure you are equipped to be successful in providing those resources through this service. Thank you for all you do!

 

User Exit Survey Responses 2017

Kelly Doty

Here are the reactions from users surveyed in September, 2017:

Was this your first time using Ask a Librarian?

Was your question answered today?

 

Did the librarian show you any Web-based library resources today (library catalog, databases, etc.)?

 

Do you think you would be able to use those same resources on your own, later on?

 

Do you think you will be more comfortable doing online research in the future?

 

Would you use the Ask a Librarian service again?

 

How did you find Ask a Librarian?

“Other” Responses included:

My college – My professor – My school – A librarian showed me

 

We welcome your comments or suggestions. Please let us know how we are doing, and how we can improve!

Here are some direct quotes from the responses:

“Loved it!!!”

“Oh my gosh I’m so glad I was told to use this service, what a lifesaver! Super helpful and nice straight forward answers!”

“Very fast and to the point. Great service.”

“Never answered the first question. Not in any kind of depth. Never went back to the first question. After thanked for answer to second question, she quickly left the chat before I could say anything else. RIDICULOUS waste of time …”

“More ask-a-librarian hours would be super helpful!!”

July 4th Weekend- Closing Announcement

AAL July 4 close

Just as we closed the chat departments for Memorial Day this year, you will not see the option to open the Academic or State-wide desks until we return Tuesday morning unless your library has a shared LibApps account.

If you belong to Alachua County, Daytona State College, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida International University, Florida State University, Gulf Coast State College, Indian River State College, Southeastern University, University of Central Florida, or University of Florida please do not open the collaborative desks these days.

 

Please contact the Help Desk with any questions!

Memorial Day Closing

Ask a Librarian will be closed for Memorial Day on Monday, May 30th. We will reopen Tuesday at 10 AM.

 

You will still have access to your local library’s Email, SMS, and Chat but the Statewide and Academic desks will be closed.

In order to reduce the number of missed chats on this minimally staffed day, we are asking all libraries with shared Ask a Librarian accounts (Alachua County, Daytona State College, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida International University, Florida State University, Gulf Coast State College, Indian River State College, Southeastern University, University of Central Florida, and University of Florida) not to open the Academic or Statewide desks while you staff your local library’s chat. All other libraries will not see these departments listed, but they will reappear Tuesday morning.

Please contact the Help Desk with any questions, and have a great Memorial Day.

One Year With Springshare

In case you haven’t heard the  news, we have reached our one year mark on the Springshare platform!

That’s over 42,000 chats, 24,000 emails, and 3,000 texts!

One Year With Springshare

Thank you to all the Florida Libraries answering those questions and making Ask a Librarian possible.

We hope you’re enjoying Springshare as much as we are!

AskRef Emails

You may have noticed more incoming emails from the AskRef email list!

 

Recently, the requirements for receiving emails from askref@askref.simplelists.com have changed- if you are a part of Ask a Librarian it is important that you are able to stay connected with administrators and other librarians involved in the program and it is imperative we have an easy contact method to reach the group.

Once we stop the influx of unsubscribe emails, you should not see as much incoming mail from this service! We apologize for the email inboxes that got flooded over the weekend, but please keep in mind that this is not a normal interaction with the askref email list.  Thank you for your patience as we continue to work in improving Ask a Librarian!

Holiday Closures 2015

November

Both the Academic and Statewide Collaborative Desks will be closed Thursday, November 26th and Friday, November 27th for the Thanksgiving Holiday. The Statewide Collaborative Desk will also be closed on Saturday, November 28th.

Thanksgiving Closures
Thanksgiving Closures

December

Academic Desk

The Academic Desk will close at 4:00pm on Monday, November 30th and will reopen on Monday, January 4th.

Academic Desk Closed In December
Academic Desk Closed In December

Statewide Desk

The Statewide Desk will close at 5:00pm on Wednesday, December 23rd and will reopen on Monday, January 4th.

Statewide Closed
Statewide Closed