Innovative way to pitch chat reference service
The Cameron Library at the University of Alberta (one of many campus libraries at that school) has been offering chat reference for many years, but recently they added a new angle to the way the service is marketed. The web page for the ask a librarian service now says:
In Cameron? Need Help? We're Here!The library's news blog further explains the service this way, "Cameron Library Help is a new service that lets you stay at your workstation in Cameron Library while you contact library staff for assistance. Let us come to you!" What a great idea!
Sign in. Chat. We can come to you.
via Librarian in Black
posted by Stephen Francoeur @ 11:13 AM
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2 Comments:
Hi Stephen,
While it certainly uses the same technology as chat reference services, the service is different in that it is intended as a "summoning" service. We want our in-house users to call us to where they are in our 5 floor building (if a simple chat transaction isn't going to do it) and we do indeed go to them.
Pam
Pam, that's still so cool! Where I work, students often have to wait to find an open computer; if they get up to ask a question at the reference desk, there's a good chance that someone may thing the computer they were on is free and start using it.
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