Training and Support for L-net Local

Training

L-net offers free training in the use of our software and in techniques in providing virtual reference. Training for L-net Local is normally two hours. Contact Emily Papagni, (503) 988-5433 emilyp@multcolib.org, to schedule a time.

If you have received training and would like to help train your colleagues, we have a handy curriculum outline that you can use to make sure you cover all the bases at www.oregonlibraries.net/curriculumoutline.

Support

L-net staff provide technical support in configuring your service and for troubleshooting your software. Contract staff make sure the software we distribute is up to date and secure.

24/7 service

L-net offers 24/7 online reference service to everyone who lives, works or goes to school in Oregon, and seamlessly integrates it with your local service.

L-net is staffed by 33 libraries in Oregon, and has partnerships with Ohio’s statewide virtual reference service, KnowItNow, for software and morning service. We partner with the Northeast Ohio Regional Library Services’ AfterDark service for weekend and evening service.

L-net policy pages give collaborating and backup librarians a quick reference to help your community use your library’s services.

Privacy

L-net local sessions are subject to L-net’s privacy policy, www.oregonlibraries.net/privacy. We only keep track of patrons personal information in order to send them follow-up answers.

We may be able to implement an alternative privacy policy for your L-net local service in the future. Please let us know about your needs.

Statistics

L-net keeps statistics for the overall statewide service. You can download a spreadsheet that lists each session that your librarians have worked on, including on your local widget and on the L-net service.

Visit http://www.oregonlibraries.net/stats/patrons and then browse to your library. Click on the list of terms matching your library then the name of your L-net Local widget to narrow the results to L-net Local.

Issues

We are aware of a number of issues with our service and software and don’t want to hide them from you. In rough order of priority:

Mobile devices

L-net’s chat service works on mobile devices that support JavaScript. However, the interface has a tiny font, and we are working on making the mobile interface easier to use by increasing the font size.

Transcripts

Transcripts of your sessions with patrons are stored on the L-net website. We hope to offer more flexible retention and exporting options in the future.

Integration with commercial instant messaging or text-messaging services

L-net’s local chat does not yet integrate with commercial instant messaging services.

Accessibility

L-net’s local chat does not perform well with screen readers, though this is not much different than other virtual reference software. The only virtual reference software that we are aware of which has been tested successfully in screen readers is OCLC QuestionPoint. Some services stress that instant messaging is a popular tool in disabled communities and are focusing on providing access to a commercial IM network to reach those patrons.

Behind the scenes

L-net’s chat server is operated by the Cleveland Public Library, who has a partnership with L-net to provide virtual reference software and services. The server is a custom version of OpenFire and FastPath from Jive Software.

L-net’s website is based on the Drupal content management system (www.drupal.org). A custom content type stores information about your service. When a person visits your ‘widget’, it is really a ‘node’ in Drupal. The node is styled as an HTML form in the image of Jive’s FastPath web chat.

When a user submits a chat, a record of the chat is stored on our server before sending the user to the chat server. After the chat is over, the chat transcript is exported back to our website, allowing us to keep statistics and giving you access to transcripts.

Development

We welcome your ideas about how we can make L-net work better in serving your local community. Please give us your feedback often.

Alternatives

If you’ve read this far, we don’t want to forget that you should be aware of other alternatives to providing this type of chat service at your library.

Karen Munro, Head, UO Portland Library/Learning commons posted a comparison of chat widgets at http://karenlibrarian.wordpress.com/2008/02/29/web-based-chat-widget-face-off/.

Libraryh3lp is an open source project started in North Carolina and is a fantastic alternative to all of this. http://code.google.com/p/libraryh3lp/

RefChatter is a commercial implementation of Libraryh3lp that includes training and technical support from Altarama Systems. http://www.altarama.com/refchatter.htm