Hi Everyone

Based on the stats and feedback from our trial of Pro-active Chat and extended Ask Us hours we have decided to make the following schedule changes effective Sunday March 17^th.

• Weekly hours for Ask Us will revert back to the following schedule (until April 27).
  Mon-Thurs: 9am-8pm
  Fri: 9am-4pm
  Sat-Sun: 1pm-4pm
  
  
• In lieu of extended hours additional backup staffing will be provided from the Science Library during busier shifts as follows:
  Mon-Fri: 11am-2pm
  Mon-Thurs: 4pm-5pm
  
  These changes have already been made in LibStaffer and there is no need to adjust current staffing assignments. Please note that there will no longer be back up staffing of Ask Us on Sundays. All libraries are asked to staff Ask Us on Sundays as they do Saturday from 1pm-4pm.

Let me know if you have any questions.
Information regarding the summer schedule will be sent out shortly.

- Kyle

Kyle A. P. Feenstra

Coordinator, Learning & Instruction Support
University of Manitoba Libraries
kyle.feenstra@umanitoba.ca
204-480-1053

From: Kyle Feenstra <Kyle.Feenstra@umanitoba.ca>
Date: Wednesday, December 19, 2018 at 10:56 AM
To: "lib-all@lists.umanitoba.ca" <lib-all@lists.umanitoba.ca>
Subject: Changes to Ask Us

Hi Everyone

You have probably noticed a few changes to the chat window interface for Ask Us in the past few weeks. We have updated the logo and included staffing hours which are both part the service enhancements that we will be implementing in the coming months. Here are some more changes in progress.

• We have just recently implemented a proactive widget in the Primo interface that will automatically open the Ask Us window after 45 seconds of browser inactivity. The goal in enabling the proactive chat is to increase the number of online reference interactions by prompting users with am opportunity to ask a question. We will be trialing this feature until May 2019. If you find that the Ask Us window does not open automatically after 45 seconds you may need to clear your browser cookies. 
• Beginning January 13, 2019 we will be extending our hours from Sunday to Thursday. The extended hours will be offered on a trial basis and will covered by additional staff hired at the Science Library. The new hours will be Sunday 13:00-18:00 and Mon-Thur 9:00-22:00. Friday and Saturday hours remain the same.
• In the coming months we will also be working on developing a FAQ system that will integrate Ask Us with the Help Hub providing users with easier access to our help resources from the chat window.
• And beginning December 21 of this year, the WRHA Virtual Library will be staffing its own Ask Us service through the virtual library website https://libguides.lib.umanitoba.ca/wrha. WRHA staff will no longer be supporting the main UML chat reference. Therefore, please note that due to these changes there will be situations where UML staff will need to transfer or refer affected users to WRHA Virtual Library staff in Lib Chat and Lib Answers. Please see the attached instructions prepared by Nicole Askin. The WRHA Ask Us will be staffed Monday to Friday from 8:15-15:45 (excluding holidays). You can contact Nicole or myself if you have further questions.

If you have any additional questions about Lib Chat and Lib Answers feel free to contact me.

Best,

-Kyle

Kyle A. Feenstra
Coordinator, Learning & Instruction Support
University of Manitoba Libraries

kyle.feenstra@umanitoba.ca

204-480-1053