Session 2: AskAway E-mail

BASICS

Ask?Away

AGENDA

Overview of the AskAway E-mail service Advantages it offers to patrons Unique capabilities Libraries currently offering AskAway E-mail Q&A

How AskAway E-mail works

• Patrons enter questions into a web-based form

• Their library, and only their library, receives the question

• Libraries review incoming questions daily and send answers to patrons (generally within 24 to 48 hours)

• Answers are sent to the patron’s E-mail address

Characteristics of the E-mail service

• E-mail is great for questions that require more time-consuming research using print or off-line sources

• Questions can be forwarded to subject matter experts

• Patrons can create their own account to track questions sent and answers received

Characteristics of the E-mail service

• E-mail patrons are more likely to be college students and adults (rather than middle school or high school students)

• Inappropriate behavior is rarely an issue

• Generally, more challenging questions

Patron View

Patron’s E-mail entry form

Patron must enter a “Captcha”Necessary to block spam

Patrons see a confirmation in AskAway after their question has been submitted

Patrons also get an E-mail confirmation and personal account login

AskAway E-mail patron account

• Patrons can change their password and activate their account

• Patron accounts allow patrons to track all of the AskAway E-mail requests and the answers they receive

• If patrons don’t want to use the personal account feature they can just check their regular E-mail account for a response

Patron E-mail account screen

Response sent to patron’s E-mail

Patron can send a response or clarification to librarian

Librarian’s View

Login screen

Entry page

My Questions: New

Question Lists: Unassigned

Unclaimed question

E-mail Interface

Referring questions

• Questions may be referred to subject matter experts in other libraries in the national QuestionPoint consortium

• Questions may be referred to the State Law library

• Questions about specific Department of Public Instruction programs or services may be referred to consultants within the department

Refer to a Subject Matter Expert

To refer a question to an expert:• Go to the Full Question.• In the Refer To drop-down list, select Subject

Matter Expert and click the arrow next to the list.

• QuestionPoint displays the Refer Question to Subject Matter Expert Page.

• Select the subject area, enter message, and hit Refer

Refer to a Subject Matter Expert

Refer to a Subject Matter Expert

Refer to an E-mail Partner• You can refer a question anyone even if that

person does not have a QuestionPoint account. Only an E-mail account is required

To refer a question to an E-mail Partner:• Go to the Full Question.• In the Refer To drop-down list, select E-mail

Partner and click the arrow next to the list. • QuestionPoint displays the Refer to E-mail

Partner page. • Provide the expert's e-mail address in the “to

box”

Refer to an E-mail Partner

Refer to an E-mail Partner

Refer to an E-mail Partner• What you need to do:– Explain who you are and why you are contacting the

person– Click the E-mail button to send the message

• What QuestionPoint does:– Redisplays the Full Question to the expert– Adds information about the referral to the Question

History – Changes its status to "pending“– Changes its status to "e-mailed out“– Sends an e-mail message to the expert.

Receive reply• When you receive a reply from an expert,

QuestionPoint sends you a message containing: – Question ID – The expert's reply – Any attachments sent with the expert's reply

Note: The attachments are available to you only with the e-mail message. If you want to send the attachments to the patron, you must save them on your computer so you can attach them when you send the answer.

Expert’s reply

• What happens in your QuestionPoint E-mail interface:– Changes the status of the question to "new“– Adds a note at the top of the Question History

that indicates you must accept (edit) or delete the expert's reply before you can act on the question.

– Adds two entries in the Question History: • One indicates when the reply was received from the

expert. • The other contains the expert's reply and buttons that

you can click to edit or delete the reply.

Send answer from an expert

• After QuestionPoint receives an e-mail reply from the subject-matter expert to whom you referred a question, you can send the answer to the patron.

• To send the answer to the patron:– Read the e-mail message and any attachments sent to

your e-mail address when the expert replied. – Save any attachments on your computer so you can

include them when you send the answer to the patron.

Sending E-mail Partner’s answer

• Go to the Full Question.

• Click one of the buttons included with the expert's reply in the Question History:

– Click Edit to accept the expert's reply and begin to process it.

– QuestionPoint displays the Edit Expert or Librarian E-mail Response page.

Sending Expert’s answer

• Click one of the radio buttons located below the Reply box on the Edit Expert or Librarian E-mail Response page: – Click Send as Answer if you want to edit the expert's reply and

then send it directly to the patron without adding attachments or seeking additional information.

– Click Save as Note if you want to edit the expert's reply and then add attachments or seek additional information before you send the answer to the patron.

• Edit the expert's reply in the Reply box. You might: – Remove unneeded text, such as headers, a copy of your

message, etc. – Enhance the reply as needed for the patron

Sending Expert’s answer

• In the Full Question, select and copy the librarian note that contains the expert's reply.

Click the Answer button to view the Answer Question page.

• Paste the expert's reply in the Answer box.

• Use the tools on the Answer Question page as needed to modify the text in the Answer box, include scripts, attach files, and send the answer.

Referred question

AskAway E-mail

• A limited number of Wisconsin libraries use the E-mail service

• AskAway E-mail (and chat) are available to public libraries at no additional charge

• E-mail questions are only accessible by the patron’s own library

• E-mail questions can be forwarded to subject matter experts

Libraries currently offering AskAway E-mailWisconsin Library Services (WiLS)Univ of Wisconsin-Whitewater (WiLS-A)Winnefox Library System (WiLS)Wisconsin Resources for Libraries and Lifelong Learning, Madison (WiLS)L.E. Phillips Memorial PL (WiLS)Univ of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (WiLS-A)Univ of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (WiLS-A)Fox Valley Technical College (WiLS-A)CVTC (WiLS-A)WI VALLEY LIB SRV/MARATHON CNTY PL (WiLS)MANITOWOC PUB LIBR (WiLS)

Milwaukee Public Library (WiLS)BROWN DEER PUB LIBR (WiLS)CUDAHY FAMILY LIBR (WiLS)GREENDALE PUBLIC LIBRARY (WiLS)WEST ALLIS PUB LIBR (WiLS)MILWAUKEE CNTY FEDERATED LIBR (WiLS)

Edgewood College Library (WiLS-A)

WITC (WiLS-A)MPTC (WiLS-A)Northeast Wisconsin Tech College (WiLS-A)

KENOSHA PUB LIBR (WiLS)

DPI’s use of Askaway E-mail

• AskAway E-mail link on the DPI website receives a LOT of traffic

• Frequent questions from teachers and prospective teachers on licensing, about standards and hours of instruction

• Frequent questions from parents about teachers, Individual Education Plans (IEPs), school finance

Referrals to DPI experts

• We refer many questions to colleagues in school finance, licensing, etc. because the answers have legal and financial consequences

• If any of your patrons have questions about DPI policies or services, please refer them to us so we can be sure they get accurate, complete answers

• Please advise your patrons that the heavy workload of DPI staffers often means a longer turnaround time than we’d like

For more information on the “Ask”E-mail service:

• Check the QuestionPoint website at: – http://www.questionpoint.org/crs/html/help/en/a

sk/ask_contents.html

• Call or E-mail Martha Berninger

Upcoming sessions

• April 7: Introduction to AskAway’s Spanish-language Chat service

• May 5: Chat service basics

• June 2: E-mail service basics

• July 7: Marketing the AskAway service

• Aug 4: AskAway statistics for administrators and librarians

Next Session and Q&A

• Session 3, Thursday, April 7 from 10 am – 11 am

– Introduction to the Spanish-language chat service• How does it work• Who uses it• Where does it work well• How to publicize it

• Questions, comments, feedback?