you can do anything, but you can’t do everything

You can do anything, but you can’t do everything

The end of chat reference at a small undergraduate university

Lauren Magnuson, MA / MEd

The University

1778 Students 3 librarians

+200

Faculty

A place for learning and creating.

Systems & Emerging Technologies

E-Resource Management

User Experience & Web Content

Subject Specialist for• Humanitie

s• Social

Sciences• Education

Reference 2011-2012

Chat8%

Email42%In-Person

21%

Phone10%

Texting19%

# of Contacts

T=904

Do,Or do not,There is no try.

#chatproblems

Hello?!

#chatproblems

#chatproblems

Functional ReliableUsableEnjoyable

Digsby

• Embeddable• Free• Glitchy• Meebo-ish

• No history

• Easily missed chats

Zoho Chat

• Embeddable• Free• Ugly• YATTC (Yet

Another Thing to Check)

LibraryH3lp

• Chat only (at the time)

• $$

Meanwhile….

LibAnswers Knowledgebase• SMS• Twitter • Embeddable question forms• Public Knowledgebase• Analytics• Email notifications

Campus-Wide Knowledgebase

Analytics

Statistics

Query Spy

Cost (based on FTE)• LibAnswers Basic $759/yr• Analytics Module $299• SMS Add-On $360

$1418/yr

ROI• $.16 a view (so far)• Accountability• Visibility

If a chat box falls over in a forest…

• Reference transactions increasing• Capitalizing on social media