Juggling LessonsHow do librarians work with simultaneous users in

QuestionPoint?

Kate Pittsley, Eastern Michigan UniversityMichigan Virtual Reference Service Collaborative

Annual Meeting, April 8 2011

Questions

1. Are you comfortable juggling 2 questions at a time? Have you ever handled 3 or more at once?

2. How do you decide whether to grab an additional question? What factors do you consider?

3. What techniques do you use to successfully work with multiple students?

4. Are there pitfalls to watch for when juggling multiple questions?

Participants

• All EMU QP librarians participated

• Dedicated to VR during shiftsSome one hour shifts, some eve shifts

• All tech savvyVR experience/frequency varies

• IMO, all very good reference librarians!

Juggling Comfort

• 13 of 15 are comfortable juggling 2 questions

• 3rd question? - 3 say never (or almost never)

- 7 will, but don’t frequently- 5 routinely juggle 3

“Uber-Jugglers” are Rare

Only one librarian felt comfortable doing more than 3 at once

2 of 15 are not comfortable

One doesn’t do VR frequently and isn’t comfortable with texting in general

Both have philosophical reasons related to customer service.

Do I take that 2nd question?

Where is the question from?always if EMUusually if Michigan (& other MI librarian not available)

more selective if out-of-state

Where: Is Anybody Out There?

Ten mentioned scanning to see if librarians from that state/region are available

& hesitating longer if they had 0 questions

Timing: The End is in Sight

Four mentioned that they are more likely to pick up a 2nd question when the first seems like it’s almost finished.

Timing: The Space In-Between

Nine indicated response time of current patron as a factor:

—less likely to pick up a second when first has “quick back and forth”

— more likely with long “gaps in communication.”

Timing: Student Wait Time

Eight will pick up an additional question if a student has been waiting “too long” to be picked up.

Definitions of “too long” vary from 30 or 40 to 200 seconds. Most librarians don’t have a specific number of seconds in mind.

Timing: Quitting Time

Seven said they were less likely to pick up a 2nd question if it was near the end of a shift.

Timing: Time of DayEarly shifts likely to pick up extra California users.

Evenings are especially busy.

On multiple hour shifts, the librarian is likely to pick up extra questions at the top of the hour.

Questions: Complex or SimpleMost librarians read the question and judge it’s level of complexity as a factor. - Most thought juggling 2 complex questions less than ideal.

- Half were less likely to pick up a 2nd question, if 1st was “complex”, “involved,” or required “sustained attention” or “hand-holding”.

- Almost all said more willing to pick up a 2nd,if it looked “easy,” “straightforward,” or “quick.”

Question: Subject Expertise

Six were more likely to pick up a 2nd question if it was in their area of subject expertise.

Juggling Pitfalls

Four reported accidentally sending answers to the wrong person,but all thought this wasn’t a big problem.

Juggling Pitfalls

Two people worried that we might spend less time on the reference interview and give quicker answers when juggling multiple questions.

Oops!

- Forgetting someone who’s waiting

- Forgetting what school they are from

- Losing track of time with involved ?

- Blocking out the response beeps

Do we tell?

• Librarians were evenly divided between those that usually tell students they are working with another student and those who don’t.

• There are also some in the middle who sometimes tell depending on the situation.

Something to do

Four librarians described “giving the user something to do,” then getting back to them after spending time on another patron.

Follow-up & Referrals

Four mentioned referring complex questions to follow-up or providing contact info for subject librarians.

Multiple Windows

Some mentioned many open windows as a problem (or at least annoyance); one librarian developed a “1 window per user” solution.

From the policy page, use the mouse wheel to click on links so pages open in tabs.

The Open Window

Two librarians mentioned that they don’t hurry to close out questions that seem finished

- patrons sometimes came back with follow-up questions.

Better with Practice

A few reported that they felt stressed when juggling multiple patrons.

But, a few also reported that with practice they have “no more anxiety” juggling more than one.