Scope: LTS staff who interact with patrons should record information about these transactions in the CUL Count-It system. In 2019, the e-resources troubleshooting staff moved to using the integrated statistics counting feature in LibAnswers, and no longer uses Count-It to record transactions; the following procedure has been updated accordingly. LTS Procedure #141 refers to troubleshooting of library resources on the behalf of patrons. Note: If you are involved in any presentations for academic departments or students, please refer to the information about reporting presentations.
Contact: Adam Chandler, Liisa Mobley
Unit: E-Resources
Date last updated: 01/5/2018
Date of next review: January 2019
Recording E-Resources Troubleshooting and Responses to Other Patron Queries (LTS Procedure #141)
Information included In the Profile section
Recording E-Resources Troubleshooting and Responses to Other Patron Queries (LTS Procedure #141)
Recording E-Resources Troubleshooting and Responses to Other Patron Queries (LTS Procedure #141)
A. About LibAnswers:
- URL for LibAnswers: http://cornell.libanswers.com/ and you can log in by clicking on the link at the bottom of the page. You can also log into: https://cornell.libapps.com/libapps/login.php, which includes all SpringShare products - you will have to chose LibAnswers after logging in.
- LibAnswers help: https://ask.springshare.com/libanswers
- Email list if you have questions: e-resources-l@cornell.edu
- Reference staff may submit questions directly to our queue in LibAnswers, and emails from patrons can also be forwarded to the email, Cornell E-Resources Team <incoming@cornell.libanswers.com>, which will then load the question into LibAnswers.
- Record all transactions and approximate time spent with patrons. Make it quick - you don't need to add a lot of detail.
- The initial report will pull in netid of the patron in the report, but this will be anonymized in a matter of days.
B. Information to record when closing up the ticket:
Once you have completed your troubleshooting work, and you are ready to close the ticket, fill in the following fields at the bottom of the ticket.
- "Add to FAQ Group" leave as "Do not add to FAQ Group"
- "Unit" - LTS
- "Location" - usually, this will be "library office"
- "Duration" - Duration refers to the amount of time spent interacting with the patron, and some of the prep work done to fulfill this interaction.
- "# Patrons" - This will usually be just one patron.
- "Patron type" - If you know patron type, record it. Otherwise use "unknown."
- "Mode" - Should be "email"
- "Content/type" - "information" or "software/systems"
- "Prep/follow-up" - If additional time is spent after communication is over with the patron, record the time here.
- "Staff type" - "Other staff"
- "Internal Note" - Record the appropriate hashtags; the list is below.
C. Information recorded in the "Question" section:
- "Question type": "Knowledge"
- "Duration (in minutes)": Duration refers to the amount of time spent interacting with the patron, and some of the prep work done to fulfill this interaction. Round up to the nearest 5 minutes. If additional time is spent after communication is over with the patron, then please use the "notes" in the "optional" section for additional followup.
- "Notes": Add information about waiting for publishers, etc.
- "Mode": "Email" in most cases, but other methods may be used, such as "phone."
- "Content/type": "information" or "software/systems"
- "Time": the Count-It system will time-stamp your entry with the time you save it. Note: If you submit all of your Count-It reports in one batch, such as at the end of your LIBIT shift or the end of the day, be sure to update this field accordingly for each report.
- "Patron type": If you know patron type, record it. Otherwise use "unknown."
- "As liaison": Leave blank.
D. Information recorded in the "Optional" section (this is mandatory for us - do not forget it!):
- "Topic": Enter a value, such as the name of the resource involved. Example: roper ipoll, books24x
- "Other staff involved": If you collaborated with other staff, add their names. If you worked on a problem and then sent it to someone else to finish, use this field, too. If you just forward a problem without working on it, do not record it as one of your Count It! issues.
- "How did patron find us": Libit-l, almost always. Might be Proquest, personal email.
- "Notes": Keep it brief. We have discussed using hashtags to simplify record keeping, and possibly use the hashtags to survey which types of problems arise frequently. Possible hashtags:
- #activation - resource needs to be activated, or re-activated; replacement access needs purchased
- #blocked_netid - patron netid blocked, probably due to a compromised netid, and/or an excessive downloading event
- #browser - issue related to the browser; ex. cache and cookies, browser extensions, specific browser issues
- #excessive_download - publisher notification of an excessive downloading event
- #ezproxy - resource needed to be added to ezproxy, or needed an ezproxy tweak
- #false_alarm - problem resolves prior to us looking at it
- #festering - referring to issues which seem to take forever to resolve
- #holdings - the holdings information was incorrectly represented in our catalogs
- #IP- IP list incorrect at vendor's end
- #metadata_error - may be a cataloging error (either Cornell's or vendor-supplied), or a Summon, 360 Link, or other system metadata error
- #migration - issues related to migration of content to new publisher platforms; also include migration issues when one journal sold to another publisher
- #missing_content - content is missing; may be a corrupt file, or a pdf which is not there, author does not allow access to article
- #multiple_platform_error - content is posted on more than one platform, but we might not have full access on all platforms; patron generally wants access on the platform that does not give full access
- #openurl - issues related to openURLs, such as the problem reports we get from ProQuest
- #payment - we have not paid the publisher, either through our fault or theirs
- #permit - permits associated with the patron netid don't allow access to CUL resources
- #platform - major or minor issues with the publisher or provider platform
- #subscription - ex. desired holdings not included in our subscription, or we missed a journal moving to another publisher
- #url - issues related to the url, such as link no longer working
- #user_limit - patron runs into problems with access due to user limits
- #vendor_records - ex. records pulled for unknown reason, or record not pulled out in time (Safari)
- #walkthrough - spent time with the patron on the phone, or through email, explaining each step of the process to get access
- #withdrawal - content has been pulled; may refer to e-book, e-journal, database, or other content