Any tracking software should include these aspects:
- Allow all troubleshooting staff to view all reports which come into an integrated help desk.
- When needed, allow for staff at each institution to "claim" problem reports specific to their institution as needed. For example, some excessive downloading incidents need to be handled by staff at the institution at which the incident occurred.
- From 2CUL TSI operating principle #3, "Increase efficiency through the elimination of redundancy"
- Able to have multiple accounts in the system, so that items can be easily tracked by one person or multiple people
- Intuitive, easy to understand interface
- Relatively easy to implement at both institutions
- Reasonable cost to implement and maintain
- Since the goal of e-resources troubleshooting is to help patrons, ease of use for patrons should be high on the list:
- multiple ways to feed into the problem tracking system
- patrons able to look up their tickets
- patrons able to easily communicate with troubleshooting staff
- confidentiality of patron identity needs to be maintained
- reference staff who aren't on the front lines of troubleshooting need to be able to look up tickets in case patrons contact ref desks for follow up
- Searchable database of previous problem reports, for staff, and possibly for patrons
- Ability to export metrics - what types of problems, which publishers, how long and how many staff are involved in solving issues
Link to the table comparing various problem tracking products: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ArODGF4oNIRTdEswRGZHT3hzMnNwUlZKY2l3Q3JnRmc&usp=sharing