Library chat surveys, University of Minnesota Duluth style

<p><br />Interested in using surveys to improve your library's virtual reference services? In this<br />post, we've partnered with the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) Library to talk<br />library surveys. (Thanks guys!) They've been using surveys alongside chat this year and have interesting and actionable results to share with you.<br /><br />At the end of this post, we'll cover the mechanics of adding a survey to your widget. But first up, Doreen Hansen, Computer Systems Specialist, along with UMD Librarians Kim Pittman and Gabriel Gardner will take you behind the scenes to share how they apply survey results within their library to improve library services.<br /><br /><div><div><h3><span style="font-size: large;">A Tale of Two Surveys: How and Why</span></h3></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div>UMD Reference Librarians first offered chat service to patrons in 2004. After joining<br />forces with LibraryH3lp in 2008, we saw a significant increase in usage. However, after<br />that initial spike, our usage numbers began to stagnate (see charts). In order to uncover<br />the cause of our underwhelming usage statistics, we surveyed our patrons in the spring<br />and summer of 2012. We hoped that our survey results would give us insight into<br />users’ experience of chat and help us identify areas for improvement.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg-r7IGvBByPRxFO7rR_MtQ0W8ML3qL_Dp7Yt2QPFBJzhvpLAdovZ3PxI2DzGuuusIadu4D8snqHqXiA1efWEEk4P-pAq8QKxU8B4r_stjRXYf41pFQmtp2cWjgYjrB9mQ95wmck42gu4w/s1600/chats-per-year.png" imageanchor="1" style="float: right; margin: 0;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg-r7IGvBByPRxFO7rR_MtQ0W8ML3qL_Dp7Yt2QPFBJzhvpLAdovZ3PxI2DzGuuusIadu4D8snqHqXiA1efWEEk4P-pAq8QKxU8B4r_stjRXYf41pFQmtp2cWjgYjrB9mQ95wmck42gu4w/s320/chats-per-year.png" width="320" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgrYgL87lbMqCIWSRggB8oUUnyOS2LI9sxuq2ad3yDWrAZGyC6EeBS1lJ0L61igzBntYHmP9b1ripqC6j074JD1u1ZraALLYPov4sIJzpb3ZduewH3xZZ6AdXO0cn4zkOTSns48F3Wbawe/s1600/chats-as-percentage-of-FTE.png" imageanchor="1" style="float: left; margin: 0;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgrYgL87lbMqCIWSRggB8oUUnyOS2LI9sxuq2ad3yDWrAZGyC6EeBS1lJ0L61igzBntYHmP9b1ripqC6j074JD1u1ZraALLYPov4sIJzpb3ZduewH3xZZ6AdXO0cn4zkOTSns48F3Wbawe/s320/chats-as-percentage-of-FTE.png" width="320" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span><span class="s1">In order to learn more about current chat users and non-users, we created two surveys, both launched in the spring of 2012.</span><span class="s2"><br /><br /></span><span class="s1">One was linked right inside the top header of the patron's chat box via the <title> field within the widget designer. In addition to this eye-catching survey link, librarians also sent patrons a friendly invitation to take a short survey at the conclusion of each chat. </span><br /><span class="s1"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXnfZDIl7MpoYdTxHGEqf-DS6JtDLf1O1BHzEq4_omAAYleqzydcaYAG3WBC_dwjL0moEoW-SMBpT-3uKDQ3u0M9UDXhoobJZEAiGYbVGlVve1IW1UNm0nbtZNJDFje1MdosvL3FohRfQ1/s1600/invitation-to-take-survey.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXnfZDIl7MpoYdTxHGEqf-DS6JtDLf1O1BHzEq4_omAAYleqzydcaYAG3WBC_dwjL0moEoW-SMBpT-3uKDQ3u0M9UDXhoobJZEAiGYbVGlVve1IW1UNm0nbtZNJDFje1MdosvL3FohRfQ1/s640/invitation-to-take-survey.png" width="640" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span><span class="s1">This survey asked the user to rate their satisfaction with several aspects of their chat experience, offer suggestions for service improvements, and rate their willingness to use the service again. </span><span class="s2"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq5GsPK0CGEpvPb77_65th7U8nkaaS8ycihkkQSjolyZdjkzBto-_9fW1EedeCXm6ZO-OJL1VuBxJDMrZ4r4AKQIivwkmtlmJVJoiOtzSok25zo3rwLl6l4KAwk4e4R8hyphenhyphenM2WwXuy_d7zY/s1600/sample-survey-form.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq5GsPK0CGEpvPb77_65th7U8nkaaS8ycihkkQSjolyZdjkzBto-_9fW1EedeCXm6ZO-OJL1VuBxJDMrZ4r4AKQIivwkmtlmJVJoiOtzSok25zo3rwLl6l4KAwk4e4R8hyphenhyphenM2WwXuy_d7zY/s640/sample-survey-form.png" width="409" /></a></div><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"> </span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Our second, more comprehensive survey was targeted to anyone, whether they were previous chat users, were unaware of the chat service, or had known about it but hadn't tried it. This survey posed questions to patrons about their awareness of the service, previous use and satisfaction (if applicable), reasons for non-use (if applicable) and demographic characteristics. We promoted this survey in three places: on our library home page, on our "AskUs!" page, and on the digital sign at the library’s entrance.</span><br /><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBhR48ipN4E-w956JFOZ-PPwy7xgBsKedB4hVrXkWbUeKWyFEnqTczySP8LZoG3wgvDMK159RpK2ag0uhgo2o6bOXiqqTPcnsX-yO1LEp-M2260SMJkB0EEZJsWcjPHVwKWWPAYSrhyphenhyphen5jh/s1600/screenshot-homepage.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBhR48ipN4E-w956JFOZ-PPwy7xgBsKedB4hVrXkWbUeKWyFEnqTczySP8LZoG3wgvDMK159RpK2ag0uhgo2o6bOXiqqTPcnsX-yO1LEp-M2260SMJkB0EEZJsWcjPHVwKWWPAYSrhyphenhyphen5jh/s320/screenshot-homepage.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">UMD Library home page with link to survey in lower left corner.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="p1"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 0; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZPW0du2PnKL5mx8UqVPSpqbQRCwYuM-1g3FhPzKfrEXzBId-CDEPn-kJh7nVqA7tHfd87C6zkNEvVq2qxtfa0_hOSehA-Snh-_jqXdE4a9rdBNeR4sj9whQDeWavL_Nwd468YYTdfS85t/s1600/screenshot-homepage-survey-link.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin: 0px auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZPW0du2PnKL5mx8UqVPSpqbQRCwYuM-1g3FhPzKfrEXzBId-CDEPn-kJh7nVqA7tHfd87C6zkNEvVq2qxtfa0_hOSehA-Snh-_jqXdE4a9rdBNeR4sj9whQDeWavL_Nwd468YYTdfS85t/s320/screenshot-homepage-survey-link.png" width="275" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Closeup of survey link</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="clear: both;"></div><br />We chose to use Google Drive to create these surveys because of its simplicity, shareability, and the snazzy charts that we could easily produce from our results. Using Google Drive also allowed us to create a “branching” survey which led users to different questions based on their responses. To our knowledge, Google Drive is currently the only free survey software with this capability.<br /><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"> </span></div><div class="p1"><h4><span class="s1"><b>How We Used Our Results</b></span></h4><div><span class="s1"><b><br /></b></span></div></div><div class="p1"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1"><i>Dropped Chats: Embedded vs. Pop-out Widgets</i></span><br /><span class="s1"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">After launching the survey, one problem became clear immediately: our embedded widgets were causing us to lose some users mid-conversation. Patrons would click a link sent by librarians or perhaps leave or refresh the page, losing their connection. While we had suspected that this might be the case, our survey results confirmed this. Switching all our widgets from embedded to pop-out was an easy fix, resulting in a notable decline in the number of lost connections and survey complaints.</span><span class="s2"><br /><br /></span><span class="s1"><i>Response Time</i></span><br /><span class="s2"><i><br /></i></span><span class="s1">After compiling survey results, we noted other common issues experienced by users. Several users commented that librarians were slow to respond to their questions - an issue confirmed by our LibraryH3lp statistics. In order to improve this aspect of our service, we plan to discuss user expectations at future librarian training meetings, and explore options for providing back-up chat coverage should the librarian staffing the desk become too busy to answer promptly.</span><span class="s2"><br /><br /></span><span class="s1"><i>Lack of User Awareness</i></span><br /><span class="s2"><i><br /></i></span><span class="s1">Given our declining chat usage, we were</span> unsurprised to find that the majority of those surveyed had not previously used our chat service. Of those non-users, approximately half were not aware that the service existed. To address this lack of awareness, we are in the process of putting more widgets where our users are: our databases, online research guides, 404 pages, and our course management system, Moodle. In the future, we hope to add widgets to our mobile site (using LibraryH3lp’s mobile widget) and our link resolver pages. </div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUEmqmjeyhm669gMKGukL1HWQuywY58c0KP3QZ8QVm_juqQEdUqvWJVS3U9cStrDWQPt7I3j8ZWsKwyhyphenhyphenVtcHxSr4jStqVE_IX15LEGKJIGAuKzU-eTUyRojLePMgVzLxjjcfQEJK0MoOH/s1600/pie-chart-have-u-ever-used.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUEmqmjeyhm669gMKGukL1HWQuywY58c0KP3QZ8QVm_juqQEdUqvWJVS3U9cStrDWQPt7I3j8ZWsKwyhyphenhyphenVtcHxSr4jStqVE_IX15LEGKJIGAuKzU-eTUyRojLePMgVzLxjjcfQEJK0MoOH/s640/pie-chart-have-u-ever-used.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Bhyphenhyphen-7JEEzg9JkIWwuuK3SPN5Qy_XINABu9B4f9aQQd8txt22qi9aX2t1CN-ih7sIOoh0VfETmB2hgzrBBrlTycR5M_KTqhjfrS2fymFvN6bJpCpN307w7ig6SLfYyhYrNzBelC6AldAd/s1600/pie-chart-prior-2-survey.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Bhyphenhyphen-7JEEzg9JkIWwuuK3SPN5Qy_XINABu9B4f9aQQd8txt22qi9aX2t1CN-ih7sIOoh0VfETmB2hgzrBBrlTycR5M_KTqhjfrS2fymFvN6bJpCpN307w7ig6SLfYyhYrNzBelC6AldAd/s640/pie-chart-prior-2-survey.png" width="640" /></a></div><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"> </span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">In addition to adding more widgets, we are strategizing new promotional efforts across campus to increase awareness of our chat service. This may include posting fliers in the dorms, advertising in our campus student newspaper, and redoubling our efforts to promote our chat service in library instruction sessions.</span><span class="s2"><br /></span></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 0; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAsbudUk5pKTQbQ_x4V4481WpHXcak1xfrUdkTzibUl3m9lF4aKIbCUgwtdX-vrTKBVAnd1e4cixY_zI-g1p8qrmqsgR94DFi8C_C-karLrJ4RNVOaCQsNQSpjspMtIKzmMIsNJL5_UISV/s1600/meme-1-baby.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAsbudUk5pKTQbQ_x4V4481WpHXcak1xfrUdkTzibUl3m9lF4aKIbCUgwtdX-vrTKBVAnd1e4cixY_zI-g1p8qrmqsgR94DFi8C_C-karLrJ4RNVOaCQsNQSpjspMtIKzmMIsNJL5_UISV/s1600/meme-1-baby.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">example of a meme used in our promotional flyer</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 0; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD6Kx-LLiYdzYQxV71gXT-z_QFeDcZauuB1bDM-2sMFdLoDJFFAiNxQth5TD2O8XwoQoWmtSyMldI_aG2DA1_i-H7Q6fYuBPbc8qMEqray7WZwf09ZIDqF8eGFvfuCDnoAXIfeDoI5o7hF/s1600/meme-2-texting-in-car.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD6Kx-LLiYdzYQxV71gXT-z_QFeDcZauuB1bDM-2sMFdLoDJFFAiNxQth5TD2O8XwoQoWmtSyMldI_aG2DA1_i-H7Q6fYuBPbc8qMEqray7WZwf09ZIDqF8eGFvfuCDnoAXIfeDoI5o7hF/s320/meme-2-texting-in-car.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">another example of a promotional meme</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="clear: both;"><div><br /></div></div><div><h3><span style="font-size: large;">Adding a survey link to your widget</span></h3></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div>Now that Doreen, Kim, and Gabriel have got you all excited about using surveys to improve your library's services, let's talk about how you can add a link to your survey in your widget's title.<br /><br />The simplest way to do this is to include a hyperlink as part of your <a href="http://docs.libraryh3lp.com/basic-widget-customization">widget's title</a>. For example:</div><div><br /></div><code>Ask a Librarian <span style="float:right; text-align: center; font-size: 12px;">How did we do?<br/><a href="http://link-to-survey">Let us know!</a></span></code><br /><code><br /></code>or<br /><code></code><br /><code>Ask Us! <span style="padding:4px;background:#ff0;color:#032b3c"> Take our <a target="_blank" style="color:#032b3c" href="http://z.umn.edu/chatsurvey">brief chat survey</a></span></code><br /><div><br />And if your title needs more room, you can add a wicked CSS hack. For example:</div><div><br /></div><div><code>#layout {<br />  top: 40px;<br />}</code></div><div><br /></div><div>The result should look something like this:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk2LN89qYKWMhVf78Td_5PLfwBQSiin5WxorPQf3BjYIgeG-WFe7JrnXGqy6Yu2KYNFEXf3MoiK8dCCuCxlKuqKAior5aODUbL8E7_qtQs6q7VOKkqlcIaqI7XYXtMn2_2bz94hPigRx3X/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-07-31+at+8.56.06+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk2LN89qYKWMhVf78Td_5PLfwBQSiin5WxorPQf3BjYIgeG-WFe7JrnXGqy6Yu2KYNFEXf3MoiK8dCCuCxlKuqKAior5aODUbL8E7_qtQs6q7VOKkqlcIaqI7XYXtMn2_2bz94hPigRx3X/s320/Screen+shot+2012-07-31+at+8.56.06+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>And here is the <a href="http://www.d.umn.edu/lib/index.htm">University of Minnesota Duluth Libraries' widget</a> with survey link:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzQ8Z7kJle5neRrfmehqoHAJpGFJNrEay9X8TxCcfUy5M31kdyFryDfJcoQAhnaaJlwAuXZm6gtWnlMwiK_sDyZ6cpEgE5CTOJBHAH37Y-vQP_6iC6WRnQstErZZfaKeuM2LjWwzVJ04As/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-07-31+at+11.42.33+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzQ8Z7kJle5neRrfmehqoHAJpGFJNrEay9X8TxCcfUy5M31kdyFryDfJcoQAhnaaJlwAuXZm6gtWnlMwiK_sDyZ6cpEgE5CTOJBHAH37Y-vQP_6iC6WRnQstErZZfaKeuM2LjWwzVJ04As/s320/Screen+shot+2012-07-31+at+11.42.33+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div></div><div><br /><h3><span style="font-size: large;">How does your library use surveys?</span></h3><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>Do you use surveys (chat or otherwise) to improve your library's services? Or maybe you have questions for Doreen, Kim, and Gabriel? If so, please post a comment. We'd love to hear from you!<br /><br /></div></div></p>

Interested in using surveys to improve your library's virtual reference services? In this post, we've partnered with the University ...

FAQ on regional servers + New password protection feature!

<p>Our <a href="http://docs.libraryh3lp.com/faq-intro.html" target="_blank">FAQ module</a> is now available on the LibraryH3lp servers in Europe, Canada, and Singapore, in addition to our main US server.<br /><br />The FAQ module lets you quickly and easily build a <a href="http://libraryh3lp.blogspot.com/2012/09/new-feature-for-patrons-searchable-faq.html" target="_blank">searchable, browsable knowledge base for your library</a>. Plus, real-time chat and an offline e-mail form are automatically integrated so that patrons can get answers directly from you. It's one more thing included at no additional charge with your unlimited, low flat-rate LibraryH3lp subscription. More bang for your buck. Better virtual reference service for your patrons.<br /><br />And now for that new feature. Each FAQ offers the option of password protection so that only your librarians have access to your knowledge base. A couple LibraryH3lp libraries were interested in using the FAQ as an internal knowledge base for librarians rather than as a resource for patrons. We thought that was a fantastic idea! To enable password protection for your FAQ, click on the 'Require login?' checkbox in the Pages tab of the FAQ module in the admin site. <br /><br />We want to hear from you! Build your own FAQ. Try it out. Collect feedback from your librarians and patrons and <a href="mailto:support@libraryh3lp.com" target="_blank">let us know</a> how we can make it better for you.<br /><br />Oh! And one last thing. If you are building a FAQ and don't mind sharing, please leave a link to your FAQ in the comments below. We've been getting quite a few requests to see what other libraries are doing with their FAQs. We'd appreciate any inspiration you'd care to share.<br /><br /><br /></p>

Our FAQ module is now available on the LibraryH3lp servers in Europe, Canada, and Singapore, in addition to our main US server. The FAQ mod...