2011 December Monthly Report

by the numbers

• Maryland customers asked 3150 questions via chat in December, just 270 less than this time last year.

• Maryland librarians handled 1765 questions via chat from customers around Maryland and the world. Up 45 from September 2011.

• Maryland librarians sent 834 emails to customers

customer comments

• "Great! Amazing!"
   
• "This libarian was very helpful and she was one of the best i have ever has on this website i htank you very much for your service"
   
• "Thanks to Katie my libraian I feel confident in writting and presenting a well researched paper on Nicaraguan folklore. I couldnt be more appreciative of the services provided. :)"

• "Shannon was a great help.  She answered my questions thoroughly and gave me the answers I needed.  I will definitely come back and use this service again."
   
• "my librarian was so nice, and very helpful."
   
• "Love it, I know where to go when I need help. Thanks for who ever created Ask Now."
   
• "Librarian Sharyl was very helpful in helping me find the information I needed, plus she gave me extra help with questions not related to the search, such as helping me how to use the databases and how to look for reliable sources."
   
• "A great service and amazing to get help from the library even though I was thousands of miles away from my home library!"
   
• "You were the most helpful online library I have ever had in my 6 years of using this service. In the past I came across alot of librarians that did not put any effort or willingness in helping."
   
• "this is a good site and i will recomend it"
   
• "I love this service. Thank you so much! The librarians are so helpful!"
   
• "Great service.  Thank you so much."
   
• "it was nice to receive a timely answer !"
   
• "This is a great service.  Way to go!"
   
• "This service and the staff of library is very very Excellent, and I am very satisfied for your services. Regards for all, Abdullah Al Asmari, Imam University Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia"
   
• "The liberian was timely answering, and very effective with the information that I needed."
   
• "This is a great tool! My question was answered in less than a minute and I am very happy with this service and the librarians kindness!"
   
• "Professiona, polite, and extremely helpful."
   
• "it was pretty well done. i don't think he really understood what i was saying. the last website ind of helped but i will just keep looking. you guys have very well searching and i thank you for your time. goodbye"

• "Reply was very quick and informative.  Nice feature to have."
   
• "The librarians are very helpful and nice!"
   
• "Great service and quick responses with someone who actually knew what they were talking about!"
   
• "Quick response and answered my question. Great service and the rep was very helpful."
   
• "Fast, thorough response.  Thanks!"
   
• "The service was quick and very helpful for me and the Librarian Patricia M was excellent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
   

month in review

This month:

• eight staff members at new partner NOAA were given a brief overview of AUN in Silver Spring on Dec 8th
• eight new providers were trained at new partner Frostburg University in Frostburg on Dec9th
• three new providers were trained at the Abingdon Branch, Harford County PL on the 12th
• Anne Arundel County hosted the December liaison meeting at their Crofton Branch on the13th where new projects for FY12 were discussed
• Julie attended the Statewide Marketing meeting in Columbia on Dec 14th where she alerted the team to some new marketing initiatives coming down the pike and solicited feedback
• we removed the "law button" from asksunow.info on dec 19th to help decrease the # of non-law related questions the Maryland State Law Library was receiving. as a nod to some of our upcoming marketing initiatives, an "add this" block was added for easier sharing of askusnow.info
• We launched our holiday resource list on the 22nd
• December 24th and 25th were AskUsNow! holidays where if libraries were closed, they didn't have to monitor the service

2011 November Monthly Report

by the numbers

• Maryland customers asked 3441 questions via chat in November, just 311 less than this time last year.

• Maryland librarians handled 1920 questions via chat from customers around Maryland and the world. Up 200 from September 2011.

• Maryland librarians submitted 1030 emails to customers as answers or follow-ups.

customer comments

• "You Nailed it!"
   
• "I used this service after hours and was routed to a librarian external to my home campus. She did her best to help, and provided me with the best contact info at my institution's library to solve the problem. In addition, my local, on-campus librarian monitored the chat and e-mailed me proactively with the answer this morning. This is a very helpful service in and of itself, and the active monitoring of the chats by the home-institution librarians is extraordinarily helpful."
   
• "SLRC Librarian Lisa was very helpful, direct, to the point, professional, competent, helpful, and as friendly as a chat box allows.  After clicking on CHAT, I didn't know what to do next, so I perused the page and then filled in the information that I thought would be needed for the chat.  I was greeted relatively quickly and began the transaction.  I knew what I was looking, so when I was asked title and year of the article, I was able to respond.  Librarian Lisa also responded quickly.  THIS SERVICE IS GREAT!!!  Now, I don't have to pay $30 to an online site of documents.  I will pick up the article on my way home from work.  Thank you."

• "What an amazing resource for someone who doesn't have the know all to find the resources to questions asked. This is a great system and thank-you."
   
• "This is a great idea! It really helped me and if I ever need help agian I know where to come."
   
• "The librarian did an excellent job locating the resources that would help me with a high school needlecraft assignment."
   
• "Thank you for helping me that's all I can say!"
   
• "the man i worked with gave me all the answers i needed for my wolf project for school"
   
• "this was a great expirince for me. it helped alot with my ss status report 2."
   
• "It was very fast easy and quick i loved it"
   
• "This is a wonderful service!"
   
• "Annette was great she felt like she was my favorite teacher always explaining the best in my grade level."
   
• "this is always my first choice if i need help"
   
• "My librarian was Saima from Houston, and she provided fast and great answers that allowed me to find more information by showing me a list of Online databases for my use."
   
• "I will recommend this site to others."
   
• "my helper found me everything i needed and she found them very fast with great service.i will always use this site to find all my answers for things like this!!!"
   
• "Brooke was very receptive to my needs and I thank her."
   
• "thanks sara help me find more book information and support questions solution. good service good librarian. I really appreciate."
   
• "I will definetly reccomend it to  my friends! SOOOOOOO easy! I like how you can type your question and-POW you have help!"

• "The librarian I spoke with was very helpful. If I have a question, I'll be sure to use this again."
   
• "Thank you again, for your professional expertise. It was a great help, after many frustrating attempts with local librarians."
   
• "He was very nice and gave me the information I wanted"
   
• "Make "Ask Us" now logo prominent of home page. Took me some time to find the chat. If my friend did not mention that HCPL had chat services I would never have known. Overall, I had an excellent experience."
   
• "Very nice. Very appreciated for this sort of service. Thank You."
   
• "thank you for trying  i did learn  how to used the system you was a big help"
   
• "While I do not have my answer yet, the librarian was very eager to help and willing to continue reasearching to provide me the answer. Great service!"
   
• "She gave me exactly what I needed to top off my science project! I asked and received very quick! Thanks Ms. Hannah!"
   
• "Many thanks for 'expert' help. It was a godsend to find you. Your leads are informative and precise. Many Thanks."
   
• "This service is great and the librarian who helped me was veyr helpful!"
   
• "I WILL BE USING THIS SERVICE AGAIN"
   
• "I have used this many times and always find out just exactly what I need.  Thank you so much for continuing this service to the community.  It is wonderful.  I love librarian "Mimi"!"
   
• "I appreciate having this service and the fast and friendly replies to my questions. It saves so much time!"
   
• "This service is outstanding. A little more than 24 hours after I first contacted AskUsNow (on a Sunday) I have my answer from the Enoch Pratt library in Baltimore, to whom my original contact in New Jersey forwarded the problem. If there was a rating higher than "Excellent" I would employ it. My sincere thanks to both the librarians who worked on my question."
   
• "My librarian was pretty helpful giving the specificity of my question. I was also impressed that they offered to email my branch for me with my question. Very good interaction!"

   

month in review

This month:

• We brought on two new partners this month! Frostburg State University and the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration!
• On Sunday, November 6th, Julie celebrated five years with AskUsNow!.
• Julie attended the Tri-County summit (Western Maryland) on 11/11 and met with Allegany College liaison Bob Baldwin while in the area.
• 8 new providers were trained at a New Staff Training in West County (AACPL) on 11/15.
• Suzie Kuch started as the Charles County liaison in place of Cindy Thornley
• The Inner Harbor got an upgrade with new hover menus and some lightly redesigned pages.
• Cathay attended the monthly virtual meeting of the VR coordinators on November 29.
   

2011 October Monthly Report

by the numbers

• Maryland customers asked 3879 questions via chat in October, an increase of 1,100 over September!

• Maryland librarians handled 2173 questions via chat from customers around Maryland and the world, which is about 450 more than in September.

• Maryland librarians submitted 1130  emails to customers as answers or follow-ups, up from 984 in September.

customer comments

• "Lauren of Prince George Library was amazing! Thanks so much!"
   
• "It is a good service. I wish I came across it sooner."
   
• "The librarian was very responsive and supportive and went out of the way to obtain necessary articles I required for a major paper requirement.  Those of us in the University of Maryland Overseas program have limited access and the online service with one on one librarian is a God send when there are problems accessing articles.   Often we can obtain the exact reference citation or URL but for some reason can not download the article. Mr Stephen Henry was exceptional in assisting me assisted in obtaining several articles which had been requested via regular request channels but for some reason could not be obtained. I have recommend using the Inter library loan service and the librarian chat to other colleagues in the University of Maryland overseas program.  They too have found it very helpful and essential given our limited access and the nature of our assignments. Please give best regards to Mr Henry and praise for his professionalism and job well done. Sincerely, [name removed for privacy], University of Maryland Masters of  Special Education Candidate -overseas program"

• "Love this service. So quick and convenient. Thanks for your help."
   
• "Great service!  I appreciate the prompt response."
   
• "The librarian answered my question great. She gave me all the lead ways to make my paper be a good paper for my Professor. I am glad that this sight exsist."
   
• "My niece and I were very excited when we were communicating in real time to a librarian in Brooklyn, NY and awaiting assistance. My niece is a senior in high school and I'm assisting her with her research paper. Thank you."
   
• "I think MD Caroline Librarian Ann was the best and would love to have her more often"
   
• "I enjoyed the quick service that you provided. Thanks, [name removed for privacy]"
   
• "I was so excited to find out what the librarian found out for me."
   
• "thank you very much for this service, it has helped me so much!  :)"
   
• "Please keep this service available.  It is great."
   
• "I continue to receive prompt and effective help from the "Ask a Librarian" staff. They have never failed to find excellent material for me when I have asked. I cannot thank them enough or praise their professionalism too highly. Gratefully, [name removed for privacy]"
   
• "The librarian on call did a great job.  Very quick and communicative."
   
• "I am a resident student writing about Public libraries so this was a very helpful application."
   
• "It workeed great! The Librarian who helped me was fantastic."
   
• "The Liberian that helped me did a phenomenal job in assisting me with my needs she guided me in the right direction and I really really appreciate the help that she gave."
   
• "The librarian that i had, was Heather from NJ, username NJ RU-SCI Heather. Now this might have been the first time i have used this service, but my past experience with live chat help was not that good until tonight. She was most pleasant, and answered my question very quickly. I had actually been on the page she had brought me to prior to me logging onto the chat and had apparently missed the information i was looking for. Upon telling her that quote on quote " i must be blind.. haha. i was on that page too" was very respectful in saying "sometimes you just need another set of eyes" instead of making a joke in return. Because of NJ RU-SCI Heather, I personally will use this service again and have changed my outlook on live chat help, in that some of the live chat help staff out there, are actually helpful and not rude nor act like that a live chat help session is a chore rather than a help session."
   
• "Identified AskUsNow through call to Md. Library Assn in Baltimore actually.  I really appreciate the assistance and info.  Best wishes and thanks again!"

• "sbeyer was incredibly patient and helpful.  I truly admire librarians, their resources and knowledge etc."
   
• "joanne was very helpful i will definitly use this site again!  -[name removed for privacy] 6th grade :)"
   
• "Mary Ann Keicher was VERY helpful.  The reason that I state that I was not satisified by the answer had nothing to do with her.  She researched and got back to me very quickly.  She contacted Heritage Quest for me and I was not satisfied with THEIR answer.  So I do not want my answer to Question #1 to reflect on her at all.  She did an excellent job!"
   
• "Great service, very nice people, and overall extremely helpful!  I would definitely use it again."
   
• "The librian vicki I had was very kind and nice. She helped me fast and did GREAT!!!! I hope my friends will recieve her one time also!!!"
   
• "I learned about this service on your telephone answering service message.  I am very likely to use this a lot."
   
• "Kai (from Pratt) went waaaay above and beyond tracking down an obscure article for me. Thanks a million!"
   
• "I love this website. The librarian was kind and caring and I am sure I will be coming back!!!"
   
• "This is a great way to use the library when one is at home. Very exciting. What would we do without Libraries. I hope we have them forever with very helpful people Librarians. [name removed for privacy]"
   
• "My librarian was absolutely wonderful. She answered my question and provided other pertinent and useful info that will greatly support my daughters with their algebra homework. She was quick, efficient, personable and very professional. Thank you, thank you!! I cannot wait to delve into the websites that she provided."
   
• "This helped A LOT!!!!  me and my friend (we are in the 6th grade) are doing research on theAztecs and this gives MORE than enough information for the subject needed, but we can use it for different subjects on the research besides the one i asked for. I will be using this website more often."
   
• "Very happy with your service and in particular the follow up was very informative. "Thank You!"
   
• "I am overjoyed that this service is available on a 24/7 basis, as I'm often in need of library resources very late at night."
   
• "I ask very arcane questions, usually about oddball/obscure works of fiction and non-fiction (my area of inquiry is 17th century literature and history). The librarians who man this helpdesk are wonderful--not the least bit abashed by my anything-but-run-of-the-mill queries, and always willing to help. Kudos to them, each and every one!"

   

month in review

This month:

• Cathay presented "Exemplary Chat Reference" - a workshop at SLRC's statewide staff training day on October 19, 2011.
• Cathay went to COSLINE's conference on eServices in Vermont, October 16-18, 2011.
• Julie met with Cathy Ashby in Garrett County to speak about them joining AUN (10/11)
• Julie had a wimba follow-up to September's LATI session on customer service and reference (10/5)
• Julie attended the LATI LOC meeting at the SLRC Conference (10/19)
• 10 more AUN providers were trained at the University of Maryland, College Park (10/25)
   

2011 September Monthly Report

by the numbers

• Maryland customers asked 2750 questions via chat in September.  This is over 1,000 more requests than in August.

• Maryland librarians handled 1721 questions via chat from customers around Maryland and the world - up from 1369 in August.

• Maryland librarians submitted 984 emails to customers as answers or follow-ups.  This is an increase of almost 100 emails from August's totals. 

customer comments

• "This service to your patrons is OUTSTANDING!!!  How great it is to know that anytime, day or night, I can get on line and ask a question and somewhere, someone will be there to assist me and answer my questions. Tremendous!!
  Keep up this service.  IT IS WONDERFUL !!
             [Customer name removed for privacy], belonging to Carroll Co Library since 1993...."
   
• "Very useful and easy to use."
   
• "I was on deadline for a column that referenced the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Amy of St. Marys (County? College?) Library jumped on the 'net and wrestled the Senate vote I needed to the ground in just minutes.
  I'm tickled. I can proceed with my column confident in my data, thanks to you folks and Amy.
  I am more than satisfied, I'm thrilled. This, and getting my power back, have made my week.
  All the best to you,
  [Customer name removed for privacy]"
   
• "What a great resource!!  Thanks."
   
• "Excellent service! I was looking for suggestions for books and the person that I chatted with was excellent."
   
• "I was very please with the helps i got from the librarian. They were very nice and were able to help me get the things i needed. I was worried because i couldn't find the book i want anywhere in the bookstore, but thanks to their helps i was relieved now."
   
• "I love how good they are with answering your question as quickly as possible, and to tye best of their ability!!!"
   
• "I am very happy to use this service and the library staff Patricia was very helpful. Infact I wish she was the one to always respond to my call. I really appreciate her services."
   
• "John was very knowledgeable and helpful and I have great confidence that my concern will be taken care of in a timely matter.  Thank you!"
   
• "Pat from Washington State was very helpful.  Went beyond "Yes/No" answer to give suggested alternatives to inquiry.  Thank you."
   
• "The response was very prompt as well as satisfactory."
   
• "Staff exceptionally helpful and remarkably thorough.     This approach is very much appreciated.   Thank you !"
   
• "The walk through by the Librarian(Kelly) was excellent and very easy to follow. I wish i had known or saw this online chat link long time ago. It took me just 2mins to figure it out and to fine the NCLEX PN sample questions i have to struggling to locate.
  THANK YOU KELLY, u made my day."
   
• "Considering my description of the book was very vague, she managed to find something close to my description. I was very happy that I ended up finding the correct thing."
   
• "please continue this service :)"
   
• "I like how connected the chatter feels with tye librarian!"
   
• "The librarian was most helpful in assisting me; he sent me the web link to assure that I was selecting from the right internet link."
   
• "My question to Ask-a-Librarian was answered completely and promptly  I am very satisfied with the excellent service of the library staff."
   
• "i been searching for hours .iasked the librarain once before and got an answer right away. iwill keep asking thank you johathan b24/7"
   
• "answered question promptly and informed"

• "I am very appreciative to have this service available.  Hope you will be able to continue!
  [Customer name removed for privacy]
  Annapolis"
   
• "The Librarian from Tennesse Nashville was very friendly & informative at the same time. I had a great experience!!!!!! Thank you for the info & all your help."
   
• "Debbie assisted me with my question. She provide two potential paths to find answers to my family history question. Very helpful."
   
• "The librarian I had was such a big help! I will surely come back as I did today!"
   
• "I had trouble with ideas for my paper and my sister told me to come here. The library staff on this chat are very good. most likely i willl come here for more help. Thank you library!"
   
• "This is my second time using this service after hearing about it on the radio maybe 2 years ago. My first resquest for some information was very successful even after a couple of days that I had to wait. I realize that after searching for the information that I requested had taken me a long time but EPFL found it. I'm confident that you can find my answers this time.
  This is the best resource for information in the state of Maryland!"
   
• "i think it's a nice thing you have there"
   
• "As a faculty member in the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland I have known about this service for quite a while, but this was my first experience using it.  It was extremely helpful, in spite of the librarian having some difficulties logging off accidentally twice, which slowed down the interaction.  Overall though it was fine."
   
• "The librarian was amazing! She was very kind, helpful and polite. She asked if i needed info that like library hours just as I was thinking to ask that. I had a really great experience and it would be great if all customer service experiences were like this. thank you!"
   
• "Dear AACPL Friends,
  I am a writer and editor. I do most of my own research but occasionally, when stumped, I call upon the wonderful resources
  of AACPL's "Ask a Librarian." You have never failed to provide
  timely, thorough, and greatly needed assistance.
  In this case, I had written that bullets fired into the air were hazardous to human life. I was immediately rebuked for spreading
  old wives' tales. I'm convinced from your researchers' leads that
  a bullet fired straight up into the air may not return to earth at muzzle velocity, given the factors of wind and friction, but it is still
  a very bad idea. (I'm not willing totally to capitulate on my statement about "muzzle velocity" and plan to ask the next set of astronauts who go to the Moon to back me up.)
  Thanks so much for this outstanding service. You folks are legend!
  Cordially,
  [Customer name removed for privacy]"
   
• "my librarian was FANTASTIC i relly liked her help and kindness. she is excellent at her job"
   
• "This time around I was trying to get answers for my 8 year old. He wants quick, short answers, with pictures. Well, we sure got what we needed quickly and with pictures.
  When I have used this service, I hang in longer, and the librarians always seem happy to help me out too.
  Thank you."
   
• "I will recommend this site to everyone i know  Len was very helpful i didn't know this site was available and he directed me to other web sites. Thank you for having  aweb site like this it was helpful to know i can get more information about books and movies from local libraries."
   
• "I generally use the library for different projects in relation to volunteer work. Use of this service permitted me to continue working on the computer and schedule task for available time. In this context, am pleased with the service and will see you later. Thanks a million & Bye!"
   
• "this web site was awesome. I plan on using this again! Good work"

   

month in review

This month:

• AskUsNow! Liaison Meeting was held on 9/13 at Baltimore County Pubic Library, Towson Branch location. Our virtual participation option came in handy as Julie was sick and helped run the meeting from home. Cathay held down the fort in the physical meeting room. At the meeting, we set a projected timeline for Descriptive Codes to begin for Maryland's service.
• As a trainer for LATI, Julie spoke about AUN during one of the first f2f LATI trainings for this cohort.
• Julie attended the regular online meeting of the VR coordinators from around the country on 9/26.
• 4 new staff were trained on 9/27 at the Perryville Branch of the Cecil County Public Library.
• Rockstar Librarians were announced on 9/27.  Julie was able to award Nancy Smith from Harford County Public Library in person.  Mimi Bolotin from Montgomery County Public Library was a strong Honorable Mention.

2011 August Monthly Report

by the numbers

• Maryland customers asked 1656 questions via chat in August - a jump of almost 100 questions over July's summer lull.

• Maryland librarians handled 1369 questions via chat from customers around Maryland and the world- almost 100 more than July again!

• Maryland librarians sent 891 emails to customers as answers or follow-ups.

customer comments

• "Wow--what a great service.  I got a reply to my ILL request within 1 day, and Jim D. (Annapolis, MD branch of Anne Arundel Co PL) had already ordered the book and told me how the ILL process would progress. Very impressive!"

• "I recieved great assistance quickly!! Awesome job"

• "I am extremely satisfied with this site. Not only am I now informed of the requirements but, I had continued to research this question myself! 
  Librairian #3:I contacted the State Police barracs yesterday before opening this e-mail and found these answers to be 100% accurate and correct...
  Thank you for replying back with me.
  This is a service that will be bookmarked, 
  Thank you again, 
  [patron signed name]"
   
• "I am a first time user of "ask now" and am very impressed with the quickness of response time.  Theresa was the librarian who assisted me.  I teach High School History in Baltimore and needed a back issue of US News and World Reports.  Theresa was able to track down the article and email it to me.  What a great service.  Thank you."
   
• "This made it very easy. I'm glad there is this online. The person who I spoke with was very nice and very helpful."
   
• "Never noticed this was available. Great tool."
   
• "I would like to recognize Cindy Hackett and the help she provided to me in researching the history of Wells Fargo & Co. in the Annapolis region. Cindy really went above and beyond in finding information for me.  I really appreciate her assistance."
   
• "What a wonderful service...I've used it twice and received excellent direction both times...keep it up!"
   
• "I was very happy with the result of my question! i highly reccomend Mimi from Mongomery County to be your librarian. i would also reccomend a Box for when you sign in for a librarian request name and from what area."
   
• "I like this program, it helps me a lot with school reports. I had Sally from Charles MD, and she helped me find out what the most expensive coin is. Thanks so much Sally! :D"
   
• "Blown away by the extraordinary good service.  Wrote late this afternoon did not expect an answer any sooner than tomorrow. Was thinking that I would not be able to borrow this book   But the response came within an hour or two, from Mrs. Jasper, with the good news that the book I wanted has already been ordered for me from marina.
  
  Thank you for the wonderful service"
   
• "Wren was my librarian and was so very helpful.  Wren was prompt to reply and the information offered was accurate and very, very helpful.  Wren was courteous, in greeing, during our chat, and in closing our chat session.  Wren should be commended for proffesionalism and for knowledge of the material."
   
• "Good day, The professional Person who assisted me today was a delight, even-though It was not directly face to face I felt so well assisted, and she had all the patience in the world. That was well appreciated."
   
• "Chris of Allegheny County system was very helpful and courteous.  The librarian continued to pursue my question until it was satisfactorily answered.  It was a pleasure to use this service.  Thank you so much!"
   
• "Very pleased with the service."
   
• "It was not an easy to find answer. I had surfed the web and had been unable to find an answer. Spectacular job! Thanks!"
   
• "The librarian, Sarah, was knowledgeable and efficient.  She quickly helped me with my problem.  I greatly appreciate her assistance."
   
• "the lady that helped me (sally) was very nice and helped alot and gave me alot of options; she was such a huge help; ill recmend this chat to every person i know since this was a wonderful experince"
   
• "i love librarians!!!"
   
• "This is a wonderful service you provide!!"
   
• "I believe this is a wonderful service offered by the Library. Thank you very much for your assistance in my research project."
   
• "This website will help all students of all ages and that great so I support this website alot."
   
• "The librarian was extremely courteous and helped me to find two court cases that I'd spent hours searching for, within minutes. I will absolutely use this service again and recommend it to others immediately."
   
• "The gentleman with whom I had the session (John, from Charles County) was very helpful, and even sent me some additional information after the session had ended.
  I would definitely use this service again.
  Thanks for providing it!"
   
• "The librarian was very polite, and was very helpful. I now understand the concept that I was having trouble with. I will use this service again."

month in review

• Started our volunteer program with four volunteers who are in various stages of being trained, practiced and scheduled! They're doing very well!
• Got approval for our FY2012 budget!! With marketing money!! WHOO! (also, wrapping up our FY11 year).
• Continued work on the IH for hover menus and easier navigation. Julie continues to run up against ridiculous coding issues, but progress is being made. She's hopeful for a September functional date.
• The Star Transcript Review Team (STRT) has reviewed transcripts for the second found of Rockstar Awards and should be able to make an announcement in early September.
• Cathay participated in the QuestionPoint Virtual Users Group meeting (meeting notes are posted here).
• August challenged libraries and staff in Maryland with an earthquake, tornado warnings, record rainfall and Hurricane Irene, causing minimal disruption to services.

2011 July Monthly Report

by the numbers

• Maryland customers asked 1574 questions via chat in July.

• Maryland librarians handled 1273 questions via chat from customers around Maryland and the world.

• Maryland librarians submitted 950 emails to customers as answers or follow-ups.

customer comments

• Great service.  My contact was friendly, helpful and very quick.  Thanks!!
   
• Terrific assistance!!!.
   
• Jim Miller was great and very helpful.  My original quesiton was about wifi access for non-students at UMD and Jim was able to find out what transportations options I had, instructions on how to get connected on the Shady Grove campus, library hours, location, and all other additional information.  Very helpful and really nice.  I appreciated the extra help!
   
• Librarians are cool. And thanks, guys. There is a lot to say and write, but...you know, laziness.
   
• .What a wonderful resource! It's really great to have someone to give research direction when needed. Thanks!
   
• any time i have a problem/question, i always go to ask us now.... and i always get a good answer. it's very easy and simple. i recommend it to a lot of my friends....
   
• Thank you, for the experience. The Nashville librarian was a lot of help. Hats off the the library system for making getting help this easy. Have a great day!
   
• It is a great expericence for me.
   
• the helpdesk librarians were very helpful as I am unfamiliar with who to contact and how to obtain assistance regarding obtaining a copy of a UMD thesis- (University of Sydney Conservatorium of Music Library)
   
• The librarian, Pam was very helpful and she went above and beyond my request and successfully ordered an audio version of the book for our library system.  I appreciated her efforts.
   
• Zara was very helpful and answered my questions quickly and completely.
   
• Needed an out-of-state ILL request and staff member was very helpful. He located the item and forwarded the information to my local library to follow-up with me.
   
• I love this service it is very helpful !
   
• Please congratulate "MD Montgomery Librarian Melinda." She was just a good help. I'm very satisfied of your staff that gets right to help you. Thank you. :)
   
• Staff was very devoted to finding the information we needed.  We are very grateful for their service.
   
• Thanks so very much I knew my son was not wrong you were very helpful.
   
• This is a great feature. I'm am bummed I didn't know about it before but now that I do, I will use it often.
   
• It is wonderful to not have to rack my brain (I'm 62 and trying to preserve it} and be able to get the information from what I imagine to be a kind as well as knowledgeable person. It was a pleasure chatting.

month in review

This month:

• Our fourth intern, Lisa, finished up in July and submitted a paper on partnerships with libraries and schools.
• Julie conducted a liaison training for UMCP's librarians Nevenka Zdravkovska and Judy Markowitz, replacing Cynthia M. Todd, who has now retired.
• We attended the QuestionPoint Advisory Board meeting on the 21st.
• We started our Maryland AskUsNow! Volunteer Program and our first volunteer, Lisa, is now actively providing chat service.

2011 June Monthly Report

by the numbers

• Maryland customers asked 1779 questions via chat in June.

• Maryland librarians handled 1403 questions via chat from customers around Maryland and the world.

• Maryland librarians submitted 2792 emails to customers as answers or follow-ups.

customer comments

• Great Help or directions. Appears to have saved a trip to the library or perhaps elsewhere.
   
• I find this service extremely helpful, especially doing genealogy.  Thank you so much for your information.
   
• Cathy was very knowledgeable and very quick to respond. I also liked that I could receive the transcript of our chat so I could go back for reference links, etc. Thank you for this great service.
   
• answers were received quickly and efficiently. this is a great service that i had not previous known about. will use again and again.
   
• It's so helpful if your not the best at surfing the web for information. I have used it on past research project and it gives you the easy way to get your basic information.
   
• Librarian Lauren (PG county) was wonderful and professional for all 3 of my questions.  She made me feel very much at ease about using my library card online at AA county libraries!  Thank you very much!
   
• Very convenient. I was skeptical that anyone would respond, but you did and very quickly.
   
• The response time was superb.  The librarian understood my question and gave a detailed explanation of how he/she handled it.
   
• This was my frist time using "Ask Us Now" in the past, and while I have used other forms like "AskALibrarian Chat" and often I am quickly answered and then set a side for the next person.   I must say I was fully amazed of how thorough my session was, Kelsey who was the librarian who conducted my session was very helpful.  The librarian not only helped me with my first question, but also helped me with my secondary question dealing with my paper.  Also present me with materials in the form of articles and e-books, which should be useful for my research.  This was my first online session which resembled a face to face session with a librarian as if I was in a physical library.  Thanks for all your help.
   
• I was so impressed with the site and with the library staff that answered my question.  She asked several questions before giving me the information needed.  I will certainly use this site again, and advise my colleagues to use.
   
• The response by your staff was timely and concise. I appreciated it very much.  Thank you for being the best library system in the world.
   
• It makes life easy. It is very helpful.
   
• I really appreciate the 24/7 service.  I love my library, and this is a great way to enhance their ability to serve the community.  This service was extremely helpful and gave me the answer that I was looking for in a timely and easy to understand manner.  I will be recommending this service to anyone who has questions about the library services.
   
• Further proof that the library system is one of the things that makes this country great.  I am always discovering new services that I can't believe I get for free -- and it is WELL worth paying taxes for.  I just told my entire condominium association (102 buildings) about how great the Montgomery County library system is, although I believe the person who responded to my query was responding from another state.
   
• The online staff was thoughtful in their conveyance and precise in helping me.

month in review

This month:

• we started the weekly "Quality Tip Tuesdays" as a regular feature on the Inner Harbor
• Julie attended the first (Maryland statewide initiative) 5 Quarters meeting on June 7th
• Julie and Cathay participated in the QuestionPoint 247 Advisory Board meeting on June 8th.  As part of the Advisory Board, Julie and Cathay assisted in the change to policies regarding "class bombs" and "crisis calls".
• we held our quarterly liaison meeting and training, at Carroll Community College on June 14th
• Julie and Catherine McGuire produced a eGovernment Training Module on June 16th
• we now have more than 1,000 followers on Twitter
• Julie went to ALA Annual in New Orleans on June 23 through 28

2011 May Monthly Report

by the numbers

• Maryland customers asked 2596 questions via chat in May.

• Maryland librarians handled 1674 questions via chat from customers around Maryland and the world.

• Maryland librarians submitted 931 emails to customers as answers or follow-ups. This is the first time since July 2007 that we've done under 1000.

customer comments

• You guys are great -- and always satisfy the needs that I have.  Thanks for being there and taking your job seriously.

• I especially appreciated the willingness of several librarians of different backgrounds contributing to my questions. i hope to compliment this 'chat' with email exchanges later.

• I frequently used "Ask a Librarian" type services in communities for which I am doing genealogical research.  All have either known the material to be in their library or have sent me to other excellent sources.  I do not hear well on the phone so am extremely pleased with your service and that of others responding to similar requests.  Alaskans usually cannot make road trips to communities of interest so especially value your services. Grace in AK

• The 24/7 librarians are very friendly. You can tell by their responses that they love their job and are happy to help with your question.

• In the many years I have regularly used the library I have never used the chat sessions. Today I dealt with Mimi who answered all my questions, directed me to various sites and completely solved my problem. Wonderful service (as are all library services). Great leap forward from the day I first became enchanted by a library (age:4, 1929)

• I work at the University of Bath in the UK, and used this service to help us track down an article by a member of the academic staff at Salisbury University. The service was fast and efficient, and I very much appreciate the help. Thank you, Bruce!

• Very fast service.  Thank you!  I really feel we get our taxpayer dollars are well spent at the library.

• The Librarians are very helpful, i once had a librarian who gave me over 16 links! This is a keeper.

• Great service!! Please continue funding!!

• COMPUTERS ARE GREAT, BUT SOMETIMES THE INFORMATION IS CONFUSING BECAUSE THERE IS SO MUCH DIFFERENT INFORMATION INSTEAD OF IT BEING THE ONE YOU WANT.  I HAVE NOTICED THAT WHEN YOU ASK A QUESTION, YOU HAVE TO ASK NUMEROUS WAYS IN ORDER TO FIND OUT THE CORRECT ANSWER. IS THERE ANYWAY THAT A PERSON CAN ASK A CERTAIN QUESTION AND GET THE PROPER ANSWER WITHOUT ANY NONSENSE? I LOVE THE LIBRARY.  I STARTED GOING TO THE LIBRARY WHEN I WAS 6 YEARS OLD AND HAVE CONTINUED, I AM 64 AND STILL GO TO THE LIBRARY  FOR INFORMATION.  WHEN I LIVED IN CLEVELAND, OHIO, A PERSON HAD THE ABILITY TO CALL THE LIBRARY FOR INFORMATION AND THEY WOULD GIVE YOU THE ANSWER UNDER 5 MINUTES...THAT'S HOW GREAT THOSE LIBRARIANS WERE.  PLEASE DO NOT CLOSE OUR LIBRARIES, THEY ARE BENEFICIAL TO ALL OF THE PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES.  THANK YOU.

• The librarian didn't make me feel stupit asking her questions.  She was very nice.  I like it a lot that we can communicate with library personnel when the library is closed.  I hope everyone at the library and online keeps doing the wonderful work they do.  The new Cockeysville, MD library is fantastic.  I love going there to get books.

• great service! this is just terrific to have online access of borrowing books for my new e-reader. I am disabled and especially appreciate the ease of use for my specific difficulty in getting to the library. Thank you,

• I've used other chat features and this is by far the best.  Meaning the wait time wasn't very short and the person providing help was excellent!!  The actual chat program look and feel was ok, but not as clean as the other commercial versions.  But its about service not bells and whistles!

• This is the first time I used this site.  I was contacting my local library, and sort of fell into it.  I'm glad I found it. I am mostly into genealogy and use the Western Maryland Room frequently. John Fry is great!  Can't wait 'till the Wash. Co. Library is put back together.

month in review

This month we:

• wrapped up with our two interns, Paul and Lindsay and will be working to impliment their suggestions in the coming months.
• announced our first ever Rockstar Librarian awards during the first ever MLA/DLA VR meetup.
• held a New Staff Training on May 17th at Pratt

Additionally, Julie participated in National Library Legislative Day in DC, May 8-10th and was invited to speak to the National Archives staff on virtual reference best practices as they launch their pilot program.

2011 April Monthly Report

by the numbers

• Maryland customers asked 2665 questions via chat in April. (Check out "Month in Review" for trend details.)

• Maryland librarians handled 1772 questions via chat from customers around Maryland and the world.

• Maryland librarians submitted 1024 emails to customers as answers or follow-ups.

customer comments

• I am a resident of Virginia, but I am trying to help a Md senior find information. Thank you for providing the service. It was quick & the results are quite helpful.

• Libarian Carol Helped Me I Loved her Thank You Carol Your The Best And Hope To See One Day So I Can Tell My Teacher This Is the libarian that helped me get an A :)
  C-Caring
  A-Awesome
  R-Respectful
  O-On The Point
  L-Like Veyyy Nice

• i thank all the libranams for this site man yall the best or da best yeha i like to sing a song
  Wouldn't wanna be anybody else, hey.

• I am so glad you have this service. The librarian who helped was very helpful.

• Matt was awesome!

• Excellent service.

• This is my second request to your librarians asking for help with looking for a family obituary.  Unfortunately this request came back empty, but certainly not for lack of effort. I really appreciate the timeliness of their response too. Less than 24 hours! Amazing service. Thank you for providing this service to me even though I live out of state! When I hear/read the name Anne Arundel it makes me automatically think of your great library service.

• i love this site i use it everyday 24/7

• Prompt, professional, valuable service :)

• library staff was quick in responce and very helpful

• The librarian was very helpful. I am highly satisfied by the service.
  Thanks..

• This has been very helpful

• This is a great resource and I hope to use it often in future, although I promise not to "overuse" it. Thank you very much.

• The librarian was very nice and helpful! Thank you!

• I like how they really help you with your specific question. They are all really nice. I also like how you can e-mail the Chat Transcript. It really helped me with a last-minute research project.

• Both gals did the best they could to answer my question. I really am kind of excited that my question was unanswerable and one of the librarians had to refer me to the big house. I will look forward to receiving a reply.
  I would like to comment, however, on the waiting time. I waited ten minutes for one librarian to finish with another patron and get to me. Although I know how to keep myself busy, someone else might get angry at the wait.
  Everyone was very nice and polite, and helpful.
  Thank you for this wonderful free service. I will use it again.

• Please continue this service.

• this is a wonderful invention...really helps when my kids have projects to research...thanks again

• The online chat respondent was helpful but did not solve my problem at the time. We contacted our local ranch the following day and were able to obtain the requested item. I appreciated the ability to communicate with someone directly even though the iocal library facliitywas closed.

• The response by Mr. Michael Stevens was very professional and helpful. I was amazed with the speed of the response, too. Thank you.

• I rarely expand on an employee's performance but as a former HR Executive, I would like to comment on Eleanor. She was very professional and thorough. I did not expect this high a level of expertise and speed. She deserves high praise for her service. 5 stars!!!! Terry [last name removed], Illinois resident

• I appreciate the help I get from Ask Us Now. It has saved me a lot of time researching all by myself.

• I think this website is wonderful, very helpful and the best part it's 24/7. Because I would have been all night trying to figure out the correct data base to go to.

• Mimi was amazing! She was tremendously patient and helpful with someone who is not very computer literate. Mimi answered all of my questions and stayed with me until I was fairly certain that I had found what I was looking for.
  Amazing service all around:) Bravo!

• As a parent volunteer in an understaffed, inner-city public school, I REALLY appreciate this resource. I'm "teaching" an after-school creative writing course and I really valued having another adult with whom I could "discuss" possible authors who could bring an audio-visual element to the students. The fact that we're having difficulty finding anything speaks to the limited funding our system faces, rather than the effort of the librarian at the other end of the chat line.

• I'm always amazed at how the person I never met, somewhere in cyber space, can pull information out of the internet like magic. I love it.

• A very pleasant, fast, friendly, and informative service. Thanks so much!

• Thank you for providing this service!

• Librarian Cynthia Dennis provided a first-class piece of research on the subject of my inquiry. She gave details of what she found, suggestions for additional sources, and attachments of relevant articles. An invaluable assistance in my research.
   
• y
  o
  u

  g
  u
  y
  s

  a
  r
  e

  a
  w
  s
  o
  m
  e

  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

month in review

This month, we:

• completed new staff training on April 13th at FCPL and on April 26th at AACPL using the new training modules and redesign.
• chose the first Rock Star finalist and honorable mentions and the Stellar Transcript Review Team developed its organization plan.
• started consulting with the National Archives and Records Administration
• planned and announced the joint MLA/DLA virtual librarians meetup at the conference in Ocean City
• Cathay attended a marketing meeting sponsored by Southern Maryland Regional Library on April 25th.
• Julie had concentrated calls with IMAlive.
• Julie prepped for upcoming Legislative Days.
• prepared and promotied MLA/DLA joint conference virtual reference meet-up.

What's next

• We have 1 new staff training class coming right up.
   
• MLA/DLA Joint Conference Meet-Up in early May (May 4-6, 2011)

• Now turning our attention to implementing the recommendations for the Inner Harbor that the UX team put together based on the usability interviews and surveys we completed. Completion Deadline: June

• Once that's completed, we'll be focusing on getting our volunteer program up and running. Completion Deadline: September

• We are still looking at/working on:
  • ways we can raise our answering percentage (the number of sessions we answer divided by the number of sessions our customers have)
  • covering more global hours
  • potential use of the qwidget when it's not 24/7
  • and the plan for descriptive code use - codes, training, and implimentation

2011 March Monthly Report

by the numbers

• Maryland customers asked 3137 questions via chat in March. (Check out "Month in Review" for trend details.)

• Maryland librarians handled 2204 questions via chat from customers around Maryland and the world.

• Maryland librarians submitted 1354 emails to customers as answers or follow-ups.

customer comments

• Terrific to have 24hr service in this day and age of budget cuts!!

• i have used this service a number of times before and always get good information, if not wonderful.

• This is a great resource that is not well known to the public.  It needs to be 'advertised'.  Thank you so very much for providing it 24/7!

• Cameron gave me some good resources to find car values. Thanks!

• I like ask us now!!!!! The librarians are REALLY nice!!!!!!!

• Sarah  was terrific. The service GREAT! I don't type fast & she was patient. The information popped up on the screen which was a surprise. This service is wonderful. Keep up the GREAT work!!!

• keenly appreciate the availability of this service 24/7.  This evening I was assisted by an out of state staff member who mentioned that all librarians in my local library were busy -- and this is an added dimention of this service which is particularly welcome and very much appreciated since it means I could proceed without an undue wait. -- Thank you to all concenred for this fabulous service.

• WOW!  I am SO impressed.  I emailed a request about accessing your archives for an old family obituary and within less than 24 hours your staff emailed me back with exactly what I wanted.  THANK YOU!

• I loved my librarian. she was Librarian 'MD Pratt/SLRC Librarian Shaileen. I hope she is always on this. she understood me so well!

• The librarian provided excellent customer service and went above and beyond in providing as many helpful resources as possible!

• Lauren was very helpful & fixed my problem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• I ve always found the service and staff very reliable and resourceful.

• Very professional and very helpful. I would absolutely use this again!

• This is a wonderful professional service for people like me who might have exhausted a search and need another set of eyes. Being able to bounce ideas makes my search a whole lot easier. Thanks Tim [last name withheld]

• Paul from Baltimore County Library help me in finding my research to a huge project. He was the most helpful "ask us now" Librarian that i have ever had and he focused on making sure i had the correct information and guided me in the right path.

• Michael put a lot of thought into his answer. Very detailed and fleshed-out. Felt like I was talking to a person. Looking forward to future communication.

• In today's society where there is little 'spare' time I do not always stop to compliment the good service I receive.  So here is my compliment......Using this online contact, was easy, 'time' efficient, and the response was very quick and helpful!  I also like that your online survey only has 7 questions....those go on for pages are annoying
  Now if you only had spell check...  ;)

• i love how the people are always like so polite and how they really try hard to find stuff for you so that you dont have to;) askusnow rox

• Thank you for providing this free service.  I wasted aabout an hour trying to find this info on line.  Then i remembered i could ask a librarian.  Then I got answered quickly and was provided with the info I requested.

• I really liked that Sharyl was very friendly and attentive.I Would recommend her to any of my friends for service.Thank you have A blessed Day.

• This is a wonderful service.  I never knew it existed and I'm blown over.  Thank you all for your wonderful work.

• As usual - got the best service in record time - keep up the good work!!

• Thank  you  most  kindly. The  service  was  a  time-saver    indeed !

• Librarian was very helpful & best of all, very patient! This question probably inappropriate but I thank you.  I am a senior citizen and have enjoyed library services (beginning with Enoch Pratt in the city) for about 65 yrs.  I think I would rather lose my credit card before my library card (well, almost anyway) thank you--Mary [last name withheld]

• thanks a bunch i luv this website <3

• I would like to Thank Kendra for her services and thank the other librarian who took over when Kendra's shift was over. God's Blessings to you all !

• The staff were very pleasing to work with.  Even though we did have a few problems, they were quickly solved.  I would definitely use again should I ever have the need.  Thanks so much staff. Miriam [last name withheld]

• CYNTHIA IS AWESOME!!! AND VERY HELPFUL!!!

• Cynthia was very helpful and I was able to finally contact my library.  It was interesting to find out that the phone number in the book was misprinted and I wasn't finding it on their website and my log in wouldn't work! Crazy! So Cynthia solved the problem. Thank you very much! Warm regards, Mary

• LIbrarians are wonderful and beautiful! Paul [last name withheld]

• 'MD Librarian Paul' was so helpful in assisting my search for a critical analysis. I am very satisfied with his answer, and I greatly appreciate his help!

• The Librarian was very professional, experienced, and thorough. She was very attentive to my problem and really helped me out.

month in review

In January we had a dip in usage which rebounded in February. Due to the number of class visits in February we wanted to wait and see what March told us about our 2011 trends. Well folks, we're down. 13% decrease from March 2010 and a 15% decrease from last month (which was up 23% from January 2011). The graph below shows our customer activity (Chat Sessions Requested) since our launch: For the data itself, check out the All Years report.

The decline we see is directly related to our decline in marketing initiatives and marketing budget. Our increase in February that we saw was related to marketing gone haywire (class "bombs" and visits). We're hopeful that the comprehensive no-cost marketing plan that Intern Lindsay is working with us to create will make an impact for both our statistics and yours. Stay tuned or contact Julie if you'd like to contribute ideas.

Additionally, this month we:

• finished the four training modules, curriculum, and checklist for new staff training. We will roll these out starting April 13th with a training at FCPL.
• completed and submitted the mid-year grant report for DLDS
• continued work with what's now called the "Stellar Transcript Review Team" (STRT) and asked for nomination submissions
• planned and announced the joint MLA/DLA virtual librarians meetup at the conference in Ocean City
• Cathay was trained on the semi-complicated process that is monthly reports
• Julie attended Computers in Libraries in DC. Her notes will be blogged soon.

What's next

• We have completed the revamp of new staff trainings and have 3 classes offered in the coming weeks. More will be scheduled after the first round of training and feedback so that we can make any necessary tweaks or changes. Completion Deadline: TBD (based on feedback)

• After that we will be turning our attention to implementing the recommendations for the Inner Harbor that the UX team put together based on the usability interviews and surveys we completed. Completion Deadline: June

• Once that's completed, we'll be focusing on getting our volunteer program up and running. Completion Deadline: September

• We are still looking at/working on:
  • ways we can raise our answering percentage (the number of sessions we answer divided by the number of sessions our customers have)
  • covering more global hours
  • potential use of the qwidget when it's not 24/7
  • and the plan for descriptive code use - codes, training, and implimentation

2011 February Monthly Report

by the numbers

• Maryland customers asked 3614 questions via chat in February. This is only one question less than February 2010 and a 31% increase over January 2011. 

• Maryland librarians handled 2211 questions via chat from customers around Maryland and the world, that's over 400 questions up from February 2010.

• Maryland librarians submitted 1298 emails to customers as answers or follow-ups.

• In Facebook, the number of users who "like" us is up 53% this month ending at 286 "lifetime likes."

customer comments

• Michael Stevens went out of his way to provide me with the information I needed. Thank you, Michael and BCPL for providing this service.

• What a fantastically helpful tool!! Thank you so much for providing this :o)

• i really love it! it was so helpful! i'm positive that i'll do this many, many more times!

• You all do a GREAT job...

• The answer was thorough and timely. Very impressive. Many thanks!

• This is a great service! I love using it and it helps so much! Thanks!

• I don't yet have an answer to my question, but I knew it wasn't going to be easy to find. The librarian who helped me was extremely creative in trying to find sources for the answer, and I really appreciate her patience and persistence.

• It is a great tool, and I can see in long run would save money for state.

• Jim Miller was an extremely helpful person! He was very polite and responsive to my needs. He truly made it known that he was giving his all and putting immense effort into his search for me. This man deserves recognition!

• The Library Associate who responded to my query was prompt, informative, and absolutely thorough.  I am very pleased with the new knowledge I gained as a result of her response, and I am grateful that the opportunity for posing questions via email exists.  A wonderful service!

• Fastest on-line service I've ever received.  Wonderful.

• Amazing. This website takes my breath away. I'm counting on you AskUsNow!

• After spending about an hour searching for the answer to my question, I decided to come on to AskUsNow to have a librarian do the search for me. Although Somer (a Texas librarian) encountered the same difficulties I had, she was very persistent, had good suggestions, and was very kind and personable. I would say that this was an excellent experience.

• The answer to my question didn't even take a few hours.  It was very much appreciated.

• Keep giving excellent service. Thank you for all your help. Sharon Akins

• Thank you for sending Bonnie to me I didn't know where Iwas going I was going to take a bad grade because I couldn't find any information and she came along and helped me out.

• I was very happy with the information I was given, thank you very much :)

• They followed up on my question of trying to find the name of a book.  We still have not found the title, but the fact that they continue to help me is wonderful!

• The libraryin was very helpful and gave me all informationi needed thanks a million

• So excited now I have another resource.

• This is an awesome site, I encourage my students to use it all the time.

• I really appreciated Brian he gave me so much information at first I couldn't find anything but he made sure that I had enough information

• it was very helpful

• I'm actually a library science student using this service for an assignment on reference interviews and not using it to legitimately gather information on what I asked about. From everything I know and am learning in class, Jen did a great job, and I felt like I had a great experience and would definitely come back! Not only was the service great, but the site was also easy to navigate and figure out. The feature with the website showing up on the side is also very nice!

• this is a great website

• this service is wonderful.  I was able to get an answer to my question quickly.  thank you so much for this service.  just wish my kindle was included in the download devices.  Perhaps one day it will.  thanks again

• Thanks for your guidance.

• The person I communicated with was very helpful.  The library was closed today.

• John Krivak is wonderful.

• for the first time in over 20 years i found someone who was helpful in obtaining answers to my question of this set of william shakespeare books ..

• Terrific, efficient, friendly, helpful creative solution to a tough challenge! escellent job!

• The information was very helpful for my essay and has allowed me to gather pages and pages of information.

• I have used this service twice to find a book that the local library didn't have. Both times, the  library has come through and found the book elsewhere in the state. The librarians are very professional and very quick. I LOVE my West County library.

• i got a lot of info. and it was very helpful with my project!

• Thank you so much in getting me started on researching these topics. ANy suggestions on journels, I need them as well for references.

• Very prompt and efficient and friendly - Tammy was great and helped me without any trouble at all. thanks

• i love it

• It took me three attempts to find a librarian who could actually help me out.  Patrick at the Enoch Pratt was quick, friendly and the only librarian who could answer my query.  Kudos to him!!!

• The service is a great way to get answers without having to go to or call the local library. I appreciate the service and will use it again.

• This is my 2 time.Thanks fot the help.The Librarian are very very very helpful.

• I really needed the help that the librarian gave me. Instead of just giving me information, which she did, she also gave me some search tips. Please let her know how much I appriciated the help.

• I love using this because there's always someone to ask, whenever the question pops in your head! I've come here for just random questions, information, and research. It never disappoints!

• I was very pleased with the prompt & helpful answer that I got. Jim Huheey, Professor Emeritus

• Excellent resource.  The information provide was excellent!

• I love this service! All the librarians are so helpful and nice! Thank you!!

• a new resource i hadnt seen before - it looks promising and will definitely give it a shot. thanks

• The person who I chatted with did a wonderful job at helping me, the question I had didnt get answered because there wasnt an answer. My question was wrong on my paper.

month in review

After January's disturbing dip in usage, February has rebounded nicely! We're not quite sure why the rise (or dip in January), but we're continuing to focus on our social media marketing and our quality to keep customers happy and coming back.

This month we:

• participated in the QuestionPoint Virtual Users Group meeting
• assisted Catherine McGuire in the second session of the first ready reference law training modules.
• made a presentation to Howard County on the benefits and how-tos of email in QuestionPoint
• successfully fielded questions from 14 fifth graders in a scheduled class visit on Valentines Day
• participated in the QP Advisory Board

on our radar

• we're looking at ways we can raise our answering percentage (the number of sessions we answer divided by the number of sessions our customers have) and increase our global hours coverage for the cooperative without our maryland customers suffering.
• we had such huge interest for our internship positions, that we're looking to start a volunteer base. the hope is that they'd help pick up some of the global shifts we need to keep our contract level.
• our mid-year grant report is due in this month and we're gearing up for that.

2011 January Monthly Report

by the numbers

• Maryland customers asked 2753 questions via chat in January. This is 667 less than December 2010 and 1140 less than January 2010. 

• Maryland librarians handled 1859 questions via chat from customers around Maryland and the world.

• Maryland librarians submitted 1270 emails to customers as answers or follow-ups.

• Customers submitted 108 surveys this month.

• In Facebook, the number of users who "like" us is up 89% this month ending at 256 "lifetime likes."
   
• We are up to 967 followers in Twitter and in our last 200 updates (we average a few a day), we've had no changes in our follower numbers (loyal followers).

customer comments

• This is a great website for anyone who wants to learn period. I have recommended this website before and will do so.

• I simply stumbled upon this service on my search for a particular novel. I expected some automated reply which told me exactly what I already knew.  On the contrary, I was pleasantly surprised when I actually got a response. I was even more surprised at the helpfulness of the response. Thanks for the help!

• Very good. The reference lady was very helpful and I liked how she could display links to me.

• I would like to compliment reference librarian Sandy (MD Stevenson Library) on her knowledge, courtesy, and willingness--one might even say eagerness--to be of service. I was somewhat out of my element, but she pointed me precisely in the direction in which I needed to go, and I was able to accomplish the task at hand in short order. Brava to her, and happy Friday to all of you!

• Great service for late night questions tht cannot be answered by phone call!

• Nice service.  Good recommendations.  Bravo to Kristina. Thanks very much.

• This service is Fantastic. Finally something for my tax dollars I can use, and it Works !! Thanks

• An amazing service!!!!! Thank You so much!

• once more thanks to Mr. Jim Miller. His help was realky very suggestive and detailed. Have a nice rest of a week Lenka Murckova University of Pardubice, technical and natural science librarian Czech republic

• Library Service is Very, Very Excellent.

• THey did an excellent job. I had Brian from anne arundel and he was just perfect(: I found great information and he really worked with me to perform my task. I am telling all my friends about this!

• The person gave me exactly what I needed and asked what difficultly I needed so they did not give me something too hard or too easy. This helped me out alot. Thanks Ask Us Now!

• The librarian I was paired with was swift and understood what I needed; she was great!

• The help was expediant and congenial.

• Q deferred to someone else more qualified. I have used a couple of times before and generally satisfied.  I figure why not and little to lose.  Have recommened to others.

• Mandy was very very helpful and has a sense of humor too!

• Librarian Lark is awesome.  She tried and tried and tried to find the answer to my question, but she and I believe it will need to be answered by the MD Law Library. I'm very grateful for the service and that she took so much time and  used so  many sources ( and strategies to mail them) to try to find the answer.

• Thank you, this service worked great because the library was closed and I was stressing about a lost book. The "chatline" gave me an answer withing 1 hour.  Again, thank you. The service was extremely helpful.

• I was thrilled to be able to receive a PDF copy of the newspaper article I was searching for without having to send an ILL request from my home library in Asheville, NC and wait for it to arrive! It certainly saves the librarian's time and resources to email rather than process, print and mail an article. I will definitely use this service again should the need arise. And thank you to Rebecca Hass!

• Because I couldn't reach the Maryland Room by phone (due to snow as I found out later), I tried the "ask us now" feature. I am very pleased to be able to give my library patron an update on his request. Thank you very much! Fran was very helpful and quick. - Susan Angelow

• I really wanted to know whether all the employees had been told to stay home, because of concern about my two next-door neighbors, because I had been stranded away from home and could not get them by telephone.  I got the helpful answer that the library was closed for the day.

• The reply was fast and very professional.  I will use this service in the future.

• The librarian who helped me was very nice and was as curious about my question as I was. She made the experience enjoyable, and though she wasn't able to find much on my question, she promised to be on the lookout for more information. She was very helpful. I had Cathay.

• Haven't received answer yet, was referred to local librarian, but that's fine, and staff was friendly and polite.  Thanks!

• Thank you for all you do A+++++++++++

• Joe from Indiana was very nice and very helpful, and I was very pleased by the way he helped me. He was very polite. Thank you

• He answer all my question properly and explain them to me very easily. :)

• This was great.  Saved me the time of figuring out where i could get the book i need and it saved me $40 from amazon.  Very courteous.

• Even though the book was not available in ebook format, I have a title and will look for it on amazon.com.  Meg was very helpful and apologized for not be able to assist me more.  She even wished my son good luck on his project.  I will definitely use this service again.

• Michael Stevens went out of his way to provide me with the information I needed. Thank you, Michael and BCPL for providing this service.
   

month in review

January went by quickly but here's what we were able to accomplish:

• two interns started with us this month. Paul, our chatting intern will be doing 5 hours weekly on chat and working on a subject review of our transcripts for his project. Lindsay, whom many of you met at the December liaison meeting, is our admin intern who will be doing 2 hours a week on chat and working on a no-cost marketing campaign for us.

• Cathay and Julie continued work on the revised training curriculum and hopes it will be ready for live training in February.

• Work continues with the Rockstar Team to get them up and running and the UX team to put into place the recommendations they made about improving the Inner Harbor.

• Julie continued her work with the MLLI and VisionQuest groups, spending 5 hours this morth on them in total. Julie is also part of a group putting together a three part reference training series for public librarians on law/legal information and e-government resources. Part one had a session via wimba on the 26th. A second session is coming up in February. Archives and slides will be up on Merlin for the state to utilize.

• This month, our grant supervisor, Daria took a job as Associate Director of Harford County. Daria has contributed much to the success of AskUsNow! and we'll miss her very much but hope she finds much joy in her new position. DLDS Marketing Specialist Paula Isett is AUN's new grant supervisor.

on our radar

• we're looking at ways we can raise our answering percentage (the number of sessions we answer divided by the number of sessions our customers have)
• we had such huge interest for our internship positions, that we're looking to start a volunteer base. the hope is that they'd help pick up some of the global shifts we need to keep our contract level.
• our mid-year grant report is due in March and we're gearing up for that.

Top 10: words used in customer surveys

After removing all the standard words (me, i, as, in the) and "librarian," "library," and "service" here are the top ten words used in customer surveys this month:

1. thank you / thanks
2. great/good
3. helpful/help
4. nice
5. like/love
6. excellent
7. recommend
8. amazing
9. fast
10. fantastic

2010 December Monthly Report

by the numbers

• Maryland customers asked 3420 questions via chat in December.

• Maryland librarians handled 1944 questions via chat from customers around Maryland and the nation.

• Maryland librarians submitted 1053 emails to customers as answers or follow-ups.

• Customers submitted 240 surveys this month.

customer comments

• I am extremely impressed with your service.  I only wish I had found it earlier.  Thank you.

• It is nice to know that there's service available 24/7.

• The people I talked to (Marilyn - Washington State) got to me as soon as possible! I loved the service & the people talked to me & asked me very good questions! I love this website, very good idea!! -Allison:).

• Andrew was extremely helpful.  I guess I was having a "Sr. Moment" as I have renewed books before on line.  My thanks to your staff. Marcie M. McComas

• ive been looking for this quote for the better of two years; there have been several papers that I wanted to use it in.

• A GREAT service!! Thank you SO much!!!

• This was a great session . Really did not expect to get as much information as I received . My contact Librarian Shaileen was very helpful and gave me several options to take care of my problem . Thank you again Shaileen. Thanks also to a site like this that helps you find out what is happening in the Library .

• I think my librarian was very nice and gave some amazing sites!!!!! I feel more comfortable with my topic.

• An outstanding response to an email enquiry.  Thank you Michael Stevens.

• Very helpful and Jen, the librarian, was right on target and helped me solve my problem. Thank you!

• "Kristine" was very helpful and gave me a lot of good suggestions.  Please thank her for me.  She was so wonderful.  Lillian Taylor

• um can you tell melinda in md montgomery thanks for the help and tell Librarian 'MD HCPL Librarian Elizabeth that even though she could not do math thanks for the help on haikus even though she sighed out but she did leave a nice note and tell  Librarian 'MD HCPL Librarian Elizabeth its kayla other know as anonymous who talked to a librraryian a few seconds ago!thx ttyl!lol :D (p.s.that means thanks talk 2 you later other knowen as l8r and lol means  laugh out loud and you guys are gr8. That means great!seeya oh and p.s.s seeya is not text talk bye!

• Your website is awesome!  I use it constantly, it saves me so much time without going to the library every time.  I find books that I need or interested in, able to put them on hold, monitor my activity, reading history, and now I was able to put my "held" books on hold until I am back from vacation.  Couldn't find better and more convenient service than yours. Thank you very much! Mira Zelikson, [BCPL] patron for over 20 years.

• The Librarian was quick and polite.She made me feel relaxed about using the service and adapted to my needs. She provided lots of good online resources. I would use the service again. It is very convenient to accesses this service when helping my grade school child with their homework

• Bruce was very helpful with retrieving the information for me. I tried for hours to locate an article online that I had to read in order to complete my paper. One online librarian  I contacted previously did not provide me with the article after I told her I had trouble locating it but Bruce did and I was thankful that he did not leave me trying to locate that I really needed to read. Great worker!!!

• What a resourceful bunch of librarians you have on your staff =) Thoroughly pleased- I will definitely be using this service again for future research papers!

• Incredibly helpful. The librarian (Colleen) who assisted me offered wonderfully usefull sources, was patient, and courteous. Thanks again!!

• John was very instrumental in assisting me with what I was searching for, and also taught me how to search on my own!!!! Extremely helpful!!!

• I appreciate having the Finksburg Library. Before that time, I was not a library card holder simply because of the inconvenience. However, now I go to both Westminster and Finksburg. I've used them for internet when I was going back to school, as well as for other services. I love the convenience that the online services provide and am grateful for this community resource. Sincerely, Mary Minear

• The librarian was very patient asssisting me. I strongly appreciate the help.

• Quick, efficient, professional.  Great upselling, too - letting me know about related online resources.

• We greatly benefit from our Annapolis library. The staff and volunteers are terrific,  as is your online service. J. Barries

• Michael Stevens answered my question very quickly and gave me all of the information that I needed. It was very professional and thorough and he even consulted the cataloguing team for me. Thanks so much Michael!

• I also chatted online with someone from the library services. The books arrived not too long afterwards, even though the loan had to be obtained from out of state. I CANNOT EXPRESS HOW GRATEFUL I AM FOR THIS SERVICE! Nor can I express how WONDERFUL it was to have these books in my hands! I returned them as soon as I could, to show appreciation to all for their prompt loan to me, & as always, kept good care of them so that, should I ever need to request a service of this nature again, I will be comfortable doing so. I did get an interstate loan before, just not via this service, the local librarian knows us quite well & when I asked about a book, she saw to getting me a copy. I hadn't emailed her because I wanted to ask more than just for a book, I wanted to know how to report if books in a series were missing. THANKS AGAIN!!!

month in review

• The liaisons met on December 14th.

• The Rockstar Librarian team met for the first time on Dec 13th.

• Our first admin intern, Dennis, wrapped up his work with us and finished his MLS coursework!- Congraulations and Thank you Dennis!

• We released two resource lists - one for the Winter Holidays and one for New Years!

• Julie enjoyed vacation most of this month- from the 6th -10th and again from 20th - 31st.

Happy New Year!

2010 November Monthly Report

by the numbers

• Maryland customers asked 3752 questions via chat in November. This is down from last month and all but one previous Novembers since 2003.

• Maryland librarians handled 2066 questions via chat from customers around Maryland and the nation. This is down from last month and all but one previous November since 2006.

• 189 Montgomery County customers asked a question via the Qwidget interface. We're still waiting with baited breath for QuestionPoint to release the Qwidget interface out of "pilot" mode so we can use it in other libraries.

• We received 325 surveys from customers this month.

customer comments

• I was referred to the PERFECT link to answer my question.  It saved me A LOT of time!

• wonderful. life saving as I am a returning college student.

• I loved the serves it was very helpful thankyou

• A wonderful utility that I fully plan on using in the future.  Simpler than a phone call.  I truly appreciate how this utility has saved me a trip to the Library for standard services. Have a great day!

• I think that the service was excellent and I will definetly use it again. I think that the chat program is very well organizied and i definetly recommend it to anyone who's looking for an answer to something like a science project.

• I AM SO IMPRESSED WITH THE QUAILTY OF SERVICE. THIS IS A FABULOUS SERVICE THAT TRULY BENEFITS THE RESIDENTS...JONATHAN SUPPORTED ME THIS MORNING. I REALLY WAS NOT EXPECTING QUALITY SERVICE ON A WEEKEND MORNING. THANKS MARYLAND AND JONATHAN.

• Librarian, Linda, was truly amazing finding what I was looking for with a smattering of hints, not all accurate. She quickly found what we were looking for and saved us a lot of time and effort. The service is truly amazing and I will tell our friends about it. Thanks muchly and Linda was fantastic. Norton Smiley

• The staff gave me most of the information that I was looking for. And he was a great help for what he was doing. He needs to get paid more for how many people that he helps.

• What an excellent service.  Even with all the information on the internet, there are so many things that you simply cannot find and this service bridges that gap.  Thank you so much.  A little side note--I have told people for years about this backyard zoo and they thought I was exaggerating or making it up, so thanks for validating my story!

• I've used live homework help and now ask a librarian.  I love them both.  I wish they had this service or the internet when I was growing up.  Thankfully it is available now to help me help my kids. Thanks

• This was one of the best experiences that I have had in a long time trying to find a book. Thank you so much.

• a great service that fills in the seams of the amazing resources available. It's good to see libraries maintaining their core mission of having books while taking advantage of technology.

• I am grateful in finding out about this service. It has help me alot in narrowing down the many informations that I find on the web. With this service I am able to find the specifics of what I need to complete my search and complete my task at hand. So Thank you for all your help.

• The librarian was polite and helped me a lot. When she searched up a few things she asked if this is what I was looking for which I really appreciated. The sources she gave was great and she found sites that I probably could not have found on my own. I really was happy with the help.

• Thank you MD Librarian Dennis. Go WEST COUNTY LIBRARY! I will ALWAYS use this now that i know that it exists!

• reference librarians have always been a wonderful resource,thanks for real time,remote access!

• This is such a great feature as I live in Frederick County and cannot easily get into Baltimore City.  Thank all of you again. Margaret

• I would likely use them again and again and maybe even refer people.

• Camillus found the answer so quickly.  She made my evening because I won my "discussion" with my significant other ;-)!!!

• The service was amazing. The librarian helped me 100%.... with both of my questions. Excellent service. THE BEST I HAVE EVER HAD!!!!! THANK YOU ALL VERRRYYY MUCHH!!!!

• Thank you for the quick response. Thanks also for making me feel like I can make this material suggestion. Anne Arundel County is a wonderful library system.

• I got very good websites that I haven't found before!

• In times when I'm not able to get to a library or don't know how to search for or reference my material, I find this source very helpful in assisting me!

• I had thought it was affiliated with the University of Maryland, but the quality of the information given to me was just as good as I expected.

• Your services are a great help. I am not sure if other students know of "askusnow.info" but I believe this website needs to be advertised more. It's really helpful when doing research is a challenge. Thank You

• This is a wonderful service that you provide to the public.  Emily was an amazing amount of help.  I truly appreciate this service and all of the things that you all do.

• The librarian, Ms Kristina (I'm sorry but I didn't catch the last name) from Harford I believe, was very helpful, going over the distance to get the answer to my question. Thanks again.

• GREAT JOB.  AMAZING.  FAST.  EVEN AT 830PM... THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

• Librarian Patty from MD BCPL was very helpful.  There was not much stuff available, so she gave me other ideas of how to get my research done.

• this is a great reference tool for people of all ages whether its for a school project or just more common knowledge. Askusnow is awesome

• I just love this service. I'm always amazed at it. I don't have great navigational skills on the internet, and so I need the help. But the good thing is that I'm growing MORE independent each time I get this help b/c it shows me new ways to do things on my own. So, it is terrific. I have used it for major issues, like legal precedents for dental malpractice suits, a personal issue. And to answer questions my son has, like how you tell the difference between male and female moths. I just love it. Suzanne

• This is a great service!  Please don't cut it along with other library services.  I am very impressed with the web portal generally and consider the MCPL system to be one of the biggest benefits of living here.

month in review

• We welcomed Cathay back as the Operations Assistant

• the UX team wrapped up testing this month and started to finalize recommendations of changes/improvements for the IH.

• The Rockstar Librarian Team has formed and will have it's innagural meeting next month.

• Admin Intern Dennis begins to wrap up his work with AskUsNow! this semester (mid-December). Admin Intern Lindsay and Librarian Interns Paul and Elizabeth will start in January.

• Due to the high interest in our internship opportunities this past semester, we're looking into creating a substantial volunteer base.

• the Inner Harbor was down briefly on November 24th for maintenance. Downtime was less than 15 minutes. 

• We're looking to December and January to redesign new staff training to include a more self-paced virtual classroom and a halfday f2f training, instead of the full-day training.

2010 October Monthly Report

by the numbers

• Maryland customers asked 3860 questions via chat in October.

• Maryland librarians handled 2119 questions via chat from customers around Maryland and the nation.

• 152 Montgomery County customers asked a question via the Qwidget interface.

customer comments

• This is a wonderful tool - for us busy parents who after work come home to a child who needs help on a project - this a great help.  Thank you so much!

• This is EXACTLY how I want my tax dollars to be spent:  with efficient, courteous, caring library workers.  Kai and Rachel, who helped me, were excellent.  Thanks to both, and to this excellent system. Elyce Milette

• This was very quick, very simple and easy to use. It saved a phone call and a visit to the library.

• The library system in Maryland continues to be exceptional in every category. Keep up the good work and have a good day!

• It was wonderful and I wish I had thought of it sooner.  I am now armed with what I need to be more effective.  The ease of getting the information from Kathie the Librarian was great.  I can't believe that something I have been struggling to locate for weeks took less than 5 minutes. Thanks for this wonderful tool.

• What a great service this is. I used it at 8:50 p.m. on a Sunday night which is one of the only times during the week i have free time.

• The librarian who helped me nailed it on the first shot. Maryland has some absolutely kickin' librarians, you guys always get it right!

• I have been using the West County branch of the library since I moved to Maryland 6 years ago. I am delighted with the library - the accomodating staff, the physical plant and the excellent online services. I regularly use the online search catalog and reserve books and other materials on a regular basis.  The system has been most accomodating when I request an item not owned by the library. I taught literature at a major university and am familiar with using libraries. Your system makes it so easy to research, reserve and check out materials. The West County Library is a wonderful asset to this community.

• Service is wonderful and a true lifesaver.  Thank you. :)

• My request was promptly answered, and would not have been without the expert assistance of a librarian from Pratt. I was very impressed with the service I got with my research. Thank you again. Mike Paradise

• I was given prompt, succinct answers to what I felt was a complicated question. The librarian who assisted me was very helpful and referred my question to UMD (Maryland) librarians for further inquiry, which is just what I needed.

• I finnished a 5 month geography/social studies project in 1 month thanks to you. Got a 98.86%! Higher than every one else!

• Michael went beyond the call of duty to try research my subject.  He is a wonderful asset and saved my "assets" with my Boss. Thank you-

• Tina was a great help and thanks to her, I now know where to start researching for my shool paper. I am very satisfied with this service and will be coming back. Thank you Joel

• Very cool resource, we are lucky to have this in our public library systems.  Highly recommended service!

• This is SO important for home-bound people.  Cutting back on library hours is sickening.  I wish there were a way to educate people who fall for any campaign ad that says "No new taxes". They don't seem to connect those ads with the reality of losing services.

• This is a great resource, as the highly skilled librarians have better searching skills than an average person. I will definitely use this resource again!

• Hats off to "Jim D" ! He came across as enthusiastic, professional and prompt. The greatest impression I got was that he "wanted" to help. That, in my book, is the hallmark of great customer service. He kept me well informed with progress reports and went the additonal mile by "double checking" for the obituaries. For example, he found one obituary which was pretty good but then he checked again and found an even more informative one. He promptly emailed it to me. Also, he told me of other sources that I might could check to get more information but this was only after he put in several days of research, looking for my obituaries, finding them and emailing what he could. He is a great asset to your library. Sincerely, Norma Baugh

• I am totally satisfied with level and timeliness of the responses. A great and thorough job. The BCPL will be mentioned in the Smith's of Stevenson Family History, on ongoing project aimed for completion in 2012. s/Samuel Y. Smith, Jr.

• The librarian who helped me out was very awesome because she helped me figure out things I would never have thought of looking at. I would definitely use this again.

• as a world language teacher i always use the site for info and i encourage my students to use it, i also have it on my webpage.

• This is a wonderful tool - for us busy parents who after work come home to a child who needs help on a project - this a great help.  Thank you so much!

month in review

• the UX team continued with and mostly wrapped up testing. Thank you to all who participated. Everyone else, please don't forget to complete the survey! We will be able to review and make recommendations before the holidays.

• Julie continues to meet weekly with Intern Dennis, using the IH to track progress.

• Earlier in the month, we wrapped up interviews for the Operations Assistant position. We had an amazing group of candidates but we are happy to welcome back Cathay! She starts November 1st. 

• the Inner Harbor was down briefly on October 13th for maintenance. Downtime was less than 30 minutes. 

• Julie presented on Customer Service to the Medical Army Librarians at Fort Detrick during their national conference on October 19th. Her presentation can be found on slideshare. 

• Julie attended the Xtreme Reference conference at the Applied Physics Lab of JH on October 21st. Presentations link will be shared once it's announced. 

• Julie continues work with Access to Justice with the Law Library and Maryland Justice Commission (3 hrs) and VisionQuest project (5 hrs).

2010 September Monthly Report

by the numbers

• Maryland customers asked 3274 questions via chat in September

• Maryland librarians handled 1876 questions via chat from customers around Maryland and the nation.

• 223 Montgomery County customers asked a question via the Qwidget interface.

• 16 librarians from 7 different libraries joined the AskUsNow! family attending new staff training this month.

• 5 librarians recieved refresher training

• 51 librarians from 7 different libraries participated in the Listening Tour this month

customer comments

• This was the best learning expireince on the computer in my life.

• I am so impressed with my Librarian, Andrew and with this service.  You cannot imagine how many Googles I've done to no avail - and with a few typed words on this service - Voila! an answer!  I am so pleased. I am also interested in obtaining a job on this site.  It's the kind of activity I thrive on - doing research while helping others.  I retired as an Auditor, loved solving the Accounting problems; have 1/2 my Master's in History, thoroughly enjoy doing the research............. My compliments to the person(s) who invented this web site.  What a wonderful service! Thank you very much for your help!

• For a first-time user of the site, I found it to be fascinating.  Relatively new to the area, I was very pleasantly surprised by the number of services, the variety of ways in which I can use these services and the friendliness of the person who helped me online.  Libraries can tend to be overwhelming, but I found that this will not be the case in Frederick

• The librarian I just talked to was VERY kind and helpful.

• thank you !  excellent service!  I am a teacher  -- and it was very easy  to use durin the class hours!

• wonderful and easy service.  I shall use it again. the librarian was most helpful.  Can't forget that there is always a person making the technology work!

• The librarian was very helpful. She introduced me to some new links and tools that will help me with my search. I will defintely use this tool again.

• For my questions i was directed to a Library staff member named Paty. Paty was absolutly helpfull, she made this experience very nice and enjoyable. My questions were answered completely in detail and she was very polite and knowledgeable about the topics. I am going to recommend this service to many of my friends and my sister, for sure!!! two thumbs up.... five gold stars..., what every you would like to say!    :)

• I had a very pleasant experience with my library staff personnel and I really enjoyed the effectiveness of her replies.  I think she went beyond the call of duty and it was my pleasure to have her give me some information that was unbeknownest to me.  I had a unique time on line with someone I did not know, but her demeanor was one you would have been very satisfied with.  What a beautiful experience, thank you. Peace Out!

• my librarian was amazingly helpful and found the link i needed within seconds when i had been looking all day!

• I was walked through the process, since this was the first time I have used this. I must say it went very swiftly and smoothly. I got so much information, and I know my topics for my projects will have tons of information to back it up. Thank you to the librarian who answered my question!

• Patrick did a great job at providing information for the questions I asked. He also forwarded my questions to the Business Science and Technology department to get additional resources.

• I was very impressed with the thorough information Ms. Bolotin e-mailed me.  I chatted with her briefly this morning after e-mailing a question. I had started to search the MoCo database and couldn't refine my search with satisfactory results. I'd never chatted before, but there it was available to me and it was great! Thank you, Mary 

• Thanks so much for the excellent .pdf file, very good technical service!

• Your Staff did an excellent job of answering ALL my questions and gave me superb links to reference..thank you very much for your help.

• This i great i will use this everytime i need help woth somwthing

• Wanda was beyond helpful and patient. She helped me more than I needed and gave me suggestions of how I could improve my search methods. Very satisfied with this service.

• Mini, my Librarian Chat partner, was very helpful in searching for a book I wanted.  She checked MCPL and Mirian (Miriam?) the state-wide library referral service, which I never knew existed.  She located a copy and put a hold on it for me.  Excellent!  I don't like paying taxes, but encounters like this make my tax bill quite bearable. Roger

• the librarians are always cheerful. I used ask-a-librarian online chat and it was wonderful. they told me where to find a certain book at a certain library. it was great

• I was positively impressed with the person's ability to make a website appear magically on my screen.

• I love the Baltimore County Library!

• AN OVERWHELMINGLY COMPLETE AND THOROUGH ANSWER- A Third District Map, published by the Librarian of Congress, G. M. Hopkins, 1877 shows the North Central Railroad  running approxiumately parallel with the present day Greenspring ValleyRoad and the Jones Falls. Available at Historic Soceity of Baltimore County. Map appears to show a label" STEVENSON'S STA" Preparing a History of the Smith Family of Stevenson-thanks again for all of the rich resources.

• The librarian who helped me was quick, courteous, and promptly solved my problem.  Thank you.

• I love this and I will continue to use it :) It is very helpful and I'm glad it's here to help me! I love this!!!

• Great service! Please continue it. I have used it several times and it saves an immense amount of time searching online for stuff.

• I have always had outstanding service when using this service. It is a great resource.

• If only more places were as thorough and responsive, the web would be much more useful.

• Seriously - it couldn't be any easier or more helpful.  This is one of the few resources my tax money goes to that doesn't seem like a waste! Keep up the good work

• Maggie was very professional and answered my questions politely and accurately.  She even gave me links and information I needed to know.  Thank you for having the service.  Helps save time not having to call on the telephone and wait for the librarian (also I feel bad that they have to help individuals in the library and answer calls at the same time).

• This is a very, very handy service. I couldn't find a book I was looking for on your website and I spoke with a librarian who quickly found what I was looking for. I'm so glad to see that the public libraries are keeping up with the times when it comes to technology. Kudos!

• Librarian very knowledgeable. Extended herself in finding an answer to my query. Very courteous, made working with her very easy and a pleasant experience. Gave me additional ideas outside the library that would help me. Thanks again~

• This is a GREAT IDEA

• Deborah should be your math lady of the year! Lexie

• The Librarian named Maggie was phenomenal !  She is an asset to the county library system.

• I am very grateful for this quick and easy means of communication, and for the responsiveness of the librarians who man the call center. There are occasions on which a telephone call is just not possible--and it's useful to be able to ask a question after hours (when it occurs to you) rather than trust that no "senior moment" will intervene the following morning, and keep you from recalling what you wanted to know!

• Nice to finally use the service that I have often recommended to      my middle school library patrons.  I like the fact that the on line librarian continued to send info after I was unexpectantly called away from the computer.  Transcript being sent to the email was a bonus.  I'll be back.

• Fantastic service, today!  The librarian wasn't local, but I had a local question.  She answered it in seconds!  Impressive!

• I have an excellent first experience using the Library Chat service.  I love this feature and hope other find it as helpful as I did! Shane

• Thanks JoAnnG! that was exactly what you're looking for. I want you to know I'll be voting against all those politicians who furloughed you and your colleagues on Nov 2  Sic semper Tyrannus. Bob
   

month in review

• September 1st started a new grant year, FY2011. Grant #9. Year #7. Our budget had passed with the continuation of the Operations Assistant (PT) position. The final grant report and fiscal information was submitted on time.

• Applications were accepted for the announced part time Operations Assistant and interviews started on the 27th (they'll finish in early October)

• on the 15th we held a liaisons meeting in Prince Frederick, Calvert County. This was our second attempt at a blended meeting and it was quite successful - bringing together both the physical f2f people and the virtual participation through wimba. the technology isn't 100% ideal yet, but we're well on our way

• our intern, Dennis, officially started on the 15th at the liaison meeting. Dennis will be focusing on the admin side of AskUsNow!, working on a social media strategy, creating a solid internship program/relationship with UM iSchool students, and helping out with usability testing for the IH

• Usability testing for the IH continued this month. We are using Wimba to hold and record "tests" of the site to see how it needs to be improved/changed, etc. The survey went out this month for those not participating in testing.

• Julie traveled to the Essex and Catonsville campuses of CCBC, Charles and Calvert County, AACPL, Frederick, Worcester and UMES for her Listening Tour this month. No more LT stops are scheduled. To sign up, head over to http://askusnow.info/staff/listening_tour_2010

• Julie held a refresher and New Staff Training at MCPL on Sept 1st and a NST at AACPL on the 2nd - 16 new librarians joined the ranks

• Julie continued her work with the VisionQuest program pilot (6 hrs) and the A2J initative with MSLL (3hrs)

• Julie attended the "Hiring the Right Person" LMD discussion in Frederick County on the 21st

• QuestionPoint enjoyed an install this month on the 19th

• we started using HootSuite with much glee to manage our social media presences (you can schedule posts!)

2010 August Monthly Report

by the numbers

• Maryland customers asked 2060 questions via chat in August

• Maryland librarians handled 1566 questions via chat from customers around Maryland and the nation.

• 8 librarians from 4 different libraries joined the AskUsNow! family attending new staff training this month.

customer comments

• This site is amazing...perhaps it is time for me to join the Information Age!!  Thank You for being available after 1am in the morning.

• Great service! He found everything I needed in just a few minutes and it would have taken me a long time to find it myself on the website.

• Excellent service.  Very efficient way of finding out where/how to find availability of books, publications, etc.  Librarian seems very knowledgeable.  Keep this service up, please!

• I am 57 years old and I just learned to chat yesterday, so I was very excited to see the box for chatting, at first I did not recognized it, but I eventually figured it out..I will follow the librarian's suggestion.

• Answer came much faster that I expected.  I greatly appreciate that.

• It was a complicated search.  I was looking for a play by Agatha Christie which was, I learned, initially a book and later made into a play.  I would never have located it on my own and needed it for a book club enactment.  I greatly appreciate the help.

• Access to a professional librian at 4:00 on a Saturday with no wait time?  This is excellent service. Thank you Tim. Mary b, first time user.

• This is my go-to source. I don't have to leave my office, and the answers I get have a record in my browser, unlike I would get with a phone call. Really, it's perfect. -Vijay Kaul (grad student, UMCP)

• this is a great library thats why i come here and voulnteer here also thanks 4 all your help. God Bless You

• she answered my question exactly, the first time!!!

• You are offering outstanding service.

• the librarian was great and gave me great books that i did not find whej i looked for them... i have used this before and knew this would be great to use again for ease of access, nice people, and good results

• Marie was EXCELLENT!   So dedicated to completing the job. Was a very pleasurable experience.  I had no idea this service was even available. Will be telling everyone!!!!!  and... Marie is a GEM!

• I am sorry that the library has been receiving such severe budget cuts. I would like to petition the county council and complain. I use the library all the time and think it is a valuable resourse.

• Although she was not from my county librarian Jen from Caroline County was one of the most helpful librarians I have spoken too.

• I have always received excellent results. Thanks to all of you.

• This is the best thing next to apple pie.

• Once I connected with the librarian and figured out how to  send message, everything was great.  Her name was:  Amanda from Caroline County and she was very helpful and patient.  I will use this service again, thanks to her. Carole

• I'm absolutely delightful with the service.  It is great.

• I was very pleased to be able to speak with someone about this.  Thank you.

• thrice in the last five days I have used this service and responses are accurate; the speed and readiness to help fantastic. Three different people attended to me but they have given very precise information even when the information were not on issues on their desks; they have gone the extra mile to find the information and give to me within moments and with courtesy. The chat site itself is properly configured and meets users' needs adequately. Thank you. Adewale Ajayi

• The librarian found lots of information. Even a facebook page!  I really enjoyed the book and was worried that the author was still having a bad life with crazy relatives.  But she is doing okay!

• Although I could not find the item i was interested in, the lady who assisted me did everything possible to locate it This service is great and I will use it in the future. My thanks to MD PrinceGeorges Librarian Jennifer.
   

month in review

August went by really fast. Here's what we were up to:

• the Usability Testing group for the /staff site continues. we successfully recruited folks from around the state for testing which will happen in September. 

• 100,000 AskUsNow! magnets have arrived! They have to last us until FY2012 or 2013 so they're not yet being distributed. Contact Julie if you need swag for any programs or events you're doing.

• we continue to streamline as many processes as possible to help multiply the staff and resources we have but were able to open the PT Operations Assistant position up and are currently accepting applications.

• August 8-10th Julie attended the Reference Renaissance Conference in Denver. Check out Julie's notes.

• SLRC's first ever unconference was on August 12th. Check out Julie's notes.

• the last full week of August, Julie was out sick

• Frederick County hosted a new staff training for 8 new AskUsNow! providers on August 31st

2010 July Monthly Report

by the numbers

• Maryland customers asked 1894 questions via chat in July

• Maryland librarians handled 1525 questions via chat from customers around Maryland and the nation.

customer comments

• Way to go!!!  What a pleasant surprise and I am absolutely delighted.

• It help a search when you can have a constructive and productive conversation. Thanks, Rodwell

• I tried to reach my local library branch several times today but could not navigate my way through the phone system to reach a live person.  It was very frustrating.  It is terrific to be able to ask the question now and know I will hear back.  I can tell my son he can expect an answer after the holiday which will please him tremendously!!

• appreciated the quick and professional assistance.

• You don't know how much I appreciate the help.  I have been searching for months and months and could not find any info.  This is a wonderful website and I have visited many, many websites and none of them as easy to use as this one.  Thanks!

• Michael was very knowledgeable and tracked down an insurance company that appeared to have gone out of business. He was a tremendous resource. Thank you for the service. I will definitely use it again. Paul Couch

• I am glad that I found this and will most likely come back if I have another question.  The librarian that I talked with was extremely helpful and nice.

• This is a great resource and I am very glad I stumbled on to it

• I'm a high school media specialist. I'm glad that the state has this service.  I recommend it to my students and staff.

• even tho the librarian answered all my questions nicely& smart, I still miss the old hardback catalogs listing all the books in the Maryland public libraries by author & title & the library branch where they can be found.

• This was a very helpful service, especially for us in rural areas. thank you.

• This was very helpful and made me feel like someone was actually helping. Thank you again Karen

• Awesome service.  Saved me having to drive to the library.

• MD HCPL Librarian Edie was great.

• This is a great resource, especially when the library is closed.  :)

• This is a very impressive resource! Thank you for supporting it!

• Cynthia Dennis is great=she has helped me several times

• I have used this service over the past four years, both for work questions and personal interest questions and it is simply outstanding.  I recommend it to everyone I know.  The librarians are consistently helpful, polite, and provide answers I would never have thought of on my own.  I'm very comfortable doing internet searching and I only turn to this service when I feel that I am at a dead end -- and the librarians always come through with great suggestions.

• Remarkable resource.  Thank you.  I am a life member UMd alumni association so I am an "other" on question 2

• i use this service for almost all my questions and i will DEFINATLEY use it again!

• I know with the recession going on, there have been many cuts.  Please please don't cut anymore of the library budgets.  The library is great place, especially for a single parent with a low income like myself.  My 5 year old son loves going and looking through many books.  I am looking forward to going to the many activities that will be happening in the next few weeks.  I urge you to please keep our libraries open.  Thanks and have a great day.

• I have done this once before and once again, I am helped to my satisfaction. I really enjoy using this service because everyone is so nice and I know I can count on the librarians.

• She was so helpful without Lori's help I probably have a fine! THANK YOU SO MUCH! :)

• This "CHAT" service allows your local library to be accessed from anywhere, in this case, from San Mateo California. Your investment in the resources for this service, people and technology, allows your library system to be better utilized.  This is great at a time when here in California so many services are being cut.

• had a Librarian today....... 7/19/2010 her name was maggie she was very helpful she recomended alot of books to me on witch craft..... thank you all very much....

• I was satisfied with the manner in which my question was answered, but since my question was about reduced book orders and reduced hours, I was not satisfied with the reality that had to be reported to me -- i.e., that reduced hours are probably permanent and that it may be an extended time before there are any new books ordered.  Library patrons obviously need to let elected officials know of our dissatisfactions, rather than librarians, since you are on the same short end of the stick that we are!

• I really love how this wedsite work. It helps a lot.

• Excellent service -- faster than calling my local library and waiting to reach a live person!

• The Librarian on the other end was very helpful, not condencending to what might have been a very easy question.

• I LOVED IT!!!

• Great experience.  The time expired before I had a chance to respond to the very polite Librarian.  The information that the Librarian rovided was helpful and fast. Dave

• As a librarian, I am very impressed with the quality of the response I received to my question.  The care that was taken to answer my question thoroughly and accurately should be a model for all libraries.  Thank you.

• Librarians rule or at least they should!

• Jen did a great job.  She found resources that had great ideas and that I'm sure will prove to be extremely helpful.  She couldn't have done a better job!

• The librarian was very helpful and helped me figure out how to do the search I wanted, so I could find a specific type of book.  And it took her no time at all to figure it out, even though she's in a completely different library system.

• The chat was very good but didn't quite answer my question however another librarian email with further information that was exactly what I was looking for. Thanks so much for not only being available online but also following-up after our online chat was complete.

• I am so impressed.  So easy.  Happy I read about this service.  THANK YOU VERY MUCH

• The answer were speedy and very helpful, especially to a 65 year old not really copmuter literate woman. It was great.

• The people at the Crofton library are tops!!!!!!!!!!

• my mom was a children's librarian at New Carrollton public library, Md, 40 years ago ( Frances Harrell Schumacher) & she always said to go to the library & ask them if you need a question answered.

• This is such a great tool!!!  I'm so glad to have the access to it.  The librarian answering my questions was very helpful and was able to steer me in the right direction.  My question was answered and I was VERY pleased with the results.  Thanks.

• Thank you. Merci. Gracia. Service is Excellent.

• The lady I spoke to was extremely helpful. She called another librarian from the Enoch Pratt State Library just to help me get some sheet music. This is a great service and I will continue to use it!!!
   

month in review

• An event at BCPL on July 15th marked 300,000 questions answered! Yay us! Read more.

• the Usability Testing group for the /staff site continues. we're currently looking for UX testers!

• An AskUsNow! magnet was designed and 100,000 ordered. a small number of additional highlighters were ordered as well.

• we continue to streamline as many processes as possible to help multiply the staff and resources we have

• Julie continued her LIstening Tour with visits to Prince George's County Memorial Library System, Prince George's County Community College and the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped this month. Read the notes. Sign up for your own Listening Tour Stop!

• Julie's participation in access to justice continues with additional planning for a training series on law for librarians

• Julie was honored to attend the Maryland Library Leadership Insitute 2010 Graduate luncheon in Port Deposit as a member of the MLLI planning committee. AskUsNow! librarians represented almost 40% of the entire 2010 graduating class. Congratulations to:

  • Jessica Ambrose, Harford Community College

  • Amy Swackhamer, Frederick County

  • Bill Taylor, Washington County

  • Jessica Nhem, Caroline County

  • Carol Dean, Anne Arundel County

  • Becky Hass, Pratt/SLRC

  • Robyn Truslow, Calvert County

  • Kate Crider, Baltimore County

  • Julie Nanavati, previous provider at UMCP

Top 10 librarians: most chat sessions accepted

"Chat Sessions Accepted" is QuestionPoint lingo for how many chats a librarian had. here's the list of the busiest in July.

1. Mallika Pichumani, MCPL - 64 chats
2. Mandy Hackley, Salisbury University - 62 chats
3. Mimi Bolotin, MCPL- 56 chats
4. Nedelina Tchangalova, UMCP - 46 chats
5. Tina Rawhouser, MCPL - 40 chats
6. Maggie Murphy, Pratt - 35 chats
7. Jim Miller, UMCP - 32 chats
8. Norman Hudson-Taylor, PGCMLS and Patrick Jones, Pratt -  tied with 28 chats
9. Jessica Nhem, Caroline County, 27 chats
10. Anne Cohn, MCPL - 25 chats

Note: We do not value quantity over quality but wanted to acknowledge those who took the most chats this month. Opportunity for handling this number of chat sessions is based on how many times a month you are scheduled to monitor.

2010 June Monthly Report

by the numbers

• Maryland customers asked 2327 questions via chat in June

• Maryland librarians handled 1684 questions via chat from customers around Maryland and the nation.

• For those counting along at home, we're up to 297,167 questions so far since March 17, 2003!

customer comments

• It was very helpful to just ask a question, without having to go to the library or make a phone call. Getting the transcript is helpful too.

• This was a wonderful service, and helped me find information I had already spent several hours searching for.  I really appreciate it. One thing I absolutely love about Maryland is our library service! Thank you for providing this.

• This is a valued service that is necessary.

• I am very glad that this service was available today. It helped me take care of a problem that otherwise would have cost the Library system in my county (and therefore the taxpayers) a fair amount of money.

• How fortunate we are for this. How hard you must work. Can we be certain to keep this service in perpetuity?????

• Absolutely WONDERFUL service! I cannot praise the librarian who helped me enough. :-)  I will definitely use this again. :-D

• Mary Ann Kurcher at the North County Branch is especially professional and courteous. She responded to my request quickly and with detail. I have also worked with her with the Library by Mail program and she was so pleasant and helpful. Thanks!

• THE LIBRARIAN WAS EXTREMELY HELPFUL AND VERY COURTEOUS.  I REALLY APPRECIATED HER HELP! THANK YOU.

• Wonderful service, beyond delighted!!

• Thankyou for your help.It's really important for me.

• I was very delighted to receive this unexpected response to my question. Thank you.

• I like how you can talk to real people over the Internet and not leave your home and go to the library just to ask that one question. :)

• The staff is great, and really kind. They always help me, but It would be great if somehow you found a way that you always got someone that worked at the branch that you go to. Thanks for adding this to the site. It makes all the difference! :)

• I have already sent a hyperlink throughout the office. Thank you again.  

• I am very immpressed they are very polite and do not lose there patience with you!

• The librarian was extremely helpful.  I live in South Baltimore and it totally saved me a trip to the central location!

• I was transfered to Libarian Amy at St Marys and she was fantastic.  I am very pleased this service is available

• The CTR staff at CCPL is always courteous and goes the distance to find the answers that I need. They are a great resource and credit to this system.

• Was referred to you via the Geneology Desk from the Cincinnati Library.  It worked out very well and a GREAT service.  Thank you. Dave Tremblay

• I am very impressed with the level of professionalism and attentiveness to my request by your staff.

• this is the best website u  get the help u need and u are never turned down or get the wrong info. :)

• It is so wonderful that we are able to "communicating", actually by means of chat alive. I got the information about BCPLonline from City of Jacksonville, in Jacksonville, Fl. I wish I know what exact the year that this event hath occurred and was published in the Balto. Suns, I thought for sure the year was 1981 but maybe actually in 1980, after all.I am a student at Flrodia State College at Jacksonville, based in Jaksonville, Florida. My e-mail address is: [removed]. Thank you so much.

• Cynthia helped me with my online access problem. it was quick and easy. I love the public library!

• Very helpful.  Talking to her made me realize I was doing my citations improperly for my essay.  She saved me a letter grade!

• I use the service often. This librarian I believe was the best, most knowledgable one I have encountered. She was on the money.

• Librarian had very well performed, very easy form of communication. I was in the phone at the same time waiting for Personnel to answer. My question has been answered on line and still the phone still on the tape prompt. Thank you very much. Minerva
   

month in review

• Our excitement this month was around the June 2010 QuestionPoint Install that came with a very long-time requested QuestionPoint feature- typeback! Now a customer and librarian will see when the other one is typing! Release Notes

• the Usability Testing group for the /staff site is underway. We are gearing up for testing in August. (4hrs)

• designed, printed and shipped the 300,000th celebration poster to our Partner Libraries and created the Celebration Toolkit for local celebrations

• worked on the design for our new AskUsNow! magnet (coming soon!)

• worked to streamline as many processes as possible to help multiply the staff we have.

• On the 3rd, Julie listened in on an online webinar from WebJunction, "Retooling Frontline Staff with E-Government." The program was valuable in light of the Law Library initiative. (archive and docs)

• June 4th- Julie participated in the monthly VR discussion. Sad news about AskAwayBC in Canada. Read more.

• June 8th was our liaison meeting and the first time we integrated an online component for liaisons unable to physically attend. Read more.

• June 10th- Julie attended the MLA PSD meeting, gearing up for 2011 programming. Later that day, Julie listened in on a WebJunction webinar Nini and Maurice were giving about staff development and Merlin (view docs and archive).

• June 14th- Julie attended the 24/7 advisory board meeting (view notes).

• June 25-29, ALA!

• June 30- Participated in first meeting of Public Education Committee of the Maryland Access to Justice Commission as a member. (2hrs)

Top 10 

We want to recognize the "top 10" of various topics each month. Let us know what topics you're interested in!
 

2010 May Monthly Report

by the numbers

• Maryland customers asked 3276 questions via chat in May- our summer drop is already visible.
  • 249 of those came in through Montgomery County's qwidget interface!

• Maryland librarians handled 2076 questions via chat from customers around Maryland and the nation.
  • 228 of those questions were with customers using the qwidget interface.

• For those counting along at home, we're up to 294,840 questions so far since March 17, 2003!

customer comments

• The librarian deserves a promotion, a raise and a bonus.

• this web address helped me all the way through 6th grade. I've had the best history project, I won 1st place in regionals for science, it's the best reasearch site ever! I will continue to use this website until I get out of school, forever! And maybe other topics in the future. Thank you who ever invented this website and all who have helped me!

• It was easy to use and fast.  Especially useful at work when I don't need someone overhearing my phone calls.  FYI: The keyboard seemed slow at times, not accepting my typing as quickly as it does on other sites. Thanks for being awesome, Montgomery County library!

• I thought this was a great way to contact a librarian while at work or in a situation where a phone call was impossible at that time. I really like this option!

• I am very, very pleased, first  with the response I received from Michael and then going to the Cockeysville library to complete  the service (dog licenses)I needed. They were very efficient and coiuld not have been nicer. Lois M. Boylan

• The Sevrna Park Library is excellent and the staff has always been helpful in assissting me regaurdless as to what I may request. I feel the the listing of on the self Art books could be larger, but the staff had helped getting books and information from other Libraries. Being 90 years old the local library in on of my main stop off points from good reading.

• I think this service is one of the best things you guys could have come up with! I didn't have to talk to this person and then that person. The lady who helped me was, Shannon(WashCo) and she was very helpful! I will definitely use this service anytime I have a minor problem or just need a simple question answered. THANK YOU!!!!!

• The librarian was very helpful, and very patient with the pace of my ancient dial up service.  I appreciated the assistance, and the additional suggestion of materials available in branch.

• What a help for my final research project before graduating with a Master's degree in Library and Information Science!

• This is the best for anyone who needs alot of imformation. I will keep using this.

• I asked a question early Saturday morning and someone jumped on fairly quickly and got my answer in very little time at all. Exactly what I needed, and I'm grateful to the library for providing this service--as well as the service I was asking about--online language training (no longer Rosetta Stone, but now Mango--I'm just grateful there is something!). Thank you.

• i did not realize it was a chat service since the last time i used it was so long ago i had forgot. so i just asked my question and left. then when i saw it was a chat session that had closed, i thought oh well i will ask again, but surprise surprise someone answered my question and found the online article i was looking for and sent it to me via email. great service. i love libraries!!

• This program is awesome  I always find the answers to what I need to know THANKS FOR EVERYTHING!

• I really appreciated the help to steer me in the right direction. Also, the questions were answered very promptly.

• Alot of people should use this. it is very easy to use. The people are vevryy excellent in servivng you with what you want.

• I was directed to this site by a librarian on the 24/7 "Ask a Librarian" service.  I was not sure how to request books not on the county or Marina databases, and the chat librarian directed me here.  Thank you all for your help!

• I thought it was amazing . I am always looking for information. Although I am 80 Years old I still like to be informed. John

• I felt as if the Librarian went above and beyond to locate information for me about available babysitting courses for my daughter in our area. She made a couple of recommendations based on her research and I was able to find a course in no time. Thanks Sue (Librarian - Baltimore County, Md)  for all of your help. The service was great!!!

• Librarian was VERY  helpful to me.  LUV this service.  I'm glad that it is still available to use with all the budget cuts..

• This was part of an assignment in a grad class I am taking.  I also needed to speak in person to a librarian.  The librarians I spoke with didn't really take the time to find out exactly what information I needed or why.  The reference librarian at "Ask Us Now" did and gave me exactly the information I was looking for.

• EXCELLLENT JOB AND THE RESPOND WAS FABULOUS... Thanks a Bunch, Elaine Upson

• Beth was a great help! She really got straight to the point in helping me understand my science question. Thank you so much! I am definatley telling my friends all about this site!

• I appreciate the resources the librarian was able to direct me to so quickly.  They met my need for information perfectly!

• I was surprised at how quickly I got a response - IMMEDIATELY.

• this is a fabulous service.  the librarian i was connected to was very helpful and directed me to the appropriate person who took care of my issue.  thank you very much~

• Very good service, did not take as long as I thought it was gonna be.  Loved the idea that it was a satellite library used to answer the question about the library.  Will definitely use the service again.

• The person helping me was excellent.  My electric went out and when I logged back in she was right there ready to help.  Thanks for sure a great service.

• I was so suprised someone answered me at close to midnight. And they actually found my answer. Thanks so much-it's great!

• I love this service. It's brilliant.

• The librarian helped me find what I needed quickly. Two thumbs up.

• Quick, efficient, accurate, VERY WELCOME!

• This is the best FREE online chat or database that gives me everything i need, it also helped me win the science fair in Anne Arundel County

month in review

In May Julie:

• joined the Statewide Marketing folks at their meeting on May 11 to discuss the 300,000th question celebration planning. Despite deadlines, our presence at the meeting allowed us to get our blurb in local library newsletters for June/July. (A note was made to be more aware of local deadlines).
• met with Carroll County Public Library and Community College in New Windsor for a Listening Tour stop (May 24)
• met with our new Intern, Dennis Nangle from UMUC who will be starting within the next few months. (May 28)
• held a celebration luncheon for Cathay, our former Operations Assistant, who took the job as Library Director at Delmar library in Delaware (May 17)

Also this month, Julie participated in VisionQuest planning (6 hrs), Reference Renaissance Conference 2010 planning (1 hr), the inagural meeting of the Maryland Library Webs Group (2 hrs), and contributed time to the Maryland State Law Library's iniative on Access to Justice and their training survey (3 hrs).

Top 10 

We want to recognize the "top 10" of various topics each month. Let us know what topics you're interested in!
 

2010 April Monthly Report

by the numbers

• Maryland customers asked 3637 questions via chat in April.
  • 270 of those came in through Montgomery County's qwidget interface!

• Maryland librarians handled 2217 questions via chat from customers around Maryland and the nation.
  • 238 of those questions were with customers using the qwidget interface.

customer comments

Comments and love pouring in this month continue to be amazing:

• I'd rather see a few extra potholes than experience any cuts in library service. I use the library weekly.

• this website and librarians have really helped me alot. Like my science project which i got first place in my category at North County High School in Anne Arundel County

• continue this system!

• I love the friendliness of the librarians and the information that they have given me when I used this program. Thanks so much!

• VERY satisfied-very knowledgeable librarian and a quick fix.

• this saved me gas, anxiety and hours of running around.  terrific resource, very pleasant help . . .

• The person who I chatted with was thorough and provided corresponding documentation in the right panel of the monitor. Great tool and will definitely use it again. This tool helped me decide to follow through with a visit to the local library to check-out books that I need for a paper that is due on Monday. If this tool was not available I probably would not have pursued further fearing that I would not have access to the materials. More than likely...I would have traveled to Washington, DC to visit my seminary campus library. Thanks again.

• It was very interesting because I learned something about my computer--cache and cookies may need to be cleaned up (?) periodically for some functions to be done.  They weren't able to tell me what was wrong in the library, and Jeri from Carroll County gave me an idea that worked.  And it was after library hours, so it was much appreciated!!!

• I liked that the library staff answered all of my questions, and I'm definantly asking again if I have a book I can't find, or a question I can't answer!

• Thanks very much. The service was more then I even hoped for. Lois Danz

• Being an Australian resident, searching for family member's for my Family Tree, it was a pleasant surprise to find how easy it was to get the attention and answers to my search, after the difficulties finding records from other sources. Thank you, Don MacKellin, Mildura, Victoria, Australia

• Very Very nice website I was very satisfied!!!!!!!!!!!!

• GREAT service...it helps lots of people ranging from grade school to elderly people..a wonderful asset to the Maryland community at large!    Thanks again!!!

• The person was able to help even though it involved a question to do with Howard County Library system and not Pratt system.  This was fantastic!

• Thank you for all the help.  The person I was talking with went above and beyond my standard questions to find the answers.  Thanks!

• Your service although this is the first time of me using it, was excellent and I will be utilizing it in the future and telling other people about it also. Elaine Alexander

• It help to be able to Chat with a librarian as other questions can be aswered right away as well. Thank you for your assistance. Mary H. Evans, Ecuador

• Jonothan B was wonderful ... very helpful and insightful. He was able to quickly find an abundance of useful information and materials :)

• I tried doing an online search before chatting, but couldn't come up with anything. The skill of this librarian was extraordinary, and she found so much so fast. Hail, librarians!

• Your staff were very helpful to an out-of-state (Ohio) visitor with a question about Maryland Library procedures.

• It was really nice to know that I was talking to a real person on the other line.

• Thank you for this service it was a big help.  I'm not the type to use the computer and it was so very easy.  The librarian name Jen was wonderful.  I failed to end the session proper I'm sorry for that.  Again, THANK YOU for a great service. Fully Satisfied

• I feel ashamed not to have known that this resource is available at our library. I am very pleased and thankful.

• I was surprised at how easy and quick this way of communicating with the librarian was and how it solved my problem.  Great job! Thank you.

• The librarian was very kind and seemed to enjoy her job.

• This service is very light on my head and the idea of chatting with a librarian is great! I hope that i will use it again and I hope others will use this!

• This is an extremely efficient and effective tool! Thanks very much!
   

month in review

This month we:

• Julie attended the Computers in Libraries conference in Crystal City April 11-13th
• April 19th was the first stop on our 2010 Listening Tour- Washington County! If you haven't already signed up for a visit, please do so. You can also read the notes from our visits this year.
• MLA was early this year and Julie and Cathay were in attendance. Cathay was involved with the planning of the Privacy 101 preconference and Julie attended Susan Paznekas' Think It! Plan It! Do It! precon. We had an AskUsNow! gathering at 4pm on Thursday of MLA. (Be on the lookout next year- our social gathering will be at the bar Wednesday night!)
• After seven years of subject specialist email followup with AskUsNow!, the Maryland State Law Library was trained in chat on April 26th. MSLL staff will be available for live referrals for AUN customers (or customers at your live physical ref desks!). More details coming soon about this.

Also this month, Julie has been involved with the Maryland Library Leadership Selection Committee, Nini's VisionQuest initative, the LATI 2010 planning, and the Access 2 Justice training initatives.

Top 10 

We want to recognize the "top 10" of various topics each month. Let us know what topics you're interested in!
This month:

The Top 10 ways to promote AskUsNow!

10. Talk about it. teachers, students, colleagues, business partners, kids, parents, librarians, community members.

9. Distribute swag. highlighters, bookmarks, self-made posters and fliers! Include it with new staff orientation, or new library cardholders!

8. Include AskUsNow! in your resume as one of your qualifications

7. Make a video and post it to your myspace/facebook/website/youtube pages!

6. Share amazing survey comments or fun questions in your newsletter or on your blog!

5. Use our logos and make your own promotional items!

4. Plaster your car or bike with AskUsNow! stickers

3. Include AskUsNow! in your databases and instructional classes

2. Share your AskUsNow! involvement and success stories in your library's reports and publications

and the #1 way to Promote AskUsNow! is:

1. Plan a 300,000th question party! We will be hitting our 300,000th chat question in June/July and are planning an event for July! More information will be coming soon about this but we're going to need your help to celebrate in your local communities!

2010 March Monthly Report

by the numbers

• Maryland customers asked 3638 questions via chat in March.
  • 264 of those came in through Montgomery County's qwidget interface!
  • 214 of the total were routed for referral after chat to the customer's local library.

• Maryland librarians handled 2305 questions via chat from customers around Maryland and the nation.
  • 237 of those questions were with customers using the qwidget interface.

• an additional 1540 questions were answered via email this month, 39 more than March 2009.

customer comments

Comments and love pouring in this month were amazing:

• Amazing service. Raise my state taxes and pay these good people.

• Very helpful librarian helped me find article even though it wasn't present in the library or in the catalog at all.

• Joe quickly pointed me not only in the right direction, but to the specific page I was looking for. He even included additional information that I will find useful! Thanks!

• Very convenient for a student balancing work and school, and easy to use!  Great idea, and great use of funds.

• What a great feature "live chat" is!  My questions were answered promptly and I didn't have to phish around hunting for answers. Didn't know you had that feature! Who ever thought of it should own a house in the hills with all amenities! Thanks

• I would like to specificly recognize Patrick from Howard County Library. He was a fantastic help! I am always online on behalf of my children, and I will deffinately use this source again because of the wonderful first impression I recieved by this overly kind librarian. Bravo! ---a working mother

• The librarians answered pretty quickly. They should never stop this website. It is easy to use and the librarians give the right information to help.It is very helpful to students from kindergarten through 12th grade!Keep up the great work you are providing and don't ever stop!

• The people you have in place are just the best there is.  I've never once in the amount of times I've used this service ever walked away dissatisfied.

• I am amazed with the service.  My husband was surprised as well, he used to be a college kid but never had this service available.  We are amazed and happy to be provided this services 24/7.  We are going to spread the good word about MC library askus.  You guys are great!.

• Sally was very patient and nice and gave me all the answers to my questions.I will definitely use this line more than ever. Thank you for having this available for everyone.Dont ever leave us.

• Librarian 'MD Pratt/SLRC Librarian Carol was extremely helpful and patient in attempting to find answer to my inquiry. I am extremely grateful for the promptness and efficiency of this service. Thank you.

• I'm really enjoying the Library and especially the ease/use of all the services offered....nothing like the old days!  I asked about a book, not on the shelf, and in one day had an email that it was retrieved from another library!  Keep up the good work...I'll make sure I tell everyone to use the library!! Carol

• thanks for the amazing help that i recieved using this website. you all are doing an awesome job!!

• Very satisfied--I was asking a question which might have been considered asking for legal advice--I had clarified that I was looking for media stories which is what I was given--service was prompt and appears to be excellent (obviously I can't know what might have been missed, but have no reason to believe anything was missed. I'm a library card holder, and resident, of Montgomery County and extremely grateful for the library service I receive.

• This experience was far greater than I expected.  I'm impressed and thats not easily done.  I sent this anonymously however, I wanted you to know that I'm located in Howard County, Md will be passing on this other students and parents.  Thanks again!!

• Thanks, Even thought the librarian was from out of state, he was able to answer a question about my library system.

• This is an amazing addition to the set of tools I have used from the county library.  Thank you for setting this up.  Being able to use this after library hours was wonderful.

• The information above is based on my chat with you this morning.  I had a straightforward question and got a very quick answer.

• Before I remembered asking the service for information, I wasted time checking other websites.  I wish more people knew how to contact the "ask us now" service. I am assuming of course that not many people take advantage of this service. Thank you.

• For my question, Derek answered it. He was EXTREMELY helpful to me, and i got A LOT of help from him. This service is GREAT, and i will DEFINITELY use it again.

• The librarian was very nice and helpful. I could have never found the map on my own.
   

month in review

We're at mid-grant year in March! This month we:

• had a liaison meeting in Montgomery County
  
• announced our texting initiative and had two informational online meetings to answer questions
• starting scheduling our Listening Tour
• and CELEBRATED OUR SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY OF SERVICE by collecting more customer stories
  

Top 10 

We want to recognize the "top 10" of various topics each month. Let us know what topics you're interested in! We're skipping this month so we can recalibrate! :-)

2010 February Monthly Report

by the numbers

• Maryland customers asked 2615 questions via chat in February.
  • 188 of those came in through Montgomery County's qwidget interface!
  • 244 were routed for referral after chat to the customer's local library

• Maryland librarians handled 1773 questions via chat from customers around Maryland and the nation.
  • 1076 of those questions were with customers using the qwidget interface.
    Update: the Qwidget accepted data has since proven to be erronious. March stats will be correct.

• an additional 1551 questions were answered via email this month, 90 more than last month and 240 more than Dec 2009!

customer comments

• This is a great service to be able to ask questions on-line.  It saves me time and gasoline, and I suspect saves staff time to answer questions for patrons who are not connected to the Internet. Thanks very much. Yolanda Krisch

• Len was very, spatient, pleasent and thorough.  Len truly became engrossed in sollving my problem and finding alternative solutions

• Very helpful- I had a question and within minutes I had a friendly and knowledgable librarian answering it in person without leaving the computer! Yet another servi e the BCPL libraries offer online that I am extremely satisfied with.

• What a great facility - live chat.  I just love a library system that is current and with the times!!!!!!!  Outstanding response time.  thank you.

• i found out about this while watching channel 25 in baltimore. i am disable and the internet is my legs for taking places were i use to beable to go like the library.

• Both Jen and Somer were fabulous. I had no idea this service was available. It was wonderful to use with my twin fourth grade daughters to find the answer for their extra credit!! thank you, thank you!!

• Very impressed with the speed and accuracy of my request.  Thank you for your help.

• I waited more time that many other times I've used this service to speak with a librarian.  However, I feel indebted to the librarian who answered my question.  I was snowed in, all street near my area have been plowed except mine, and I think this was an oversight.  My father generally works on Sundays and the rest of the week except Saturdays,  so thanks a million!

• thanks for having this resource, its very valuable.

• thank you for being there to answer my questions at any hour.

• This is my first time using the facility. It was very easy and Staff was great. I got the answer for the question i am looking for. I will use this service rather than calling the custmer service. Extremely Satisfied.

• The Maryland Washington County Librarian, Shannon, was so very helpful in assisting me with my question. She was very patient and explained everything to me in the kindest and most understanding manner. I was really grateful to have her assistance.

• this was my first experience with this type of service, and i was amazed at how quick and easy it was. the person who answered my questions was extremely knowledgable, and gave me all the information i needed. highly recommended.

• Faantastic service and quick results. Thanks to everyone for braving the snowy roads and being there. Thanks again! Jane Gray

• This is a great site. It's just like the chat room on facebook. I can't think of anything I would rather do on a snoey afternoon. Thanks for all the help. especially to Edi. Betty Wertz Warfordsburg PA

• Beautiful Staff, beautiful. -Gertrude  :)

• Great service, fast and friendly.  I just really appreciate the librarians and all that they do to help the  public.  Thanks.

• The librarian I spoke to was very nice and helpful. Thank you for being available, even on a snow day!

• I like that this service is available 24/7. I was very anxious and the question came to me at an ungodly hour and my question was answered promptly. Thanks.

• I really appreciate that there is a service 24 hrs per day, especially when I'm asking a question at 1 in the morning! Thank you for offering this service - I hope the librarians answering in the wee hours of the morning are well-compensated. :)
   
• Michael Stevens from Information Services addressed my question in a prompt and most satifactory way.  I found out about your service through your website, and because I live in Texas I was most pleased to have the use of your information from such a distance.  This makes research for my book so efficient.   Thank you.  Jeanne Bennett

• Your service provided much needed assistance during a time the library was not open.  It helped get me on the right track at a time that fit my homework scheule.

• I have recently returned to college after 20 some years.  I have a term paper to complete, something I don't even remember how to do.  So your on line chat service was quite helpful.

• THIS IS THE BEST SERVICE EVER!!!!! I JUST ASKED THEM THE QUESTION AND THE LIBRARIANS GAVE ME A PERFECT AND ACCURATE ANSWER!!!!! AWESOME!!!!

• Some very helpful and wide-ranging suggestions to help solve research mystery.

• I am very impressed with this service.  I have been searching for an old childrens' book for years, to no avail.  The only information that I had was scant - the time frame the book was read (in the mid-1960s) and what I thought was the first verse of the book (which, as it turns out, was not totally correct).  As a last resort, I tried the on-line service.  I really appreciate that the librarian that I worked with took the time to research the question and use other resources, including other librarians, to find what I was looking for.  I especially appreciate the efforts that Mimi Bolotin underwent to find exactly what I was looking for.  Thank you!!!
   
• This service is excellent. I've only used it twice, but both times exceeded my expectations with regard to competence, cordiality and providing precisely the information that satisfied my questions. Thanks so much for this gem of a tool.
   
• this is my second time and i have found this to be very helpful since i am disable and most of the time i can not afford to pay for some one to take me to the library now. it is another part to the internent that allows people like me to stay in touch with the out side world.
   
• Great service for the national community!
   
• I am amazed and impressed and grateful for ANNE ARUNDLE LIBRARY SYSTEM in obtaining ALL the books I need.I produce "The Poet and the Poem from the Library of Congress " for public radio.And I need these resources.Thank you
   
• I can always come to this website for help with finding RELIABLE information. Thanks! ~ SLS
   

month in review

February was a crazy month! Most of the state was under numerous feet of snow at any given point and made an already short month seem even shorter. While we all think warm and spring-like thoughts, here's what we did this month:

February 1 Julie attended a meeting of the Public Education Committee, Access to Justice Commission along with Cathy Ashby (Director, Garrett County PL) and Sarah Frush to discuss the findings of the Access to Justice Conference in January in Texas.

Before the snowpocolypse got into full swing, we put out a Blizzard resource list that included weather, health, and fun resources. Many libraries around the state and customers retweeted, shared, or reposted the links.

Julie promoted and attended two free webinars this month. One was a two-day WebJunction online conference and the Tech Trends Webinar based on the LITA Tech Trends session at MidWinter. Check out the links for materials and recordings.

February 17th & 24th Cathay and Julie trained 23 more librarians from across Maryland to provide AskUsNow!. The 24th session was the rescheduled Feb 10th session which had been cancelled due to the second snowpocolypse.

February 22 & 24th Jennifer Blunt and Jeri Cain ran two more successful Crisis Call trainings. This 90 minute online training grew out of the crisis call guidelines and will be archived online soon.

Last friday, Julie participated in an hour-long sharing time with the other VR coordinators from around the world. This month's we saw a demo of Oregon and Ohio's vr system (Spark) and started discussing sustainability models. It will be an ongoing discussion.

Two QuestionPoint webinars also occurred in February. The Virtual Users Group Meeting and the Mobile Reference Webinar.

A quote from Andrew Bonsworth of Facebook lead our work this month as we further our Staff Support site, get our "AskUsNow! University"  fleshed out, and get stuff done: "If you aren't coming up with new ideas, you're just along for the ride."

Top 10 

We want to recognize the "top 10" of various topics each month. Let us know what topics you're interested in!

This month, the Top 10 Libraries with the most accepted questions (Librarian activity):

10. Frederick County Librarians
9. Howard County Librarians
8. Caroline County Librarians
7. Anne Arundel Librarians
6. University of Maryland, College Park Librarians
5. Prince George's County Librarians
4. Harford County Librarians
3. Montgomery County Librarians
2. Enoch Pratt/SLRC Librarians

and with the most librarian activity is:

1. Baltimore County Librarians

Congratulations to our Top 10's for this month! Let us know what other Top 10s you want to see next month!

2010 January Monthly Report

by the numbers

• Maryland customers asked 3893 questions via chat in January. This is the busiest January we've had since 2007!
  • 278 of those came in through Montgomery County's qwidget interface!
  • 234 were routed for referral after chat to the customer's local library

• Maryland librarians handled 2126 questions via chat from customers around Maryland and the nation. This is 131 more than December 2009 and 61 more than January 2009!
  • 1559 of those questions were with customers using the qwidget interface.

• an additional 1461 questions were answered via email this month, 150 more than last month!

customer comments

• Really appreciate this service especially when the library cannot be used and there's nobody who can help you with questions about service. I have found librarians to be always available and always ready to help with the answers. Thanks

• This was a very helpful tool when working after hours on research. thanks

• This service is EXTREMALY helpful & useful and should remain; this will be especially advantageous for those who have challenges getting around and will not have to go to the library in vain nor be on telephone hold(s) & waste valuable time for no reason!

• I was so excited with the resources that I forgot to respond to the librarian!  Camilius, (spelling?) thank you for your help!

• They were very good about answering a question that was not a reaserch question.my question was about annotatedworks cited and "sarah". My online libraran  didnot stop until she found my answerand made sure that I was all set to type my paper with all the info that I needed.I am sure that I will get an A onthis project because of AskUs Now the best onlineibrarian web site there is.I will definetly recomend the to all of my friends. Not only were my questions answered they were answered to the fullest

• This is a great resource! I found a lot of new information that I could not find by myself. The librarians give very resourceful information. I will definitely use this again.

• I love going to ask a librarian. They always find good information for me. I would recommend this website anytime to anyone. they can answer any question!

• I spoke with Marjorie from Pratt.  She was very helpful, nice and provided a detailed and quick response.  I love this feature.  I wish I had discovered it earlier.  Thanks for providing an excellent library network as well as great employees.

• This is a fantastic service offered by the Maryland Library system. We are indeed fortunate to have this interactive site. I have used it several times and am always  extremely satisfied with the complete answers to my questions and the calibre of the librarians who are so knowledgeable and polite.  It is an absolute pleasure to deal with these people and if you are not careful, you are going to get a good reputation for state employees! Thank you so much. Sincerely, Flo Ormond

• Thank you,  so very much for your help. I left my flashdrive at the public library and it is so important that I was so distressed and frantic - because if some one else were to have picked it up and carried it away ... I would have lost so much work which is not replaceable. Additionally, I have not used a "chat" website before and I had no idea how to use one.  However, due to my intense worry .. I decided to take the chance / gamble / risk, etc. Your arrangements make the it easy. Thank you so much for the good service you provide to all of us! - Julie

• Very much. looking for data information on line can be time consuming and it takes a lot of patients especially for someone like my self who sometimes do not know what it is that I am really looking for. So I commend all Librarians on chat with a librarian . I think they do an excellent job. KUDOS

• With the librarian I had-Andrew- I got any ideas from the websites he gave me. I know have many options for my science fair! I like them all and might do them on my free time or use them for next years science fair! Thank you again and I will definitely be using this service numerous times after this and be tell my friends how and where I got my help from. It was great service and I hope to get the same amount for the next time I need help. Thank you! -Olivia

• I was very satisfied with the answers provided by Mr. Ray B.  He provided an answer to my initial question which involved a type of citation of information that I didn't think existed, but was checking with ASK US NOW just to be sure.  Well Mr. B. found the answer! The type of citation I inquired about does, in fact exist.  So KUDOS to him for finding it.  Although he was unable to provide a direct answer to my second question (understandable, too, since it is a very involved type of question), Mr. B. provided a phone number to another division of your library where I can most likely obtain the answer. Also I checked state resident as being the best description for me, but I am also a student with an online university. Thank you for help!

• I think this is a wonderful service.  I don't drive and it's hard for me to get around, especially in bad weather and this service is perfect. I've found all the librarians very helpful and kind.  Thank you for offering this service -- long needed!

• the online chat was very helpful. i was able to use it at 3:30am. i like it better than the library website. it is easier to navigate than the website. thank you for having the service available. thank you abby for helping me!

• Thank You Thank You Thank you, I needed emergency help with research for school, Thank you.

• This is a very professional website. I like the way how you guys give out a whole lot of useful information and let me view files. Keep up the good work. Now I know where to come to get all my questions answered. Thank you very much.

• This is an excellent service you are providing, money very well spent.  This a great example of using 2010 technology! I love it! To quote a friend of mine, "Thank you, Thank you very MUCH!"

• his service rocks...love the 24 hour concept and the librarians are terific.......I just wish there was a technological site where you could type in a definition and the site would supply the word.....there has to be something like that.... a reverse dictionary or a conceptual therasus. thanks

• I was extremely impressed with the amount of information I received and in the promptness.  Thank you for offering this service.

month in review

January 11-12 Julie, along with Sarah Frush, a legal aid attorney at the Self Help Center in Glen Burnie and Cathy Ashby, Director of the Garrett County Library and member of the Maryland Access to Justice Commission represented Maryland at the Public Libraries + Access to Justice conference in Austin Texas. The Gates Foundation funded conference was a two day train-the-trainer experience around the role public libraries can and should play in access to justice.

A few days after the earthquake in Haiti, AskUsNow! released a Resource Guide on Haiti that was very well received. It was shared and reshared on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter and was reposted on the BCPL, Harford, Montgomery, and Allegany Library websites as well as other people's blogs and accounts. Julie was also interviewed by the Baltimore Sun for an article on mobile giving that appeared in the Baltimore Sun on January 14th.

QuestionPoint announced they are partnering with Mosio's TextALibrarian.

On January 25th, Cathay and Julie counted, boxed, and shipped 27,000 highlighters to the partner libraries.

This month has also been busy with all the various projects that AskUsNow! is undertaking including (but not limited to):

• continually working with Drupal to improve the staff support website
• starting the 2010 Guideline Revision with the Guideline Revision Team
• Special Partner Library implementation
• Link Review continues (was half completed before the holiday break)

Top 10 

This is a new category this month. We want to recognize the "top 10" of various topics each month. Let us know what topics you're interested in!

This month, the Top 10 Busiest Libraries (libraries with the most people per month entering through their "virtual category"):

10. Charles County Public Library
9. University of Maryland, College Park
8. Prince George's County Memorial Library System
7. Enoch Pratt Free Public Library & State Library Resource Center
6. Carroll County Public Library
5. Calvert County Public Library
4. Howard County Public Library
3. Anne Arundel County Public Library
2. Montgomery County Public Library

and with the most customer activity (911 chat sessions this month)

1. Baltimore County Public Library

Congratulations to our Top 10's for this month! Let us know what other Top 10s you want to see next month!

2009 December Monthly Report

by the numbers

• Maryland customers asked 3497 questions in December! This is over 200 more than December 2008.

• Maryland librarians handled 1995 questions from across the state and country this month.

• an additional 1311 questions were answered via email by Maryland librarians this month.

customer comments

• The service was not only excellent, but also very fast and accurate. In fact, I received from the curator even more relevant material than that for which I had asked. I am very impressed and very, very grateful. Thank you. [name removed], former student at the University of Maryland

• I had no idea this would actually work. I thought I'd have to wait until tmorrow whenthe library opened - thanks

• Best Thing since Sliced bread. Great service - no waiting around and playing email games. and getting a transcript for me to follow up with was brilliant!!!!!

• I love Ask Us Now! It has really helped me!

• Wow, received a lot more help than I ever could have expected. She helped me find a lot of good sources for a paper I need in order to write about the Canterbury Tales.

• Glad to learn that the world still have good service ! In this year , i think this has been the best service i have gotten ! With my limited comp skills the person did all she could to get me what i needed cos the funny part was ,i did not know what i needde but with her knowledge and patience, we got it ! thanks for this service!!!!Olivia

• I have a disability, and sometimes it is hard to get to the library to get answers to questions that I need answered. This was so easy. I chatted with a lady named, Pat. She was VERY helpful. I now have the information that I needed.Thank you so much for this service. I am sure that I will be using this again!

• My experience was OUTSTANDING! The librarian with whom I spoke was knowledgeable and helpful, and the service was very easy to use. Thank you.

• Very good sevice for seniors and the disabled. Thanks, Polly

• I did not know this even existed until I accidentally found it today. I was having huge difficulties finding my way around the resources online, and then the librarian answered all of my questions and had suggestions of her own to add. I will be using this again in the future.

• I felt so at ease once i finish. I can now go on and start researching my paper. You guys are great

• I was very impressed with this service!! I spoke with someone in the United Kingdom (WOW!!) who was able to give me the information I needed about my local Baltimore County library!! I also found this website VERY user friendly--this was my first time using it and I was very pleased! Keep up the great work. I really enjoy the library and all that it has to offer! Thank you!!

• My librarian was amazing. Better than Google and much better than my memory! Thank you.

• Really appreciate this service especially when the library cannot be used and there's nobody who can help you with questions about service. I have found librarians to be always available and always ready to help with the answers. Thanks

month in review

• the first day of the month marked Cathay's one year anniversary with AskUsNow! We are very thankful that she's with us!

• the 8th was our quarterly liaison meeting in Anne Arundel County.

• Julie presented the FY2010 Marketing Initatives Plan to the statewide marketing folks at the DLDS marketing meeting that took place online on December 9th.

• December 24, 25, and 31st were AskUsNow! holidays. We hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

2009 November Monthly Report

by the numbers

• Maryland AskUsNow! was asked 4177 questions by Maryland customers in November. This is 900 more than this time last year!

• Maryland librarians fielded 2152 questions from customers around the globe this month.

customer comments

• i love using this as a quick easy way to get imformation that really helps me

• As a first time user of this service, I was very impressed with it. I had no idea that I could get such a rapid response to my question. My reply came from Diego, who made me feel like we were friends. Very impressive indeed. Best wishes to all. You all are wonderful; I really appreciate this service. Thank you. Vivian Banks

• I really like this Ask-a-Librarian chat. It allows me to actually talk to real librarians and find out about the books. I will definetly use this again. I got the answers to my questions very quickly and I am very very satisfied.

• This Place Is Awesome!!! Use It & you'll Never Go Backk.

• i was thoroughly impressed with the help i received from AskUsNow. the librarian who helped me had a lot of good tips and ways to search that i was not trying before. he helped me get out of a search rut and into productive queries. i will recommend it to others for sure.

2009 October Monthly Report

by the numbers

• Maryland AskUsNow! was asked 4294 questions by Maryland customers in October. This is a 200 question increase over the same time last year!

• Maryland librarians fielded 2184 questions from customers around the globe this month.

customer comments

• "As a first time user of this service, I was very impressed with it. I had no idea that I could get such a rapid response to my question. My reply came from Diego, who made me feel like we were friends. Very impressive indeed. Best wishes to all.

• "I really like this Ask-a-Librarian chat. It allows me to actually talk to real librarians and find out about the books. I will definetly use this again. I got the answers to my questions very quickly and I am very very satisfied."

• "i love you guys."

• "i was thoroughly impressed with the help i received from AskUsNow. the librarian who helped me had a lot of good tips and ways to search that i was not trying before. he helped me get out of a search rut and into productive queries. i will recommend it to others for sure."

2009 June Monthly Report

by the numbers

We're hitting milestones this month!

• customers asked 2562 questions in June. This is the second highest usage for a June since our inception in 2003!

• Maryland librarians handled 1862 questions from across the state and country this month. The most questions handled in a June since 2003!

• an additional 1295 questions were answered via email by Maryland librarians this month. The most in a June since 2003!

customer comments

• I am very impressed with the Anne Arundel library system. The employees have always been friendly, knowledgeable, professional and extremely helpful. This system is an asset to the community. Thank you.

• I think this is a wonderful service, that has made it possible for me to find answers to questions from my home, rather than having to come to the library to ask a librarian directly. It's extremely helpful. Thank you for providing it.

• I was very pleased with this process..and it's available 24/7...who knew?!

• This was my first time using this service. I will spread the word to my other "not-so-internet-savvy" peers. I am a non traditional college student. (mature) This was a great help and it helped me become more comfortable using the internet. Thanks.

• I am grateful for the AA County Public Library system. It is a fantastic resource. I have been a patron for a long time. Through many transactions, many visits to Branches and many online sessions I have found the people very helpful, efficient and effective. They have performed at a high level and have been very consistent. The AACPL system is exceptional in every way. I have never been disappointed with the assistance I have received via the Internet or in person at a Branch. Very impressive. With the economy being in such a terrible state, I have heard more and more people talking about using the Library. Things like using the computers for job hunting and submitting resumes because they have lost Internet access at home. This is very beneficial and is a life-saver for many AA County residents. Thank you all for making our system what it is!

• Beverly was extremely patient and resourceful. She answered an impossible question; when I go to my library and hear the customers say, "I'm looking for a book, and it's red, and it's a about a guy . . ." the librarians cringe. That was my kind of question, but Beverly didn't even flinch! And she found the title with no trouble. Perfect reference work. Thank you!

• Alain was fantastic and help me out 100%...thanks for hiring great, proffesional people

• This is a terrific service. I have used it several times and always found the librarians very helpful. But then I think the world of our librarians in Maryland and think they are very special and terrific!

• The librarian pointed me to the Magazine and Newspaper Locator website--I wouldn't have found this without her help! She didn't just give me the answer; she gave me the tool I needed to find the answer. A great resource for those of us who have to work after others have called it a day. Thanks!

• Ivan Freedman is so good. Please retain his services for another fifty years. Thank You

• As a member of circulation services at HCPL, I am constantly explaining the benefits of being a library card holder. As part of the Welcome package we distribute at the time a new card is issued, I point out the "Ask Us Now" service. This was my first time ever using the site myself, and I appreciated the prompt and helpful response. Thank you for the information.

month in review

Cathay and Julie have been busy:

• redesigning new staff training
• designing refresher training series (currently including "customer service" and "crisis" training)
• working on an AskUsNow! vision
• staff support website transformation: information architecture and Drupalization. Thanks go to the Transformation Team for their help! The team is: Betty Morganstern (AACPL), Jessica Nhem (Caroline County), Jessica Chaiken (NARIC), Sarah Smith (BCPL), TinaPickens (BCPL), Cindy Bowen (NAL), Cathay and Julie.
• finishing up the 2008-2009 grant
• selecting, ordering, and distributing marketing materials including highlighters, memo pads, rulers, and bags
• Can AskUsNow! accept donations?
• redoing the schedule to make sure our Maryland customers are being helped by Maryland librarians whenever possible

2009 April Monthly Report

by the numbers

Maryland customers came to AskUsNow! 3546 times for help from a librarian in April 2009.

Maryland customers have asked 14556 questions so far in 2009.

Maryland librarians answered 2465 questions from customers in Maryland and around the world.

customer comments

• The librarian was very helpful, and answered my question quickly. She then walked me through the steps of obtaining similar information myself, which will be helpful in the future. She was polite and clear in her answer.

• Quite frankly, the service was far faster than I had anticipated. It's nice to see our tax dollars working well.

• Wow! This has opened wonderful doors for me. Thanks very much for providing this valuable helpful service.

• Excellent service! It had saved my life several times!

• this chat session was a HUGE help as I could not get thru on the phones. There must have been a system wide problem as I tried to call 3 of them. The phones just rang and rang...

• I loved talking to my person! She gave many answers, and was so useful!!!!

• This really was a great way to get any questions answered. Instead of actually driving to the library or calling the library to see if any books are avaliable, you could just chat with the librarians and get your questions asked online. I am definetly going to use this chatting service again.

• I am very pleased that you have taken this step forward in technology. Bravo!

• This was my first time, I needed assistance for something for my 3rd grader. The librarian was great, came back with suggestions. this is a great service please do not cut it. thanks

• Great service so I don't need to go with my toddler to the liabray to ask what I need. Thanks for making my life easy.

2009 March Monthly Report

by the numbers

Maryland customers came to AskUsNow! 4038 times for help from a librarian in March 2009. This is 522 more times than last month (02/09) and 376 more than this time last year (03/08).

Maryland customers have asked 11010 questions so far in 2009.

Maryland librarians answered 2513 questions from customers in Maryland and around the world.

customer comments

• "Possibly THE most helpful response I have ever received! Very in depth and extremely relevant. Thank you very, very much!"

• "it was the best service i've ever had and i'm not just saying that! wow "

• "It's Fri evening and the library is closed. I found this to be a good experience although unexpected. Since I won't be able to contact the library Monday, this was a very helpful source."

• "I had no idea that I would be chating with an actual person when I logged on. The experience was very nice."

• "My librarian was a HUGE help and really sounded like she knew what she was doing. I can tell she's been doing this a while. If not, she had AWESOME training!! Her name was Sarah, Just like mine. Point being, she was awesome and a huge help. Thanks Sarah!!! "

• "This is absolutely fantastic as a resource. It far exceeded my expectations for the quality of the service provided and the customer service attitude. "

• "The librarians were great? I ended early, but 2 librarians sent extra info to me! I give this website 2 thumbs and 2 big toes up! 5 stars! "

month in review

• AskUsNow! celebrated our 6th birthday on March 17th. To celebrate, we asked all our customers to share an AskUsNow! story with us. Stories are being entered at www.askusnow.info/story 
• Staff refresher training series was kicked off on March 10th with a successful Liaison Training. 28 participants and 2 instructors shared 28 laptops & one projector plugged in to 9 power strips, 5 extension cords using the Howard County's Central Branch Meeting room's 8 outlets. Everyone accessed the WIFI at the same time and the whole day went off without a hitch!
• AskUsNow! was represented at a table at the LBPH's Emerging Tech for Learning Disabilities Event on March 15th
• Cathay learned tons about our new CMS software, DRUPAL at DrupalCon in DC earlier in the month.
• Julie brought back a lot of ideas from Computers in Libraries in DC at the end of the month.