Maryland State Law Library AskUsNow! Live Chat Participation

In an effort to broaden AskUsNow! and legal services to Marylanders, the Maryland State law library is monitoring live chat hours. The following lays out how it will happen and how you can use it.

When will the librarians at the MSLL be available live, online?

MSLL librarians will begin monitoring the general queue for law questions on Tuesday, June 1, 2010. Staff will be online from that point, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 2pm to 4pm.

How will the MSLL participation work?

During State Law Library scheduled chat hours, MSLL librarians will monitor and pick up incoming chat questions related to law. MSLL librarians will not pick up questions that are not law-related. Other librarians monitoring the AUN system during those hours should pick up questions in a normal fashion, unless a question appears to be law-related. If a law-related question appears, librarians should give an extra two seconds delay before attempting to pick up the customer, to give the MSLL librarians a chance to get the question first.

If a monitoring librarian, while assisting a customer, finds that the question becomes law-related, and is on during the MSLL’s monitoring hours, the librarian can transfer the customer to the MSLL librarian using the “transfer” procedure outlined below.

Can the Information Desk staff make use of the availability of chatting law librarians?

Yes, please do! If your reference staff receives a law question, from a phone or walk-in patron, the librarian can log into AskUsNow! and chat with the MSLL librarian live. The question can also be added to QuestionPoint for MSLL to email the customer back later. Alternatively, staff can let that patron know that there is a live law librarian available, if the patron would prefer to go into chat him/herself.

How does the transfer procedure work?

While in the chat session, at the bottom right of your screen is a “Transfer” button. Click on the “Transfer” button.

A list of available librarians will appear at the bottom of the screen. Click on the available law librarian to initiate an IM with that librarian. Ask if the librarian is available to take a customer. If the response is yes, click “Transfer” again.

The session will the transferred to that librarian and automatically closed on your end.