Release
Notes
for
19
September
2010
1.
New
Features .................................................................................................................................1
1.1
Options
to
Allow
Unanswered
Chat
Session
to
Roll
to
Next
Monitoring
Level ....................1
1.2
Ability
to
uncheck
queues
to
monitor
and
still
continue
existing
chats................................2
1.3.
Primary
Queue
is
no
longer
automatically
monitored! .............................................................3
2.
Improvements ...............................................................................................................................3
2.1
URL
Minimizer
on
all
Answer
Pages..................................................................................................3
2.2
More
Attachments
per
Answer ...........................................................................................................3
2.3
Additional
Time­out
Option.................................................................................................................4
2.4
Modifications
to
Policy
Pages
Template ..........................................................................................4
2.5
Optimizations
of
Forms
and
Surveys
for
Use
from
Mobile
Devices........................................6
2.6
Institution
ID
Appears
in
New
Question
Notification
E­mail ....................................................7
2.7
Serbian
Language
added
to
Interface ................................................................................................7
2.8
New
librarian
account
defaults............................................................................................................7
3.
Fixes..................................................................................................................................................8
3.1
Descriptive
Code
Reports
Available
at
Group
Level ....................................................................8
3.2
Patron­is­typing
Message
No
Longer
Persists
Incorrectly. ......................................................8
1.
New
Features
1.1 OPTIONS TO ALLOW UNANSWERED CHAT SESSION TO ROLL TO NEXT MONITORING
LEVEL
With
this
install,
BME
admins
will
now
be
able
to
set
rollup
delay
conditions
for
their
institutions’
Qwidgets
and
Chat
sessions.
BME
admins
will
be
able
to
set
delays
of
between
40
and
180
second
delays
before
fellow
BME
members
and/
or
local
Cooperative
Groups
can
see
the
questions
from
Qwidgets
and/or
chat
sessions
of
fellow
BME
member
Primary
Queues.
BME
admins
will
also
now
see
more
details
about
the
Queues
and
edit
the
Queue
level
Viewport.
An
audit
history
box
will
require
the
BME
to
detail
any
changes
made
to
the
Queue
Management
page
in
order
to
help
both
the
Admin
and
QuestionPoint
administrators
understand
when
current
settings
have
been
updated.
This
interface
is
found
in
the
Subscription
Group
Tab>Chat
Manager>Edit
links
for
each
Queue
that
a
BME
manages.
24/7
Coop
admins
will
also
be
able
to
set
additional
rollup
times
for
the
24/7
Coop
members
and
After‐Hours
Staff
librarians.
Those
times,
if
set
and
applicable,
will
be
visible
to
the
BME
admins
on
the
Queue
Management
screens.
1.2 ABILITY TO UNCHECK QUEUES TO MONITOR AND STILL CONTINUE EXISTING CHATS.
Chat
librarians
can
now
click
on
“Queues”
during
a
live
chat
session
in
progress,
and
uncheck
the
list
of
Queues
monitored.
This
will
allow
the
chat
queue
to
close
(if
the
particular
librarian
is
the
only
or
last
librarian
left
monitoring
the
Chat
Queue),
thereby
allowing
them
to
continue
with
their
current
patron
and
avoid
new
patron
calls
when
their
library’s
“chat
hours”
have
reached
an
end.
The
Qwidget
will
close,
and
the
chat
link
will
also
close
(if
there
are
no
other
chat
librarians
monitoring
that
Queue.)
1.3. PRIMARY QUEUE IS NO LONGER AUTOMATICALLY MONITORED!
The
automatic
monitoring
of
a
chat
librarian’s
Primary
Queue
has
now
been
decoupled
from
the
“save
monitoring”
process.
It
is
now
possible
to
log
in
and
monitor
other
types
of
Queues
(such
as
BME
queues,
local
Coop
queues,
and/or
one
of
the
24/7
Coop
queues*)
without
monitoring
your
library’s
queue
with
the
status
of
“Primary”.
This
will
first
and
foremost
affect
monitoring
of
a
library’s
Qwidget,
whose
open
status
normally
depends
upon
a
librarian
monitoring
the
Primary
Queue.
With
the
possibility
of
BME
rollup
for
Qwidgets,
this
protection
is
no
longer
necessary,
and
the
ability
to
log
in
and
monitor
other
queues
on
the
monitoring
list
will
allow
libraries
more
flexibility
in
how
and
what
services
they
open
or
close
when
they
schedule
their
librarians
for
chat
monitoring.
*Note
to
24/7
Coop
members:
If
you
don’t
monitor
your
“Primary”
Queue,
but
do
choose
the
24/7
Coop
check
box,
and
your
library’s
queue
is
part
of
the
24/7
Cooperative
for
monitoring
purposes,
then
you
will
still
receive
incoming
questions
from
your
own
library’s
queue.
However,
you
will
not
receive
the
question
any
sooner
than
the
rest
of
the
cooperative
members.
In
other
words
whatever
24/7
Coop
rollup
delay
time
is
set
will
apply
to
you.
If
you
choose
neither
your
Primary,
nor
the
24/7
Coop,
then
you
will
not
see
questions
from
your
own
library’s
queue.
2.
Improvements
2.1 URL MINIMIZER ON ALL ANSWER PAGES
In March, when we introduced text messaging in QuestionPoint for U.S. libraries, we also introduced
the ability to shorten URLs, critical for keeping text messages brief. With this install that feature will
be available to all transactions in the Ask module, usable by all of our clients, not just US based text
messages.
To shorten a URL that you want to send, copy it to the Long URL field, click on the “Minimize URL”
button, and then copy the shortened URL into the body of your text.
2.2 MORE ATTACHMENTS PER ANSWER
Earlier in the year, we were able to increase the size limit for attachments sent with your answers.
Now we will add the ability to attach up to four documents per answer. Together they can total up to
12 MB per answer, with each not to exceed 5 MB.
2.3 ADDITIONAL TIME-OUT OPTION
An
additional
time
out
option
of
4
hours
has
been
added
to
the
individual
librarian
Settings
options.
2.4 MODIFICATIONS TO POLICY PAGES TEMPLATE
The 24/7 Coop Advisory Board has recently approved several changes to the Policy Page template
to better serve the needs of Cooperative member libraries and those librarians helping patrons from
other libraries. The following table describes all fields in the template, which are new, which have
had name changes, which have been dropped, and some explanatory notes on the content of each
field.
Current Fields
Alert
Home Page URL
Home Page Instructions
Web Catalog URL
Web Catalog Instructions
New Fields/Names
Alerts
Library Home Page URL
Home Page Instructions
Parent Institution
Catalog URL
Catalog Instructions
Statewide or Shared Catalog
Staff Blog, Staff Wiki, or
Extranet
Reference E-mail Contact
Policy Page E-mail Contact
This field has been deleted
Policy Page Email Contact
Library Card Number
Database Access for Coop
Librarians (library card, etc)
Pin Number
IP Address Range
Phone
Guest Login/PIN for Coop
librarians
IP Address Range
Phone
Hours
Hours
Location
Available Technology and
Equipment
Location
Available Technology and
Equipment
Databases
Databases
Remote Access
Research Guides
Assignments
(popular/recurring)
Link to the parent home page;
include brief description of the
parent institution (e.g., college
home page)
Many libraries offer blogs that are
written by and for the benefit of
staff to alert them to policy
changes, new resources, tech
problems, etc. Note if this is for
librarians’ use only (not to be
shared with patrons).
Policy Page form may not be
approved if this field is not
completed or is not formatted
correctly
This is a staff library card number
for use of Coop librarians. Do not
give this number to patrons.
Alternatively, it could be a link to
be used by Coop librarians to
access databases
If there are direct numbers to
circ, children’s, etc they should be
itemized
Should include holiday closures
Tech Assistance
Research Guides
Notes
Include zip/postal code
Wireless availability, typewriters,
fax machines, scanners, computer
sign-up access, color printers,
software (Word, etc)
What needs to be typed in;
troubleshooting tips, relevant links
to library web pages
When FAQs and instructions on the
web site aren’t adequate, here’s
who to call for various tech issues.
Library Cards
Tutoring/Homework
Assistance
Library Card Policies
Loan Periods
Access Policies and Reciprocal
Arrangements
Loan Periods/Returns
Loan Limits
Renewals
Loan Limits
Renewals
Holds
Holds
Who can come in, who can’t
without special permission, etc.
Include information on book
drops, returning books to different
branches, and other policies on
returning books
In addition to website, give the
automated renewal phone number
if available.
Charges, limits, notification (if
Email Notification is available,
include information on how to sign
up)
Information on requesting books
online
Whether or not a library accepts
payment over phone, online, by
credit card, etc.
Late Fees
Late Fees
Interlibrary Loan
Course Reserves
Obituaries/Local History
Community referral
Information
Library programs and
events
Interlibrary Loan
Course Reserves
Obituaries/Local History
Community referral
Information
Library programs, events,
services
Meeting Rooms
Library Policies
Cooperative
Arrangements/Delivery
Other Policies
Expiration information; online
application and how to activate
once received
Example: include info about when
libraries offer Museum Passes for
checkout
If available, include whether
rooms can be rented & how to
reserve
Summer Reading
programs/lists
Library Policies
This field has been deleted
Other Policies
2.5 OPTIMIZATIONS OF FORMS AND SURVEYS FOR USE FROM MOBILE DEVICES
While
QuestionPoint
chat
and
email
forms
have
been
previously
available
on
mobile
devices,
the
formatting
was
not
always
optimal.
Text
and
buttons
have
been
increased
and
in
some
cases
moved
in
the
interface
in
order
to
assist
mobile
users.
Email
entry
fields
have
been
improved
for
iPhone
users
to
use
the
screen
that
includes
common
email
fields
@
and
.
2.6 INSTITUTION ID APPEARS IN NEW QUESTION NOTIFICATION E-MAIL
2.7 SERBIAN LANGUAGE ADDED TO INTERFACE
To
benefit
our
latest
new
international
client,
Belgrade
City
Library,
a
Serbian
language
patron
interface
has
been
added
to
QuestionPoint.
This
Serbian
language
selection
uses
a
Cyrillic
alphabet.
2.8 NEW LIBRARIAN ACCOUNT DEFAULTS
To
assist
in
speedy,
accurate
account
creation
the
most
commonly
used
options
have
been
made
the
default
choices:
A)
The
Queue
“Type”
setting
now
uses
“Global”
for
its
default.
This
automatically
adds
all
the
correct
queues
that
a
Globally
monitoring
librarian
would
have
when
chatting.
“Local”
is
still
available
as
an
option
at
any
time.
B)
The
default
“Ask
a
librarian”
permissions
setting
has
been
changed
to
“Ask
librarian”.
This
will
automatically
provide
new
librarian
accounts
with
access
to
Chat
and
the
Ask
modules.
While
this
is
the
new
default,
any
of
the
other
radio
button
options
can
be
selected
at
any
time.
3.
Fixes 3.1 DESCRIPTIVE CODE REPORTS AVAILABLE AT GROUP LEVEL
The group administrator can once again see descriptive code reports for each institution in the group
or for all the institutions at one time.
3.2 PATRON-IS-TYPING MESSAGE NO LONGER PERSISTS INCORRECTLY.
When
a
patron
disconnects
from
chat,
with
a
typed
but
unsent
message
still
in
the
patron
interface,
the
“patron
is
typing”
indicator
will
time
out
of
the
librarian
interface.