Managing E-mail Reference Questions

[Andrew Mutch]

We are in the process of revamping our library web site.  One element of the
site that we will be highlighting in the new design is our "Ask A Librarian"
service which allows patrons to submit reference questions through a web-based
form.  Our current version of this service gets limited use and I know from what
others have reported that this type of service may take some time to generate
significant use by patrons.  However, in the event that the redesign does
generate more responses from our site visitors, I would like to have a system in
place to manage the responses.

I don't want to have to re-invent the wheel to do this.  So, I'm curious as to
what systems people use to manage their e-mail reference questions.  I would
envision that a good system would include the ability:

* Route questions dependent upon departments/services
* Track the status of the various e-mail questions
* Allow questions to be assigned "owners"
* Archive questions
* Generate statistics
* Other things that I haven't thought of but people will tell me are "must have"

I'm looking for something that is easy to set-up and maintain and relatively
easy for staff to utilize.  I'm trying to avoid a proprietary or thrown-together
solution that runs on a wing and a prayer.

Thank you,

Andrew Mutch
Library Systems Technician
Waterford Township Public Library
Waterford, MI