QuestionPoint question

[Sloan, Bernie]

I've been looking at some QuestionPoint entry web pages at various
libraries. Usually the pages are set up to allow users to choose whether
they wish to initiate a session via e-mail or chat.

Has anyone been tracking overall usage data to see which choice is made more
frequently, i.e., do users generally tend to choose chat over e-mail (or
vice versa) when given the option?

Which raises another question. Most of the QuestionPoint entry pages I've
looked at offer limited hours of chat reference service, so an overall
comparison of e-mail to chat might be somewhat of an apples-to-oranges
comparison (i.e., initiating a session via e-mail is ALWAYS an option, where
chat reference is an option only part of the time). For the hours you offer
chat service, has anyone tracked the number of sessions initiated by chat,
and the number of sessions initiated by e-mail?

Bernie Sloan
Senior Library Information Systems Consultant, ILCSO
University of Illinois Office for Planning and Budgeting
616 E. Green Street, Suite 213
Champaign, IL  61820

Phone: (217) 333-4895
Fax:   (217) 265-0454
E-mail: bernies at uillinois.edu