[Web4lib] ...Tracking... reference desk enquiries/transactions

[Michael]

Interesting thread..
There's a free tool for libraries at Webjunction, Event Tracker, could be
used a number of ways.. help desk, tracking reference queries too I
imagine...

http://www.webjunction.org/techatlas/articles/content/449860

Best,
DrWeb

On Wed, Aug 20, 2008 at 7:37 AM, Browne,Ginny <browneg at oclc.org> wrote:

> And of course there is QuestionPoint which is designed for tracking
> reference questions.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto:
> web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of David Whelan
> Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2008 9:24 AM
> To: web4lib
> Subject: Re: [Web4lib] ...Tracking... reference desk enquiries/transactions
>
> Craighton offers a lot of good suggestions.  I've only ever seen reference
> tracking done from the perspective of either internal tracking or for the
> purposes of creating a FAQ resource based on the questions/answers, but not
> linked to an individual account.
>
> Another solution which comes to mind would be to use something like a help
> desk ticket tracking system, where reference requests are treated like help
> desk requests.  Many of those have a remote component, enabling an IT
> customer to see when their ticket is closed.  There seems to have been a lot
> of Web4lib discussion a few years back on help desk systems.  Has anyone
> used a system like that for reference?
>
> David.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> David P. Whelan, J.D., M.L.S.
> Manager, Legal Information
> Law Society of Upper Canada
> 130 Queen Street West,
> Toronto, Ontario  M5H 2N6
> tel: 416.947.3438    fax:  416.367.2635
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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>
>
> "Craighton Hippenhammer" <CHHammer at olivet.edu> Sent by:
> web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
> 2008-08-19 06:11 PM
>
> To
> <don.saklad at gmail.com>, <web4lib at webjunction.org> cc
>
> Subject
> Re: [Web4lib] ...Tracking...  reference desk    enquiries/transactions
>
>
>
>
> Normally, tracking reference queries and circulation and reserve
> transactions are librarian functions, not library patron activities.
> Integrated Library Systems usually take care of the last two and reference
> queries can be tracked in commonly available databases like Microsoft
> Access.  I'm not aware of software that would track library visits and
> reference desk transactions as such -- I'd recommend MS Access for that.
> Reference IM communications could be saved, I suppose, but would have to
> saved into some organizing software or card system.  Home book
> cataloging/library management software like collectorz.com, Readerware (
> http://www.sorice.com/rwbooks.html), Book Librarian Plus (
> http://turbosystems.com/blw31.htm), and librarything.com could take care
> of part of what is being asked but would have problems with tracking
> reference interviews and what wasn't found.
>
> Social Web 2.0 book sharing web sites like www.shelfari.com,
> http://reader2.com/, and http://www.gurulib.com/ are not probably what is
> wanted either as they are likely to be too public and too limited.
> Bibliographic software like http://www.biblioscape.com/ and
> http://www.endnote.com/ can help with tracking research citations, whether
> the actual materials have been found or not, but are not likely to help much
> in situations where no response has been returned and/or citations have not
> been found.  Perhaps PIM or PDA software that has tickler functionality
> would be more helpful for those purposes.
>
> Craighton Hippenhammer
> Information Technology Librarian
> Olivet Nazarene University
> Bourbonnais, IL 60914
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-- 
Michael aka DrWeb
drweb2 at gmail.com