Good Morning Springyland – we’ve rolled out a LibAnswers and LibChat update! This time around we’re focusing on some of your most requested features – here’s the highlights reel:
LibChat Updates
- File Transfers – Patrons and Librarians can now share files via chat, all with the click of a button.*
- Operator-to-Operator Chat – We’ve made it easy to chat with other online LibChat operators. Just click on another operator’s name, and you’ll initiate a private, back-end chat.
- Transcript Download and Email – It’s here! Head to the Transcripts management area, and you’ll be able to download transcripts. We’ve also added an easy email option for individual transcripts, making it easy to share interesting chat logs with your colleagues.
LibAnswers Updates
Was this Helpful? Voting – We’ve added a super simple way to generate patron feedback on the helpfulness of answers in your public knowledgebase. - User File Uploads – Patrons can now submit files along with the questions they submit; uploads are fully supported in the question form as well as via emailed submissions.*
- New API Options: We’ve added a host of new APIs, making it even easier to embed your LibAnswers content in other sources. Head to the widgets and API area to find these new options:
- Full Question API – use this to grab the full question and answer content for any public question.
- Search API – Send a search query to your LibAnswers system and get a list of results back – great for building your own search box and displaying results in the same page!
- Query Spy Updates: we’ve added some excellent features to the fount of knowledge that is Query Spy:
- One-click IP lookups – you’ll find IP addresses listed in your Query Spy results – click them for a quick view on patron’s location info.
- Internal/External IP reporting – Admins: head to System Settings and define your internal IP range, so Query Spy reports can reflect searches coming from inside / outside your IP range.
- New Filters available to narrow in on query source and questions users selected.
Query Re-run – want to see the search results your users saw? Hit the spyglass to view their search results.- Most Popular Queries – find the most popular search terms used to search your system! Head to Query Spy > View Statistics and scroll down to view the new “Popular Words” report.
- Question Form Updates: We’ve added a host of new options to your system’s question form. Admins, head to Admin Stuff > Question Form to enable these options.
- Receive Response via SMS – Patrons in a hurry can now submit a question with the system question form, but choose to receive an answer via SMS.
- A Third Free-Text Field is now available for more in-depth data collection.
- Character Limit for Question/Details has been upped to 64,000 characters, making it easier to capture all the information a patron might submit.
- New Queues: We’ve added new queues to help you keep track of bounced emails (ie emails not received by patrons) and spam messages (questions submitted to your system marked as spam).
As always, we’re sending out a million thanks to our user community for sharing these fantastic feature ideas – you guys are the best!
* Note: File upload and transfers are limited to 5MB; files are stored for 1 week, then deleted due to privacy concerns.
Is there a way for librarians to hide their last name when responding to libchat patrons?
Thanks!
Hi Elaine –
What timing! We were just discussing this internally – while it’s not possible now, it will be available in our next LibAnswers v2 code update, which should roll out in the next month or so. Keep an eye on the blog – we’ll announce the update here as soon as it’s available, and include instructions on how to set a “Nickname” for your LibChat conversations.
Thanks for the great suggestion – great minds!
Best, -Sarah