Congratulations this month go to librarian30 from Columbus Metropolitan Library and ad.stuart, as well as to several honorable mentions.
In the first transcript, librarian30 made sure that the question was understood, reminded the patron that the browser Find feature is a valuable tool, and sent a link to a reliable reference source in digitized form.
In the second transcript, ad.stuart confirmed what information was needed, pointed to helpful resources at the patron's own library, asked if the patron found them, provided authoritative sources & explained why they were appropriate, and made sure the patron was completely satisfied before saying goodbye.
Great job librarian30 (Columbus Metropolitan Library) and ad.stuart!
16:24:42 Guest What oils have the largest percentage of erucic and Arachidic acids
16:24:53 librarian30 Hello. You've connected to your 24x7 online reference service staffed by librarians across the state. Please wait one moment while I take a look at your question.
16:25:14 librarian30 Hello!
16:25:22 Guest Hello
16:26:07 librarian30 Could you tell me a little more about what you are working with? Would these be oils used in cooking, manufacturing, something else?
16:26:55 Guest cosmetics
16:27:21 librarian30 Okay! Let me see what I can find for you!
16:31:22 librarian30 I found a site that lists many different oils and the types of acids they contain. But it's arranged by oil and not in a nice little chart with the breakdown. But I can walk you through how to get that info quickly.
16:31:25 librarian30 http://www.sacredearth.com/ethnobotany/useful/oils.php
16:31:51 librarian30 Have you ever used the "find" command on a website before?
16:32:02 Guest yes
16:32:10 librarian30 Great!
16:32:52 librarian30 Use that and first search for the word erucic. That will quickly go to the oils you need for that.
16:33:02 librarian30 Then do that for arachidic.
16:33:17 librarian30 meanwhile let me see if I can find something better for you, okay?
16:33:31 Guest ok
16:36:38 librarian30 Are you trying to track down info about any specific oil or do you just need various oils and the certain acid percentages? Or something else?
16:36:58 librarian30 The info I'm getting seems to be hard to tease out.
16:37:02 Guest various oils and the certain acid percentages
16:37:24 librarian30 Although it's clunky, how is that first site working for you?
16:37:32 Guest fine
16:37:41 librarian30 And I'm still checking for something better!
16:41:14 librarian30 I might have found something. Let me look at it a bit more closely.
16:41:23 Guest ok
16:43:20 librarian30 This site is helping.
16:43:45 librarian30 The whole book has been scanned in to the computer.
16:44:29 librarian30 in the far left column, under the picture of the book it has a search box. Type in erucic acid.
16:44:42 librarian30 That should take you to the entry.
16:45:35 librarian30 It says that erucic acid is derived from mustard seed, rapeseed, and carambe seed.
16:45:41 Guest ok thanks for the info
16:46:05 librarian30 If you do the same for the other acid, you should get the same type of info.
16:47:03 librarian30 by cross-checking with the other website, you should be able to see the percentages. Let me see what happens with rapeseed...
16:47:54 librarian30 Yep! That will get it for you!
16:48:59 librarian30 Hmmm, but that's not necessarily the oil with the highest percentage.
16:50:11 librarian30 Jojoba oil seems to have the highest at 16.3% Erucic acid.
16:50:14 Guest name withheld
16:50:33 Guest sorry i did not mean to type that here
16:50:44 librarian30 no prob!
16:51:05 Guest jojoba oil great
16:52:09 librarian30 Arachidic acid doesn't seem to show up as a large percentage. Corn oil only
has 1% of that acid.
16:53:15 librarian30 Oil from the flax plant is only a tiny bit higher at 1.06%.
16:53:37 librarian30 Is this info answering your question enough?
16:53:47 Guest yes it does
16:55:38 librarian30 The one website that had a book scanned into it (Google books), also lists "arachidonic acid". that is a separate acid from the one you typed. but it is used in cosmetics more than the other.
16:56:08 librarian30 you might want to look at the entry for arachidonic acid too.
16:56:16 Guest ok I will
16:57:53 Guest bye
16:58:09 librarian30 Thanks for using our service. Come back again if you need help with another question.
ad.stuart transcript:
7:45:34 Guest I am doing a project for an MBA class. I would like to find and compare financial results for a public company and it's competitors. Could you direct me where I could achieve this? Thank You
7:45:56 ad.stuart Hello. You've connected to your 24x7 online reference service staffed by librarians across the state. Please wait one moment while I take a look at your question.
7:46:42 ad.stuart In terms of financial results, do you mean the overall profits?
7:48:40 Guest full income statements, balance sheets and cash flows
7:49:31 ad.stuart One source that may be worth looking at, if you haven't already is ReferenceUSA.
7:49:48 ad.stuart Have you already used that?
7:49:59 Guest no not yet
7:50:11 ad.stuart Here is the link from your school
7:50:21 ad.stuart http://proxy.ulib.csuohio.edu:2050/login?url=http://www.referenceusa.com/
7:50:39 Guest thanks
7:51:07 ad.stuart It allows you to search businesses and it shows competitors, annual profits, etc.
7:51:24 Guest that sounds good
7:51:32 Guest do you have any other suggestions?
7:51:48 ad.stuart I'll see what other sources you have available.
7:52:26 ad.stuart Hoover's Online is another great source for business info. Here is the link from your school:
http://proxy.ulib.csuohio.edu:2050/login?url=http://premium.hoovers.com
7:52:42 ad.stuart The description says "Delivers information about company, industry, and market intelligence that drives business growth. The database of 12 million companies, with in-depth coverage of 40,000 of the world's top business enterprises."
7:53:01 Guest oh thats great i didnt know we had access to hoovers
7:53:25 ad.stuart Yeah. That one should be really helpful.
7:54:22 Guest do we have access to bloomberg oremium or wall street journal?
7:54:34 ad.stuart This page groups databases by subject. Here you can see all the business related sources available to you. http://library.csuohio.edu/research/databases/subject.html
7:55:12 ad.stuart It looks like you have access to Wall Street Journal but not Bloomberg.
7:55:26 Guest great
7:56:07 ad.stuart Did you see the list of databases on under the business section on that page I sent?
7:56:31 Guest yes, i found the WSJ section
7:56:39 ad.stuart great
7:56:53 ad.stuart DO you think those will help you?
7:57:11 Guest yes, i will start going through them now
7:57:15 Guest thanks for the help
7:57:21 ad.stuart Is there anything else that I can help you with today?
7:58:03 Guest no thanks i am all set
7:58:07 ad.stuart Thanks for using our service. Come back again if you need help with another question.
7:58:40 Guest thanks bye
7:58:53 ad.stuart Bye. Good luck.
Honorable Mentions
This transcript showcases KIN staff going out of their way to assist someone. This patron got great assistance from not one but two great After Dark staff:
http://provider.knowitnow.org/node/20051
An excellent example of walking a patron through the steps of searching a database. This KIN staff member not only assisted the patron, but taught the person how to use the database efficiently:
http://provider.knowitnow.org/node/20052
The patient & personable provider and patron (say that three times quickly!) successfully reconnected after the first session abruptly ended:
http://provider.knowitnow.org/node/20053 Part one
http://provider.knowitnow.org/node/20054 Part two
Nice session between an enthusiastic provider and an appreciative patron:
http://provider.knowitnow.org/node/20055
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The QuACK Committee does not attempt to do a comprehensive review of all transcripts. We have chosen examples of excellent work in order to show appreciation for participating librarians and to learn from them.
The Committee welcomes your comments about the transcripts or the blog and is interested in hearing from you if you find the featured transcripts useful in your reference work, whether virtual or face-to-face. Send an email to the QuACK Chairperson, Cheryl Lubow, at clubow@library.ohio.gov, or post to the blog.
Sincerely,
QuACK (Quality Assurance Committee for KnowItNow24x7)