Volume 2, No. 8

Coordinator's Corner: Forum and Moving Forward

The KIN24x7 Forum, held on January 21, 2009, at Cleveland Public Library was attended by 30 participants from nine different institutions including speakers Megan Mitchell (Oberlin College) and Noah Himes (KIN24x7 AfterDark). Librarians from as far away as Toledo and Cincinnati were there, and everyone's presence was greatly appreciated. A summary report is now available online, including my PowerPoint presentation, at provider.knowitnow.org/node/349.

The forum was a good start at holding a conversation among ourselves, whether public, special, academic, or AfterDark answerers. I'm looking forward to meeting other KIN24x7 librarians of every type at the upcoming OLC Chapter Conferences (see Calendar of Events to the right). These are designed for both current and potential members of the KIN24x7 network. Insights from current agents would be invaluable for potential members to hear.

One item discussed at the Forum that I would like to re-visit is the creation of a Quality Assurance Committee for KnowItNow24x7. As I mentioned at the Forum, that acronym would be QuACK so we may want to rethink that name. However, the concept is to have a standing volunteer committee that will use the new online transcripts (available at provider.knowitnow.org/node/339) to choose exemplary ones to share with the KIN24x7 community at-large to use as both training materials as well as to provide kudos to those agents doing a praiseworthy job. I am considering quarterly meetings of the committee but am open to other options as well as ideas from everyone. If anyone would be interested in being one of the "founding volunteers" of this committee or would like more information, please feel free to contact me at support@knowitnow.org or 216.623.2960. I am looking for volunteers from public, academic, and special libraries, as well as AfterDark librarians. Front-line agents are encouraged to volunteer! You do not have to be a manager. As for that acronym, maybe it's not such a bad idea after all.

If you were at the Forum and have points you didn't raise there or have something you'd like to add if you weren't in attendance, the comments are open at provider.knowitnow.org/node/349.

Thank you all again for your continuing contribution and dedication.

Don Boozer
KnowItNow24x7 Coordinator

Memorandum of Understanding Instructions Available Online

Thanks to those institutions who have already filled out and faxed in their Memorandum of Understanding. As mentioned in last month's newsletter, each public library (along with several special libraries and services) are being asked to fill out the new KIN24x7 Memorandum of Understanding to both confirm their existing participation and for KIN24x7 to have verification of each library's current commitment and contact information. Detailed instructions for filling out the MoU are at provider.knowitnow.org/node/348 and the document itself is available at the Documention page or by directly clicking here. It is recommended for libraries to have their MoU faxed back to 216-623-7120 to the attention of "Don Boozer" by March 15, 2009. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

KIN24x7 Instant Messaging (IM) Project

In the next few weeks, you will begin seeing new icons on your Spark clients that may look familiar to some: AOL, MSN, and Yahoo!. Librarians should not login to these with their personal IM accounts. "So, what are they doing on my Spark client?" you may ask then. Good question. These are the mechanism by which librarians can login with their "official" local library's IM accounts and allow local patrons to contact their local library in a new way. Since Fastpath (the Spark component that routes patrons from www.knowitnow.org and our other portals) is independent from this new IM feature in Spark, libraries will be able to sign-up for commercial IM accounts and monitor these directly through Spark, even outside their scheduled KIN24x7 shift. Libraries doing this will be able to have an alternative contact method for their own patrons and will also be listed as a KIN24x7 IM library.

An even more important benefit than allowing local patrons access to their local libary with the incorporation of IM is that it allows visually-impaired Ohioans to access KIN24x7's live service like never before. This has been a concern for some time, and there is now a way to address it.

We are still looking for libraries to be involved with the KIN24x7 IM Project. To find out more, email support@knowitnow.org or call the KIN24x7 Coordinator at 216-623-2960.

Statistics: Logins by Library Patrons

This month, we are highlighting the logins by patrons of individual libraries. These are determined by the zip code entered by KIN24x7 patrons when they login to the service. The list below shows the top twenty libraries whose patrons contributed the most logins last month:

1. Columbus Metropolitan Library (1509 logins)
2. Cuyahoga County Public Library (1349)
3. Cleveland Public Library (1107)
4. Akron-Summit County Public Library (671)
5. Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County (532)
6. Delaware County District Library (371)
7. Dayton Metro Library (300)
8. Union Township Public Library (300)
9. Hudson Library & Historical Society (273)
10. Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library (251)
11. Worthington Libraries (246)
12. Mansfield/Richland County Public Library (201)
13. Fairfield County District Library (198)
14. Warren-Trumbull County Public Library (188)
15. Geauga County Public Library (179)
16. Medina County District Library (169)
17. Toledo-Lucas County Public Library (169)
18. Lorain Public Library System (162)
19. Cuyahoga Falls Library (152)
20. Portage County District Library (149)

To see this in a graph:

(Click on graph for a larger view)
(For more statistics, check out the Provider Site at Statistics.)

More Provider Page Enhancements

In an effort to provide useful, timely information to all our KIN24x7 agents, Brian Leszcz has continued to enhance the KIN24x7 Provider site. The most recent page is in response to a number of librarians asking how they can see "who's on my queue with me?". If agents go to provider.knowitnow.org/node/347, they will find "Who's Online". This page provides, in real-time, the KIN24x7 accounts, library associated with those accounts, their status, and queues covered. By periodically refreshing the page, agents will get a clear picture of "who's online" with them.

Further enhancements in development include a comprehensive schedule (instead of the current "daytime," "afternoon & evening," etc.) with the ability of individual libraries to update their own information. Stay tuned!

ONLINE RESOURCES OF THE MONTH: Homework Help for Students

One of the perennial concerns of KIN24x7 agents is how to help students with their homework. KIN24x7 is definitively not a tutoring service. Every effort should be made by agents to not take students step-by-step through their homework, whether it be proofreading a paper, working through an algebra problem, or some other tutoring situation. If you have expertise in these areas and do "tutor" students, you will make it more difficult for another agent the next time that particular patron logs into our service. However, that is not to say that we cannot refer (the etymological origin of "reference") students to resources online to help them. Here are some resources agents can use to provide "homework help":

• School Rooms at www.infohio.org - This resource is part of the INFOhio suite of resources to which allKIN24x7 agents have access. Check out the login information at provider.knowitnow.org/node/285. School Rooms covers all grade levels and all subjects. It even has a Children & Young Adult Literature section. Agents are encouraged to explore School Rooms to find the most useful segments for them.
• Thinkfinity at www.thinkfinity.org This is an excellent collection of lesson plans, interactive resources, primary sources, worksheets, reference materials and more from a collaboration of the Verizon Foundation and the Thinkfinity Literacy Network. It can be used by librarians, students, teachers or parents.
• Starfall at www.starfall.com - Aimed primarily at Kindergarten through 2nd grade students, Starfall is also a great resource for homeschoolers. Well-designed "learn to read" resources are the hallmark of this site. The next time a parent, teacher, or homeschooler asks for a reading resource, suggest Starfall.
• TeacherTube at www.teachertube.com - Think "YouTube for education." TeacherTube, officially launched on March 6, 2007, provides a one-stop shop for instructional videos on a wide variety of subjects. The Channels page includes both partners of TeacherTube as well as breakdowns by student level (Elementary through University) as well as subject area. As an example, check out this video for finding greatest common factors.

If you have an online resource for any subject that you'd like to share with your KIN24x7 colleagues, post it at provider.knowitnow.org/node/352. You'll just need to login to the Provider page. Feel free to simply post links, a link and short description, or a link and full review of your resource. We'll highlight selected ones from the list here in this column in upcoming editions of the newsletter. Also, KIN24x7 agents are welcome to check out the AfterDark Wiki at http://afterdark.knowitnow.org/wiki/.

Don't Forget Your KINwear!

Our store at CafePress is always open. You can buy golf shirts, t-shirts, sweatshirts, "thinking caps," and even teddy bears with the KnowItNow24x7 logo on them. KnowItNow was the first virtual reference service available 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week anywhere and YOU are a part of that! At your next conference, workshop, or meeting, don your KIN24x7-wear with pride and say, "Why, yes, I am a KnowItNow24x7 agent." (They're great for gifts as well!)

KnowItNow24x7 Staff

Don Boozer, KnowItNow24x7 Coordinator
Brian Leszcz, KnowItNow24x7 Web Services Coordinator
Noah Himes, KnowItNow24x7 AfterDark Coordinator
Megan Mitchell, OhioLINK Liaison and Reference Librarian, Oberlin College
...and KnowItNow24x7 agents across Ohio!

The KnowItNow24x7 Newsletter highlights news, resources, and statistics for providers and fans of Ohio's 24x7 virtual reference service. Email your comments, questions, advice, helpful resources, and other contributions to support@knowitnow.org.

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