Library H3lp: Building a Next Generation VR System Reference Renaissance Tuesday, August 5
Pam Sessoms University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Eric Sessoms Nub Games Josh Boyer North Carolina State University Amy VanScoy North Carolina State University Jean Ferguson Duke University
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 27,000 students North Carolina State University 30,000 students Duke University 12,000
How we collaborate
Widget Effect
Tools for collaboration Commercial Virtual Reference software Call Center software IM Meebo Library H3lp
What is LibraryH3lp Jabber server with IM gateways Provides flexible routing to multiple librarians Integrates IM with web chat for easier staffing –Can route Meebo Me traffic too Has its own widget developed for libraries Provides transfers Allows IM between librarians Platform for flexibility and experimentation
LibraryH3lp Jabber Server with IM Gateways AIM LibraryH3lp Widgets Yahoo! MSNMeebo Me Circ Science Literature Ref RefWorks Health Sci Endnote Law
Night Owl Duke AIM Patron MSN Patron Yahoo! Patron Operator Widget Patron NCSUUNC
Widget Links clickable Works with screen readers Javascript, Flash not required –Alert noise for patron optional, Flash sound used Patron controls Can run embedded –Patron has “pop out” option Can easily be made to pop-up
Pidgin (librarian client)
Anatomy of an Incoming Chat (or IM) Patron’s initial message Patron’s queue Chat management : transfer, transcript, send file…
Features URLs are links, not just text
Features Useful system messages sent to staff
Features Useful system messages sent to staff
Features Useful system messages sent to staff
Typing notification
Features Transfers! This should blow your mind!
Features Transfer examples At NC State: Ref Natural Resources Library Veterinary Medicine Library (soon) Circ-reserves (soon) ILL (soon)
Why Transfer Chats Patron’s PerceptionLibrarians’ Perception Library RefCirc SystemsTech Serv
Transfers in practice UNC’s Davis Reference and Circulation –Reference transfers 10-15% to Circ Davis Reference general “ask a” service –Transfers to experts when off-desk (in office) Several campus libraries transferring now or will begin soon. –Health Sciences Library –Undergraduate Library –Davis Library –More to come… Search TRLN Union Catalog –Transfers coming soon in LibraryH3lp. –This summer, Davis Reference transferred to Duke and NCSU as needed using predecessor system.
Why transfer?
Incoming transfer (with Pidgin plugin)
Patrons’ view of transferred chat
Intro to LibraryH3lp: Admin Account
Introduction to LibraryH3lp: Operators Librarian Operators –Answer chats and IMs with Jabber client –Can belong to zero, one, or more queues Zero queues? Can still receive transers. –First to respond to patron will “win” chat. –Others are notified of who took the chat.
Introduction to LibraryH3lp: Queues Queues – URLs for incoming patrons –Widget: Customized for a purpose –Gateways for IM patrons
Introduction to LibraryH3lp: Gateways
UNC-CH RefWorks Queue
Presence (online/offline)
Presence Using Popup
Presence: Service Rollover
Admin Interface: Reports and Transcripts
Admin Interface: Transcript Management
Widget Configurator: Save and Share Skins
Servinator: Design Service Levels
Technical overview
Single LibraryH3lp Server
Moving forward: the cloud
Open Source Components Ejabberd Erlang Mnesia Yaws Apache ErlyWeb ErlyComet MySQL Python pyTransports Libpurple C PLT Scheme JWChat JSJaC jQuery SWIG
Open source contributions Widget Port of ErlyComet to ErlyWeb Plugin Patches to Ejabberd Patches to Yaws Patches to pyTransports Significant work on j2j Libpurple multi-protocol gateway Scheme-interface