Online Librarian Chat: That New Box on the Homepage

As you may have noticed, there is a new box on the Allen Library homepage. Look to the right of this text to see a picture of it (this one is just an image, so you have to go to the Allen homepage to actually use it). For those of you who were familiar with the box that used to be on our homepage, it still serves the same purpose. It allows you to chat with a library staff member online. You simply type a message in the bottom section of the box, press Enter on your keyboard, and wait for a reply. We didn't just change the look of the box, however; there are several new features that make this a huge improvement.

1) Multiple library staff members can receive your message at the same time, so it's much more likely that your question will be answered promptly.

2) Whoever answers your question can "transfer" the chat to another staff member if they decide that someone else is better suited to answer the question. This improves the chances of you receiving the best possible answer.

3) We can email the transcript of the chat to another staff member, so even if the best person to answer the question is not currently available, we can still send your question to them.

4) You can pop the chat out of your current browser window by clicking on the green arrow: This will allow you to continue navigating our website as we answer your question without worrying about losing the chat box.

You'll probably see this chat box appearing in other places on our website, and each one will be designed to send questions to those staff members who are best equipped to answer questions about the topic at hand. We expect this tool to be very valuable. I encourage you to try it out, even if it is to just say hi. Please let us know what you think about it!