RefTracker DeskStats
Provides online entry of reference statistics for all staff, saving time to total results and providing far more extensive analysis than can be done from manual tally sheets.
RefTracker Request Forms
Allows your library to design input forms for ALL of the different types of requests that come into your library. The forms can have as few or as many fields as are appropriate to the particular type of request and can have library defined labels and form filling instructions.
RefTracker Tools and Text
Bringing together all of the tools, text and workflows required to answer questions in one Answer screen, RefTracker utilizes the power of the Age of the Internet to provide new levels of efficiency and job satisfaction for reference librarians.
RefTracker Contact Methods
Offer your clients a variety of ways to access your library, and utilize whichever method is most appropriate when client contact is required - link to co-browsing systems, offer contact by Instant Messaging, VoIP systems, mobile phone SMS/Texting, and more. Altarama even provides assistance for your library in how to set up additional ways for your clients to contact your library, and for you to contact your clients. Click here for more information about using Instant Messaging in your library's reference service.
Additional Features
- RefTracker allows clients (and staff) to submit their reference queries via a web page used in conjunction with other electronic communications tools such as co-browsing systems and Instant Messaging, and via specialized communications tool such as mobile phone SMS (also known as cell phone texting). RefTracker even provides assistance in setting up communication products such as Instant Messaging. Libraries create different web page forms for each of the different types of queries coming into their library, and can implement them without the assistance of their IT department. Questions received via these forms will be intelligently allocated to appropriate staff.
- An acknowledgement email is automatically sent to the client on receipt of a research query and the query is automatically routed to the appropriate librarian's e-mail address, asking them to respond within a library-determined timeframe, or to a monitored pool.
- The reference librarian uses the Answer screen to research newly arrived questions, to record search strategies so they can be easily updated and to keep other staff advised of work done to resolve the request. QuickSearch provides easy access to the librarian's usual research tools and to standard text and forms used in answering questions. Workflows bring them all together so that answers can be achieved in less time, with less keystrokes, and with everything needed to answer the question all accessible from the one screen. Integrated workflows simplify processes such as obtaining clarifications from clients, having copyright declarations signed, and even requesting an ILL and monitoring it progress though to return of the ILL item, where appropriate.
- The Answer screen also provides easy access to all of the ways in which a client can be contacted so that clarification can be easily obtained and answers easily delivered. Imagine the freedom of being able to receive a question through your web pages or via a chat session, request and receive a clarification from your client by SMS/Texting them, offer them an online co-browsing or Instant Messaging session to interactively explore the question, and then deliver an extended answer via an email message that provides hyperlinks to useful online information and attachments containing information from offline resources.
- Queries that are unable to be satisfied can be re-routed to another librarian, or redirected to another service for responding. All information about a question and the work that has already been done is accessible to other staff, and able to be passed to third parties subject to a system provided privacy review.
- If the work constitutes a response, the system can automatically email the response to the client, and asks if the response should be included in the searchable knowledge database. Where an email address is not available, the system provides contact information to allow the response to be delivered in other ways.
- Librarians are able to view all requests allocated to them in priority order, and reallocate, and respond, from that screen.
- The system allocates a request type allowing management of all types of requests coming into the library - not just reference requests, but new book requests, equipment repair requests, complaint resolution, etc., and for each issue type the questions are handled by the most relevant staff e.g. local history questions to the local history librarian.
- Responses can include URLs and attached files.
- The knowledge database can be reviewed for continuing relevance of the stored information.
- The comprehensive client interface allows the client to see the status of their query and amend or cancel the query, and the client can also be easily kept up-to-date by email e.g. if unavoidable delays occur.
- System statistics are automatically maintained to enable usage patterns to be determined, the service quality to be reviewed, and to enable the effectiveness of the library's collection in resolving queries to be determined.
- DeskStats provides an electronic tally sheet so that all staff handling short queries can note their statistics with as little as a single mouse click. Periodic statistical reports no longer require hours totaling tick sheets - they are produced, with more detail than ever possible before, by simply running a RefTracker report.
- Images and colors used are parameterized to allow RefTracker to be matched to a corporate web page style.
- RefTracker recognizes the importance of international standards to the library industry. Bibliographic data is held in a way in which it will be able to create Marc 21 compliant bibliographic and organizational records for use in your LMS, and so that information from your LMS will be able to be used in RefTracker. Altarama is a member of the NISO Committee on Standards for use within and between Networked Digital Reference Services and have developed our third party functions in such a way that we will be able to utilize this developing standard to ensure that question and answer records will also be able to be efficiently shared between RefTracker systems, and with other systems.
- RefTracker is able to be supplied as an ASP/hosted solution - many libraries find the hosted solution to be convenient and cost effective. Options for up time guarantees, and high security hosting mean that this service can even be used by secure and high dependency libraries.