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Qwidget Tips

Page history last edited by David Leslie 7 months, 3 weeks ago

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  1. Placing the Qwidget in Facebook: instructions
  2. Using the Qwidget on Mobile Devices and with QR Codes
  3. In What Databases and Other Applications Can I Embed My Qwidget?
    1. EbscoHost
    2. LibGuides (see http://apu.libguides.com/educ589a as an example)
  4. The Collapsible Qwidget
  5. Qwidget remains open if librarian has not used logout link 
  6. Implementing not-available links
  7. The Qwidget in Pennsylvania 

 

Placing the Qwidget in Facebook: instructions

 

We now have two versions of the instructions, depending on the level at which you would like to integrate the Qwidget into Facebook.  

 

The basic instructions are available at http://www5.oclc.org/questionpoint/fb/QPBasicQwidgetFacebookv2.docx

This requires the library to build a Qwidget and maintain it on a separate HTML page to build a Facebook application that can be loaded in a Facebook tab. 

 

The advanced instructions at http://www5.oclc.org/questionpoint/fbqwidget/QPAdvancedQwidgetfacebookv2.docx requires the library to build a Qwidget and place it within a PHP file, and then use Facebook’s PHP Software Development Kit to build a Facebook application that can be loaded in a Facebook tab. This method will also allow the Qwidget to use the advanced features of Facebook's API (see Facebook’s API documentation for more information and ideas). 

 

Note: Libraries that place the Qwidget on Facebook are still subject to Facebook’s terms, conditions, and availability, regardless of which version of the Tab implementation they choose. 

 

For assistance, please contact David Leslie of the QP Team, at leslied@oclc.org     

Using the Qwidget on Mobile Devices and with QR Codes

 

Jaclyn McKewan, the Virtual Services & Training Librarian for the Ask Us 24/7 service (Western New York Library Resources Council), has made a video on youtube on how the Qwidget is used on mobile devices.  She also shows how to make a QR code for your Qwidget URL, so mobile devices with cameras can capture the code and have the Qwidget immediately at hand, whenever they need it, through a mobile app.  Watch her video here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZJFUVXcKIw

 

 

 

In What Databases and Other Applications Can I Embed My Qwidget?

 

 

The Collapsible Qwidget

The Schlow Centre Region Library, which is part of the Ask Here PA library cooperative, implemented the Qwidget in such a way that it can be collapsed into just a link until a patron clicks.  Then the Qwidget opens up, ready for input.  See http://schlowlibrary.org.

 

Project Manager for New York State's Ask Us 24/7, Jaclyn McKewan, devised the following collapsible link:

 

At http://www.askus247.org/collapsibleqwidget.html is an example of a collapsible qwidget. When you click on the chat link, it moves the surrounding text out of the way. Here are the steps:

1. Download this javascript file, and put it in the same directory as the page where you will put the collapsible Qwidget: http://www.askus247.org/collapse.js

2. On any page that uses the collapsible Qwidget, put this in the Head tag in the html:

<script language="JavaScript" src="collapse.js"></script>

3. In the Body of the html page where you want to put the collapsible Qwidget, use this code. Paste the actual code for your Qwidget in the space indicated. The height is dependent on whether you've used the small or regular Qwidget. (This code is for the regular-sized one.) You could make the height higher, and also include some extra text or a logo right after that, so it will appear above the Qwidget box.

<p><a href="" onmousedown="toggleSlide('mydiv');">Chat with a Librarian</a></p>

<div id="mydiv" style="display:none; overflow:hidden; height:285px;">

......paste your Qwidget code here...........

</div>

 

Qwidget remains open if librarian has not used logout link 

 At Arlington Heights, we've had a few cases where questions came in via the qwidget overnight when no one was monitoring it and the "away" message should have been up (which directs patrons to our 24/7 form).
 
After some checking, we realized that the reason this happened is that a librarian closed their chat monitor window before properly clicking on the green "Logout" link.  This leaves their login active and leaves the qwidget open to chat, even if no one is really monitoring!
 
Eventually, QP will close out that login, but it does take at least 1/2-hour, possibly longer, leaving any patron who encounters the qwidget with the impression that help is available.  They'll enter their question, sit and wait several minutes while nothing happens, and then probably go away.
 
The moral?  When your shift is over, make sure you log out properly using the "Logout" link in the chat monitor.  If you forget, simply go back in, reselect your queue(s) and then click on Logout.  You can then close the window.  A good idea when your library or local/state consortium is supposed to be completely logged off is to check your local qwidget to see if it's properly showing it's away message.  If not, someone's probably still logged in.
 
If you suspect one of your librarians is still logged in but has gone home, check the "Chat Monitoring Tool" in the "My QuestionPoint" page or the Librarians list in the Chat Monitor to see if someone's still showing as monitoring.  If you have their password and account number, you can log in as that librarian and go through the steps above.  Otherwise, you'll have to contact QP to ask them to log the librarian out from their end.
 
--Bill Pardue

Implementing not-available links

I wanted to include a live link to our 24/7 chat form in the "away" message for the Qwidget.  Unlike in regular chatting, a URL didn't automatically show up as a live link in the away message.  You can use regular html coding for links within the away message (<a href="/....etc.).

 

Here's what I'm using for ours now.  I've subsituted our institution code with "#####".  Just swap your own institution code in.

 

This chat box is currently offline. However, you can still <a href="/http://www.questionpoint.org/crs/servlet/org.oclc.home.TFSRedirect?virtcategory=#####"> click here</a> for help right now!  (24/7/365) 

[Here is where you set this up in the Admin module.]

 

 

 

--Bill Pardue, Arlington Heights Public Library, Illinois

The Qwidget in Pennsylvania 

 Here are a few examples of how libraries are making the Qwidget available in Pennsylvania:

 

Schlow Centre Region Library (State College, PA)

The chat widget is available when a "no results" search is performed on their catalog.  To check it out, go to http://www.schlowlibrary.org/ and perform a catalog search that will provide no results.  (There is a catalog search available from the upper left of the main page.)

 

Albright Memorial Library (Scranton, PA)

The chat widget is available on their Reference Department blog:

http://albrightreference.blogspot.com/

 

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

The chat widget is available from their “Ask a Librarian” page:

http://www.carnegielibrary.org/research/ask/

 

The following libraries make the Qwidget available from their front page:

 

Eastern Monroe Public Library (Stroudsburg, PA)

http://www.monroepl.org/

 

Memorial Library of Nazareth and Vicinity (Nazareth, PA)

http://www.nazarethlibrary.org/ 

 

James V. Brown Library (Williamsport, PA)

http://www.jvbrown.edu/

 

 --Vince Mariner, Ask Here PA Coordinator, Pennsylvania

 

 

 

 

 

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