Ask A Librarian: Training

Are you new to Ask A Librarian?

If you want to join the Ask A Librarian operators team or supervise someone who does, please reach out to the AAL Site Coordinator (CJ Ellward, c.gott@ufl.edu) to schedule a training! Learn how to answer chats and use the LibAnswers system, handle common questions, and get any of your questions about AAL answered.

• Give everyone options for communication. Patrons with visible and/or invisible disabilities might prefer to use chat to communicate with us. Please respect that preference by remembering that a phone call might not be the most accessible, despite speed and potential convenience, and by offering Zoom (available within the AAL chat), phone, email, and accessible technology options during chats. 
• Use Permalinks in chat! If you need to drop a catalog link into chat for a patron, make sure to click on the Permalink option in the catalog result and copy it. This will guarantee the patron will be able to access the search result.
• Use those canned messages! If you're having a busy day or just don't feel like typing the same thing multiple times, feel free to send a scripted response by clicking on the Canned Messages button in your chat window.
• Ask! If you have questions, need help with a reference conversation, can't find someone to cover for your shift, or would like to discuss any concerns, please contact the UF Ask A Librarian Coordinator (that's CJ!) and the Ask A Librarian Teams channels. We are a community of library professionals, which means we know our stuff, or we know people who do, and we like sharing information. So please ask us!