Handling Referrals

What kinds of questions do we answer?
We are open to all questions, and will provide help with course-related research tasks e.g. finding books, journals, articles, etc..

--Service Guidelines for Service Providers

Referrals are a necessary part of the AskAway service. When users require a subject specialist, or are looking for assistance that AskAway does not provide (such as tutoring or editing), referrals are essential and keep the service running smoothly. It's important to help users if at all possible when their needs fall within the parameters of AskAway service, though. When making a referral, refer students within their own institution, except under very unusual circumstances where a referral outside the institution would clearly benefit the student.

Communicate with patrons about why you think a referral would assist them, and if relevant confirm that a referral will help; if their project is due the next morning and they have no opportunity to contact the subject specialist in their library, a partial answer to their question may be more useful than a referral.

Here is a refresher for the types of questions we can answer at AskAway, the ones we can't, and the ones that fall in that gray area.
Sample Questions AskAway Can Answer:

• Requests for material on a certain topic:
  • I am looking for peer-reviewed sources about how light pollution affects migratory birds.
• Requests for a specific item
  • I would like to access the full text of the article “Thelopsis paucispora, a new lichen species from Socotra” by P.V. Bruyns.
• Help with accessing citation examples and information
  • How do I cite an article using Chicago Style? Where can I find examples of  APA style citations?
    
• Questions about the authority of materials
  • How do I tell if an article is peer-reviewed? What are the differences between primary and secondary sources?
• Questions about library use
  • How do I renew a book? How do I place a hold? Can I get a library card if I am an alumnus?
• Help navigating online library resources
  • How do I find an article using Academic Search Premier? What databases are best for Canadian business research? How do I search for an e-book?
    

AskAway Gray Areas
These are sample questions which we can answer with limitations.

• Technical Issues
  • I can't connect to the online databases.
  • We can: find instructions for logging in to databases, provide contact information for library's tech support or other appropriate help, suggest alternative or free resources.
• Library Account Questions
  • Why is my account blocked?
  • We can: find information on the library's website about account policies, fees, etc.; we can provide contact information for library circulation staff.
• In-depth research (e.g., for a thesis)
  • We can: help them get started with relevant online guides, databases, books and other materials available at their library, give them the contact information for relevant librarians at their institution, direct them to general guides on scholarly research, thesis writing, etc. Time permitting, we can give these users extra assistance, provided that it does not impact the overall service.
• Questions related to public school coursework and questions which are not academic
  • We can: help find answers or relevant sources, time permitting; refer these users to Just Ask, the public library virtual reference service (open Mon. - Fri.).

In short, we can at least partially answer almost all questions related to library use and course-related research and tasks, and provide referrals to questions which we cannot answer completely.
Questions AskAway Can't Answer
The only types of questions for which we cannot at least provide a referral are those that are obscene, rude or pranks.

• Obscene, rude or prank questions or behaviour
  • Use one of the relevant Problem scripts, such as "This service is for questions related to library use. You are welcome to use the AskAway service if you have such a question."

-- Reece, BC ELN