Technical Tips/Updates

Check out how some of your colleagues have been using Jing, an open-source software, to create short videos that can be instantly uploaded and shared with patrons.
See the AskAway Jing Info page for more details, or check out a few of the videos that your colleagues have already created at the Jing Video page.

They're Back! UFV Research Databases Once Again Available from Off Campus
Access to the library's proxy server has been restored, and you should now be able to access of the library's electronic resources from both on and off campus.
Please note, however, that you will be required to reset your MyUFV password today (Wed. Feb. 25th at noon), and that you will not be able to log in to our databases from off campus until that change has taken effect.

The UFV proxy server used by students and faculty to access on-line journals, e-books and research databases will not be available until at least Thursday, Feb. 26. As soon as we have more information, we will post it on the UFV Library webpage.
Workarounds - Students can come to campus; or they may use our list of free databases.
Mary-Anne MacDougall

Available by popular demand!
QuestionPoint has added two new Description Codes, and one of them is the "Citation" code that many AskAwayers have requested! Now we can be much more specific than the generic "Ready Reference" description code.
The other new Description Code is "No Email", which doesn't apply to us anyway (as we all know, BC privacy law dictates that we cannot ask a patron's email.)

On Sunday, November 23rd, QuestionPoint will be installing an update to the QP software. This will result in some changes to the look and feel (but not the basic functionality) of the chat monitor.
There are a lot of exciting improvements to the chat monitor in this update and it promises to improve the overall efficiency of the workflow and the speed of response between patron and service provider.
Check Your Version of Flash

Can't see anyone else on the service? Feel as if you are
alone? Don't despair! Try these things:

If you are experiencing trouble with your chat monitor, try this F5 key trick for refreshing your chat monitor:
1. Clear your Temporary Browser Files (also known as browser cache) by following these steps:

Hi folks,
Just a heads-up: QP is installing a new release of the QP software early on Sunday morning (March 2). The last time they did an install there were some server issues, so if you are staffing this Sunday, be prepared... If you do experience difficulties during your shift, keep trying to log in - QP usually resolves server issues fairly quickly.
The new install will result in some changes to the patron interface:

We've learned a lot about the QuestionPoint software over the past year. Here are some tips that you can use to prevent and recover from technical glitches.
Prevent Screen flickerings
Screen flickering/refreshing uncontrollably? This is often caused by double-clicking on a New Patron rather than single-clicking. It can also occur if you click once on a New Patron, but they are very slow to load, so you click again. Be sure to only click once on each New Patron.
Check your IE settings

There have been some problems with the AskAway software today.
Service Providers reported that their messages were not getting through to patrons while chatting. Also, messages were also being lost in IM between service providers. Cobrowse was also not working properly.
The problems will chatting and IM have been addressed. If you do experience additional problems, please contact Gordon, Sunni, and/or Niki:
http://www.eln.bc.ca/askaway/index.php?page=contacts