8. What’s a Widget?
Javascript or Flash code For your website
<object width=quot;160quot; height=quot;250quot;
><param name=quot;moviequot;
value=quot;http://widget.meebo.co
m/mm.swf?QcfqzYHgOHquot;/><em
bed
src=quot;http://widget.meebo.com/
mm.swf?QcfqzYHgOHquot;
type=quot;application/x-shockwave-
flashquot; width=quot;160quot;
height=quot;250quot;></embed></objec
t>
9. Where Do I Get a Widget?
• Meebo
• AIM Wimzi
• Plugoo
• Digsby
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/10_chat_widgets.php
10. Widget Best Practices
• Different types of
widgets
• Placement
• Staffing
• Customer Service
11. Different Types of Widgets
• Single user
– Personal
– An instance on each
page
– Hard to make referrals
• Chat “room”
– Public
– Single instance
– Can have any number
of users or staff online
12. Placement
• Embedded
– Highly Visible
– Small appearance
• Linked
– Less Visible
– Larger in size
• Popup
– Less Visible (linked)
– Any size
– No problems if user
browses in other window
13. Staffing
• Individual
– One person
– One chat account
• Shared
– Multiple people
– One chat account
• Chat “room”
– Multiple people
– Each with own chat
account
14. Staffing
• On Desk
– On chat while at service
desk
– Many interruptions
• On Call
– On chat while in office
– Limited times
• On… whenever
– Most hours online
– Inconsistent hours
– Don’t forget to be “Away”
15. Customer Service
• Chat Etiquette
– Similar to email etiquette including “think before
you hit SEND”
– Choose an appropriate screen name
• “Virtual Reference” Best Practices
– Introduce yourself promptly and offer to help
– Use shorter messages but stay professional
not ok 2 use abbr. as in txting
– Make sure you have contact information if you
need to follow up
16. Preliminary Research Findings
• Study of widgets on Penn State Library web
pages
• Co-Investigators are Helen Smith and Sam
Stormont
• IRB Exempt status
• 16 questions (most qualitative in nature)
– Demographic
– Quality of service
– Comments
17. Survey Results
• Who?
– Undergrads 67%
– Faculty 13%
– Graduate 7%
– Other 13%
• Where?
– University Park 42%
– Other campuses 58%
18. Survey Results
• Who? • Why?
– Undergrads 67% – Need help looking for a
– Faculty 13% specific item 60%
– Graduate 7% – Project or paper 27%
– Other 13% – For my research 13%
• Where? • How did you find it?
– University Park 42% – Found on my own 40%
– Other campuses 58% – Librarian 40%
– Other 20%
19. Survey Results
• Over 90% of responses
– Were very satisfied with the information or
materials found
– Located what they asked about
– Rated the response time of the librarian as very
fast
– Described the service as very friendly
– Indicated the librarian understood what they
wanted
– Likely to use the service again
20. Comments
I really liked online service
because it helped me out This is an excellent idea.
from home. I didn’t have BRAVO PSU Library.
to visit the library.
very helpful service! makes
things quicker and easier to
find if I am having trouble Awesome!
on my own.
21. Summary of Chat Widgets
• Customer Service on the Web
– Use widgets
• What’s a Widget?
– code
• How Do I Get a Widget?
– vendors
• Widget Best Practices
– Location, location, location
• Preliminary Research Findings
– good
24. What is Jabber?
• Initiative to produce an open source, XML-
based instant messaging platform
– XMPP Protocol (Extensible Messaging and
Presence Protocol)
25. Goals of Jabber
• Open - anyone can write their Jabber software
using the open specifications that define how
Jabber works
• Decentralized - anyone can run their own
Jabber server and connect to other servers on
the network
26. Goals of Jabber
• Secure - strong encryption, authentication and
identity features help to ensure
confidentiality, privacy and prevent spam
• Flexible - the same Jabber transport used or
IM can also be used to exchange any data
27. Jabber @ Penn State
• Humble Beginnings
• New Service
• Your Jabber Identity
• Client Support
29. New Service
• chat.psu.edu
– Beta since 2006
– Based on Jabber2d implementation of Jabber
– Load balanced on front-end and back-end
– Secure TLS/SSL by default
– Uses Penn State Access Account authentication
30. Your Jabber Identity
• Communication between Jabber users is done
using their Jabber id
– Google: jvuccolo@gmail.com
– Penn State: jvuccolo@chat.psu.edu
31. Client Support
• Popular Jabber Clients
– Adium
– Pidgin/Gaim
– iChat
– Trillian Pro
• Configuration instructions can be found in the
ITS knowledge base
– http://kb.its.psu.edu/psu-all/hd/jabberconfig/
32. Conference Server
• Allows groups of people to be in the same
chat session
– conferences.chat.psu.edu
– Your handle is your Access Id
33. chat.psu.edu Futures
• Software change from Jabber2d to eJabberd
• Group/class restrictions capability for the
conferences server
34. Comments! Questions?
Thank you for your time.
• John Meier, Science Librarian, meier@psu.edu
AIM/Meebo/Gtalk/Twitter/etc: johnmeier1
• Jimmy Vuccolo, ITS, jvuccolo@psu.edu
Hinweis der Redaktion
Here I am providing in-person customer service (actually at my last job in New Orleans)
Here is my website on library resources for mathematics. You can see my contact information including email on the right. Well, this seems less like…
THIS and more like…
THIS. Not very friendly and not very available.
THIS is my blog, however, and using both a chat widget and a Facebook badge it is much friendlier and as I will show you, makes me much more available to my users.
Mostly undergraduates from a variety of campuses
Most needed help looking for a specific item, but many also needed help with a research project or paper. A significant question to us was how they found the chat widget. About forty percent indicated they discovered it on the website, while an equal number heard about it from a librarian.