It’s that time of year again, when Answerland receives a lot of visits from K-12 students doing class research projects. Here are some tips for working with these patrons:
- At times you might find chat overwhelmed by a barrage of similar student requests. We commonly refer to this as a ‘class bomb’ – where an entire class is logging into Answerland at the same time (usually at the behest of their instructor) and asking questions. If you ever find yourself in the middle of a ‘class bomb,’ don’t panic! You only have to pick up one patron at a time. If you want to pick up more than one, use the “Class Visit” script. You can also use the IM feature within chat to give a fellow librarian a shout-out for help.
- Use OSLIS. Not only does it have databases, but also information literacy tips and tutorials and citation makers. See the Statewide Resources pages for info about accessing the databases.
- Don’t hesitate to report inappropriate behavior to the Answerland Coordinator. We have had success reaching out to teachers and media specialists who are grateful for the heads up and can remind students about online etiquette.
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