Protocols for the Reference email account

Earlier this week, Chris expressed several concerns about the Reference email account and suggested there was a need to formalize some procedures. Here's a first effort to do so; I encourage your comments. I beg your indulgence, too, if these are your well-established habits. When we put our manual into e-form, perhaps these guidelines -- assuming they are acceptable to the group -- should be included, perhaps for use with new hires (including prefects).

• Which way in?
  
  Our options have multiplied: SecureCRT, FAS webmail, and Thunderbird, depending on how we log in (and fro m where). Chris is concerned that we may not be seeing all of the questions we've received and or seeing them all of the time. Solution: Shall we all agree to use Thunderbird as the default?
  
  
• Standard operating procedure:
  
  Also this week, Marty (and then Chris) discovered emails that had been sitting in the the lamref box, apparently opened but answered. Their status seemed uncertain, several weeks after they arrived. I attribute this slippage simply to overload, the relocation, and vacations.
  
  But this is perhaps a good time to remind ourselves that:
  
  
  1. the first person on each day should build a check of the email into his/her opening routines. If you've opened the email and just cleared out spam, please put a single cross down on the statistics sheet. This glyph will be a shorthand to the rest of us that someon has been into the account.
     
     Obviously, if you have actual questions to answer, redirect, or the like, mark them by type/length as is customary. The same message will come through to the persons who come after you: email has been checked once already that day.
     
     
  2. Mid-day, late day, or evening checks of the email account are not required, although you should feel free to log in anytime you're at the desk. Our traffic is light enough that the morning check is usually sufficient. If we find that this pattern changes next year, we can reevaluate this protocol.
  
  
  
• Questions finished off-desk:
  
  Let's keep things simple. Try to answer questions during your shift. Occasionally, of course, questions that you're working on won't resolve neatly that way. You should feel free to pass the question on to the person who relieves you. If the question is something slightly more complicated than we typically get or something suited to your particular expertise, you can take it with you. Please let the librarian "on deck" know the status of things before you leave.
  
  If you complete a question off desk, and Thunderbird is not the email program you've used please make sure that your response is cc'd to lamref@fas. By this means, we'll have a record of your answer when the mail is checked the next morning.



• Redirecting email:
  
  Purchase requests should be forwarded to Jon; questions about reserves, fines, and the like should go to Linda; instruction requests should be forwarded to the primary public service contact (listed on the HCL page) or to Sue (anytime you're not sure). Data questions should should go to Meghan (dolan2@fas) and/or Diane Sredl (sredl@fas). Gov docs questions should be sent to koepp@fas or margait@fas. With redirects to Gov Docs, it's best tol cc: lamref as a matter of course.



• Inquiries from non-Harvard users:
  
  We treat these the same way we do any question from an fas or harvard.edu address. If you can help, do so. If you need to refer to another Harvard library unit, do so. If you can direct to a particular person in that other unit, even better. Give the patron the email/phone address of the person/unit to contact next as part of your response. If the person has more or less randomly contacted us (rather than a "home" or "local" institution) try to give the sender a research lead even as you redirect (You might, for example, tell them that the information is in _______ database and encourage them to ask about it at the library they use/have access to. )



• How far should you go?
  
  Use your discretion. Someone who wants you to assemble a big list of sources or do the searching should be pointed toward databases and search terms, and encouraged to try searching him/her-self. Or, encourage the sender to drop by in person, especially if you have the sense that he/she really needs face-to-face time or a more indepth consultation.



• How should you sign?
  
  A first name (with or without surname) conveys something different than the more impersonal "Lamont Reference." If you are uncomfortable disclosing yourself, however, use the generic signature. Should you offer your personal email address (in lieu of or in addition to lamref) in case the sender has a follow-up question? The choice is yours. Just please make sure that the address you offer (and respond from) is an fas account, not a gmail, yahoo, or other commercial provider.



• What to archive and what to trash:
  
  Responses are automatically archived; you'll find the record of them in the "Sent" folder.
  
  If you think a question has long-term value and ought to become part of our "knowledge base," add it (minus the emailer's identity) to the wiki we'll soon be experimenting with. If the question has a shorter term significance, post it to the LamonsterMash blog (again, minus the sender information).
  
  Questions should be sent to the Trash folder once they're completed and we can adjust settings in Thunderbird so that trash empties when we log off. The Sent folder should also be emptied on occasion (for privacy reasons). That means that if that if you want to preserve a piece of information, do so immediately. Otherwise, the opportuity to enrich our reference record (and illuminate a dark place in the future) might be lost.