Communication with Ask Us! Users is limited to email via the LibAnswers platform. If a User requests a telephone or text response, the Librarian can respond with the following:
"Our Ask Us! service is email-based; however, our goal is to respond promptly to all requests, and we will do so if you would like to provide us with more information on your research needs."
Occasionally, the Ask Us! Service receives requests or complaints (such as those made by faculty or staff) that require a direct response from a senior Library staff member. Librarians should use their discretion to forward those to a Library supervisor.
Please refer to the Request a Document guide for information on responding to article, book, textbook, and other specific material requests.
There is a macro to walk you through some basic troubleshooting steps in LibAnswers. In general, efforts to address technical problems that are affiliated with the Library (i.e., broken links, databases access, multimedia access, etc.) include:
Technical problems of a general nature or those not affiliated with the University Library should be referred to University of Phoenix Technical Support. Please include their phone number, (877) 832-4867, in your response.
Librarians can provide Users with citation assistance provided the citation can be verified in the most recent edition of the APA Style Guide or found in the APA Style Blog. Librarians should lead the User to the relevant section or web page and copy/paste the relevant example, if appropriate. If the User needs more detailed guidance or if there is a question about the accuracy of the reference, refer the User to the APA Blog online and encourage them to discuss the citation with their instructor.
One hundred percent of Ask Us! inquiries receive a response. If the inquiry is outside the scope of the Library's services but is affiliated with the University of Phoenix, the response should include a referral to the correct department. If the librarian is unsure of the correct department, the ticket can be transferred to the Service supervisor. A response should be sent to the User, updating them on the status. For example: "I'm sorry, the Library is not involved with {insert issue here}; however, I have forwarded your inquiry to a staff member who will look into this and get back to you shortly."
Use Submit as Open in LibAnswers and, from the dashboard, transfer the ticket to the Service supervisor.
As with referrals, all Ask Us! inquiries receive a response, including unclear or vague ones. If it is not possible to provide an answer, ask the User for clarification.
For example: "I'm happy to assist you with your research, but, unfortunately, I'm not clear on the type of information you're seeking. If you provide more specific details about your topic, I can recommend the most appropriate databases and search strategies to give you the most relevant results."
All Ask Us! inquiries will be submitted through the LibAnswers systems and appear on the dashboard. Librarians will claim tickets that are submitted before and during their shifts. The expectation is that you will address all the questions in the dashboard before the end of your shift. This includes new questions and any questions where a User has responded to a follow-up or clarification request from a previous shift.
Librarians can create templates or private macros to answer Ask Us! inquiries. A template or macro ensures consistency in the responses and allows for a faster response. However, as part of the response, they must verify that the steps and resources are accurate and that any searches recommended in the past are still viable. The response should also conform to the required standards for format and tone.
Public macros and FAQs have been created to address reoccurring inquiries. Whenever possible, Librarians should use available macros and FAQs. Once copied into the reply box, these can be edited to be more applicable to specific questions. LibAnswers will generate a list of suggested FAQs under the Reuse Answers box on the reply page of the inquiry, which may or may not be relevant. More FAQs can be searched under Answers > FAQ Inquiries.
A history of questions and answers is preserved in LibAnswers (under Answers > Tickets). Librarians can search past tickets for similar inquiries and reuse relevant answers. Questions and answers of similar nature are also automatically generated by LibAnswers and will appear on the right side of the response page (under Reuse Answers), along with suggested FAQs. Librarians are encouraged to copy these responses when appropriate; however, each response should be reviewed for accuracy and personalization.
LibAnswers contains a spam folder, which should be checked periodically during the Librarian’s shift. Any spam that appears to be an Ask Us! inquiry should be transferred to the Open Tickets folder and answered.
