AskAway Chat with A Librarian Service And WriteAway
Closed for Summer Break:
Saturday, August 13th – Sunday, September 18th, 2022
During the AskAway intersession break, please direct any research assistance requests to :
- Directly contacting librarians: https://www.bcit.ca/library/library-contacts/librarians/
- Sending an email to ebrarian@bcit.ca
Thanks Reference AskAway Team for great service 2021-2022!
BCIT Library provided 646 BCIT Chat Sessions with students and instructors for total 127 hours during Sept 2021-Aug 2022.
Most frequent types of questions:
- 129 research
- 95 ready reference
- 89 e-resources access
- 81 directional
- 66 referred to specific Librarian/Library
- 59 citation
What’s New? Piloting BCIT Proactive Chat in the Fall 2022
Proactive chat is a timed widget that pops-up on a webpage, inviting the user to chat; research and similar pilot programs have shown that this feature is successful at reaching new users at their point-of-need. Three of the four participating pilot libraries saw a 43-50% increase in usage due to proactive chat; this was considered a successful increase and demonstrates how proactive chat can be used to reach new patrons and increase the visibility of the service
BCIT Proactive Chat Pilot will be limited to the LibGuide A-Z List, and the web pages: Library Services for Students, Library Services for Faculty, Citation Styles and Research Assistance for Student.
AskAway Fall 2022 Hours of Service
Monday, September 19th – Friday, December 9th, 2022
Monday-Thursday | 9am – 9pm
Friday | 9am – 5pm
Saturday | 11am – 5pm
Sunday | 10am – 9pm
BCIT Librarians & Lib Techs will be Online
Monday | 10am – 1 pm
Tuesday | 11am – 12 noon
Thursday | 11am – 12 noon, 5 – 7 pm
AskAway will be closed on the following Stat Holidays
Friday, September 30, 2022
Monday, October 10, 2022
Friday, November 11, 2022
Service Closed from Saturday, December 10 – Sunday, January 15, 2023