{"id":73719,"date":"2015-06-29T11:36:35","date_gmt":"2015-06-29T16:36:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=73719"},"modified":"2015-06-29T11:34:59","modified_gmt":"2015-06-29T16:34:59","slug":"secrets-of-a-tech-therapist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=73719","title":{"rendered":"Secrets of a Tech Therapist"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Rebekah Kati, former Head Editor,<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>INALJ North Carolina<\/em><\/a>
\npreviously published 6\/5\/14<\/em><\/p>\n

Secrets of a Tech Therapist<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"RebekahKati\"<\/a>My previous job was the Information Technology Librarian for an online university. One of\u00a0the most difficult aspects of this job was helping patrons troubleshoot technical problems\u00a0with the online databases. At times, I felt like a therapist as I listened to patrons describe not\u00a0only a technical issue, but how they felt about technology and computers in general. These\u00a0discussions could get heated, especially if the patron was extremely frustrated, but I developed\u00a0the following strategies to calm the patron and fix the problem..<\/p>\n

Stop and listen<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oftentimes, the patrons had good reason to be frustrated with the online databases. Many\u00a0patrons told me that they had been struggling with their technical problem for hours, if not\u00a0days or weeks, before they asked for help. Experiencing the same problem over and over is\u00a0frustrating for anyone! Since I acted as tier two technical support, the patrons had already\u00a0spoken to a reference librarian who was unable to solve the issue, adding to the frustration.<\/p>\n

However, I learned that the best way to deal with a frustrated patron is to stop and listen to their\u00a0problems. Patrons respond better to help when they feel that someone is actively listening\u00a0to issues which frustrate them, and oftentimes they would be less combative after they had a\u00a0chance to vent. Although it was difficult, I also learned not to take their frustrations and sharply\u00a0worded criticisms personally. The complaints may have been about the library\u2019s website and\u00a0databases, but the bitterness was a culmination of many factors which likely had nothing to\u00a0do with the library. This process also allowed me to get some valuable feedback about how\u00a0patrons actually used our website, which helped shape future redesigns.<\/p>\n

Have responses ready<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most of the technical issues that patrons reported were fairly common, so it was easy for me\u00a0to have a response ready. Usually, a problem could be fixed by clearing the browser\u2019s cache,\u00a0or using a different browser or rebooting the computer and I created a LibGuide which showed\u00a0how to do these tasks in the most commonly used browsers. More specific tasks were also\u00a0featured in this LibGuide, which also included screenshots and step-by-step instructions.<\/p>\n

Of course, some patrons did not provide any relevant information about their issue, but still\u00a0expected a response. In these cases, I developed a generic series of questions designed to\u00a0get the needed information with minimal amount of patron effort. The questionnaire consisted\u00a0of their name, operating system, browser and a description of their problem. I normally would\u00a0not get all that information, but it provided a starting point and more importantly, a point of initial\u00a0contact so that the patron knew that someone at the library cared about their problem.<\/p>\n

Talk with your IT staff<\/strong><\/p>\n

It may seem obvious to create an open dialogue with your IT staff, but it does not seem\u00a0to happen in all libraries. When I brought up communication between librarians and IT in\u00a0interviews, I often encountered blank looks from library staff. If your library does not currently\u00a0have a line of communication with your IT staff, it is a good idea to start one, since they can\u00a0have valuable insight into technical issues and support. Also, it is possible that your IT staff\u00a0is receiving the same technical support calls as you are, and collaboration can help identify\u00a0problems which should be addressed.<\/p>\n

If you are the IT staff, create some documentation on common issues which might help patron-facing librarians. In addition to my LibGuide for patrons, I also created a companion guide for\u00a0library staff which gave further detail on common library IT issues in a format geared towards\u00a0live troubleshooting. It was especially useful for the reference staff.<\/p>\n

You may never know if your diagnosis was successful<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite all this effort, I often never heard back from the patron after the initial contact, especially\u00a0if that contact was via email. Once an issue was resolved (or overcome), patrons would not\u00a0bother to contact the library again, so it was difficult for me to learn if the solution I proposed\u00a0worked. Although this was frustrating, I made peace with not knowing – presumably the patron\u00a0would contact us again if they needed further help!<\/p>\n

Hopefully these suggestions will help if you need to troubleshoot technical problems in the\u00a0future. If you have additionally suggestions, leave them below in the comments!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Rebekah Kati, former Head Editor,\u00a0INALJ North Carolina previously published 6\/5\/14 Secrets of a Tech Therapist My previous job was the Information Technology Librarian for an online university. One of\u00a0the most difficult aspects of this job was helping patrons troubleshoot technical problems\u00a0with the online databases. At times, I felt like a therapist as I listened…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":57201,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[146,69,3592,3627,6275,5591,3952,6274],"class_list":["post-73719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-advice","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-inalj-north-carolina","tag-information-technology-librarian","tag-patrons","tag-rebekah-kati","tag-tech-therapist"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/RebekahKati.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-jb1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=73719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/57201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=73719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=73719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=73719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}