Library and Information Science Commons^™

The View From Above: How Consolidating Library Enquiries Led To A Streamlined And Enhanced Service, Ben Seabourne

Emerging Topics in Academic Libraries

At the beginning of 2013 Edith Cowan University’s Library Services switched the management and handling of all incoming electronic enquiries from campus service desks to a centralised Communications Team (Comm’s Team) composed of three library technicians and a coordinator. The team was to handle not only phone calls and incoming emails, but also an internet chat service and eventually also the Library’s Twitter account and maintenance of the library website.

The primary objective of the new Comm’s Team was to field all these electronic enquiries and function as a virtual library enquiry desk. At the team’s core is the customer …