Managing user queries using cloud services: KAUST library experience

The provision of reference and information services are one of the major activities for academic libraries. Answering questions and providing relevant and timely answers for library users are just one of such services. Questions come in many format: in person, phone, email and even on social media platforms. The type of questions may also differ from simple, directional to complicated ones. One of the challenges for libraries is the capturing and managing of these inquiries. Libraries need to address some of these points: •How the questions will be captured •How the questions will be answered •Who will answer these questions •What is the turn-around time for answering these questions •What kind of statistics to monitor •How are these statistics communicated to internal library staff and other stakeholders This paper describe the initiatives undertaken by KAUST, a brand new Graduate Research Library located in Saudi Arabia. This initiatives include the implementation of LibAnswers to assist the library in capturing and managing all inquiries. We are tracking inquiries coming in via email or widgets (such as online form), converting received questions into FAQ entries, creating and maintaining a public knowledge base for our users. In addition, it will also describe future plans in store to expand reference services for our library users. KAUST: (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) is a graduate research university located along the shores of the Red Sea. The university was inaugurated in September 2009. The main areas of study are: Mathematics and Computer Science, Physical Sciences and Life Sciences. The university library is situated at the heart of the campus. It is a digitally born library with collections comprising of print and electronic resources. The library has: •310,000 e-book titles •Over 50,000 e-journal titles •Over 30 scientific databases •About 3,500 print titles