A couple of days ago, a "send file" option began appearing for operators who follow the chat management link at the start of a chat or IM. Today, this option was put into the patron's widget (it's the little folder/arrow icon in the widget). When a file is sent, a link appears in the chat for the receiving party in the form of:
download from http://libraryh3lp.com/download/filename.ext
Files sent during a chat are temporarily stored on the LibraryH3lp server. They currently have a shelf life of two days before being deleted. There is a size limitation of 10 MB per file. A file of any type can be sent.
The ability to send a file during a chat can be very handy. Often, patrons chat when they are stuck on some kind of access problem. In a typical scenario, for whatever reason (off-campus user with proxy server trouble, a vendor with an out-of-date IP range, etc), your patron should be able to access something, and they just cannot. We all try to straighten these problems out at the root, but often, that takes time, and what the patron really needs right then is just a PDF or two so they can carry on with their research. Rather than e-mail these, you can now send them directly during the chat.
Sometimes it's also nice for the patron to be able to send files to the librarian. One situation that sticks out in my mind is a patron with a question about how to cite something. She was trying to explain it to me, but then she simply sent her actual bibliography and paper, and it was suddenly much easier for me to understand her question. On another occasion, a patron sent me a PDF from one of our e-journals; the article had some missing pages, and I was able to see the problem immediately, look for a complete version, and notify the vendor of the problem.
Enjoy! This is the last user control we have planned for the widget. For now. :)
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