Create or update your library's policy page

Your library's policy page contains information about your library and its policies. Librarians can view the page during chat sessions to help them answer your patrons' questions. Create or update your library's policy page in the QuestionPoint Profile module.

• Submit your policy page if your library is a new member of the Cooperative
• Required privileges
• Search policy pages
• Procedure
• Reminders/tips
• Home Page URL and Web Catalog URL fields
• Let others suggest improvements for your policy page
• Format the information using HTML codes

Submit your policy page if your library is a new member of the Cooperative

If your library is a new member of the 24/7 Reference Cooperative, you must submit your policy page when it is ready in order to begin your chat service and your participation in the Cooperative. Please review the 24/7 Reference Cooperative Policy Page Guidelines before you prepare your policy page.

After you submit your policy page, the QuestionPoint team reads it and contacts you if they have questions. After any needed additional information is added, the QuestionPoint team sets up your primary chat queue and notifies you. Then you can place links to your chat form on your library's web site.

To submit your policy page, click the Submit button located near the top of the Policies page (Profile > Institution Services > Policies). You only submit the policy page once. After that, you can update your policy page as needed without clicking the Submit button.

The Submit button is included on the Policies page only if your library is a member of the 24/7 Reference Cooperative.

For more information, see Procedure.

Search policy pages

You can search all policy pages. You may find information in other libraries' policy pages that will suggest information to include in your own. You can search policy pages in the Profile module: Profile > Search > Search Policies.

For more information, see Search all policy pages.

Required privileges

You must be your library's institution administrator or you must have Edit Profile privileges in order to create or update your library's policy page in the Profile module.

If you have View Profile privileges, you can view your library's policy page in the Profile module but you cannot create or update it.

Procedure

To create or update your library's policy page:

1. Go to Profile > Institution Services > Policies.
   The Policies page appears.
2. Click the Change button to toggle the policy page status from Hidden to Viewable or from Viewable to Hidden.
   (The status must be Viewable in order for librarians to view the policy page during chat sessions.)
3. Click the Edit button for a field that you want to add or change.
   The Edit Policies page for the field appears.
4. Add or change the information in the field and click the Save button.
   (Use HTML codes to format information in all fields except the Home Page URL field and Web Catalog URL field.)
5. Repeat steps 3–4 as needed.
6. Click the View Policy Page button.
   Your library's policy page appears in a separate window.
7. Read and test the page.
   Note any needed additions or changes.
   Close the separate window.
8. If additions or changes are needed, repeat steps 2–7.
9. Submit your policy page if your library is a new member of the Cooperative.

Reminders/tips

• Provide appropriate information for each field, such as e-mail addresses, hours of service, or brief descriptions.
• Keep the information brief and suitable for cutting and pasting into a chat message.
• Include links to appropriate pages on your library's web site so the librarian can direct the patron to a page or co-browse to it with the patron.
• Use HTML codes to format information in all fields except the Home Page URL field and Web Catalog URL field.
• Let others suggest improvements for your policy page.

Home Page URL and Web Catalog URL fields

Do not use HTML codes in the Home Page URL and Web Catalog URL fields.

Home Page URL field. Provide the URL for your library's home page. Include "http://" or "https://" at the beginning of the URL so the URL will be hot linked in the policy page.

The Home Page URL field also appears on the Institution Contact Information page of your library's profile (Profile > Institution Services > Contact). You can add or change the field's information on that page or the Policies page.

Web Catalog URL field. Provide the URL for your library's catalog. Include "http://" or "https://" at the beginning of the URL so the URL will be hot linked in the policy page.

Let others suggest improvements for your policy page

In the Policy Page E-mail Contact field, provide the e-mail address of the person responsible for your library's policy page. If you do, a librarian viewing your policy page can send a message to the address to report a problem or suggest an improvement.

Provide only the e-mail address in the field. Librarians cannot send messages if you include other information in the field.

Format the information using HTML codes

Use HTML codes to format information in all fields except the Home Page URL field and Web Catalog URL field.

• Frequently used HTML codes
• Example without HTML codes
• Example with HTML codes

Frequently used HTML codes

The following HTML codes are frequently used to format information in policy pages.

Example without HTML codes

The field as it is entered:

The field as it appears in the policy page:

Example with HTML codes

The field as it is entered:

The field as it appears in the policy page: