Troublesome and Inappropriate Chat Users Policy
Troublesome and Inappropriate Chat Users
Summary:
Chat with a Librarian (CWAL) is Pennsylvania’s statewide live chat reference service and is free to all residents of Pennsylvania 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. While the service is open to all, we recognize that there are times when the service will be used in ways for which it was not intended and which will require action on the part of the CWAL service. To address this eventuality, we have developed the following procedure for handling chat participants who do not abide by CWAL’s Code of Conduct.
For the purpose of this document, “patron” refers to all individuals using the CWAL service; “CWAL staff” refers to all individuals who are engaging in virtual reference sessions through the CWAL service; “site coordinators” refers to individuals at participating libraries who oversee local library participation in the CWAL service; and “CWAL administrator” refers to the Virtual Reference Specialist at HSLC who oversees the entire CWAL program.
Single Incidents:
No Question/Non-Questions: For chat requests from individuals who, after a reference interview, have no question or only provide non-questions, CWAL staff should send the individual the PA Goodbye Inappropriate Canned Message and then click the End Chat button. Best Practice: the CWAL staff member who completed the inappropriate chat request from an individual should pick up any additional requests from that same individual as they come in, responding in the same fashion. For multiple and/or repeated no question/non-question requests from the same individual, see the Repeated Incidents section below.
Inappropriate Questions: For chat requests from individuals who ask inappropriate questions or use offensive language, CWAL staff should send the PA Goodbye Inappropriate Canned Message and then click the End Chat button. Best Practice: the CWAL staff member who completed the inappropriate chat request from an individual should pick up any additional requests from that same individual as they come in, responding in the same fashion. For repeated inappropriate behavior, see the Repeated Incidents section below.
Repeat Incidents:
While LibAnswers does have the ability to ban users by IP address, this function should not be used by individual CWAL staff except in extreme circumstances. Rather, the issue should be reported to the HSLC Virtual Reference Specialist—who will investigate the severity of the issue and from where the chat request is originating.
If CWAL staff encounter repeated incidents of inappropriate questions from the same user or excessive non-question chat requests from the same user, CWAL staff should continue to pick up those chats, sending the user the appropriate Canned Message and ending the chat, but should take the additional steps of creating a ticket from the chat session, assigning it to the POWER Library Chat queue, and adding the ChatPA – Incident Follow Up tag to the session. This can be done during the chat interaction or immediately after the chat has ended (but before the chat has been fully closed and removed from the screen). CWAL staff should continue to pick up any new chat requests from that individual, remembering to tag each chat.
Please note: In isolation, the following behaviors are not considered extreme:
- Asking advice
- Asking medical questions
- Asking personal questions
- Random use of profanity or inappropriate language
- General silliness
Instead, these types of chat sessions should be handled with the appropriate Canned Messages, as outlined above, and should only be considered an extreme circumstance if the patron attempts to initiate similar chat sessions repeatedly, shows increasingly inappropriate behavior during their subsequent sessions, and/or continues to engage in behavior that is harassing or threatening.
Investigation:
All new incidents received by the Virtual Reference Specialist will be logged on an Incident Report form even if no action is taken following the investigation. A copy of the Incident Report, and any other supporting information, will be archived and can be made available upon request.
To begin, the Virtual Reference Specialist will determine the severity of the issue and whether banning the chat user from the service is a valid response. This determination will be based on the information contained in the transcripts that have been tagged and any other transcripts originating from the same PL code/IP address, as well as the number of repeated offenses. Considerations include: clear evidence of SPAMMING behavior (as determined by an excessive number of chat requests from the same chat participant) and/or repeated use of abusive, inappropriate, or other offensive language.
At the conclusion of the investigation, a response will be sent to the CWAL staff member who initially tagged the troublesome chat, as well as the site coordinator, detailing what action(s) were taken.
Process:
The process for disciplining troublesome/inappropriate repeat chat users depends on where the chat is originating from—from a member of the public at large, or from a school student within a K-12 facility. There are two ways of checking where a chat originated from a chat transcript:
- Widget/PL Code
- IP
If the repeat chat user comes from a K-12 facility: If the situation warrants it, the main librarian or other appropriate person from that facility will be contacted by email, with the HSLC Director of Library Services carbon copied on the message. If the contact does not respond or fails to take any action, the issue will be taken to the HSLC Director of Library Services, who will determine if follow up to the school librarian or escalation to school administration is in order. Only under extreme circumstances should the facilities IP address be banned, and only at the recommendation of the Director of Library Services.
If the repeat chat user is a member of the general public (1st offense): If the situation warrants it, the user’s IP address will be banned for a period of 30 days. If the individual provided an email address in their chat, an email will be sent to them outlining their behavior, suspension from the service, and time-period involved. A mechanism for appealing the decision will also be included. After the 30-day time period is over, the IP address will be unblocked.
If the repeat chat user is a member of the general public (2nd offense): If the situation warrants it, the user’s IP address will be banned for a period of 90 days. If the individual provided an email address in their chat, an email will be sent to them outlining their behavior, suspension from the service, and time-period involved. A mechanism for appealing the decision will also be included. After the 90-day time period is over, the IP address will be unblocked.
If the repeat chat user is a member of the general public (3rd (or more) offense): If the situation warrants it, the user’s IP address will be banned for a period of 1 year. If the individual provided an email address in their chat, an email will be sent to them outlining their behavior, suspension from the service, and time-period involved. A mechanism for appealing the decision will also be included. After the 1-year time period is over, the IP address will be unblocked.
Whenever possible, IP addresses should not be permanently banned, as the IP address in question could change hands and/or be used by other individuals in the same household in the future.
IP Banning and Appeals:
When a patron has been banned from the CWAL service and tries to use the service again, they will be presented with a message that states: “We’re sorry. Your IP has been blocked from this service for a violation of our Policy of Mutual Respect. If you feel that you have reached this page in error, please email us at help@hslc.org.”
If a user appeals the ban, they will be instructed on how to provide HSLC with their IP address. The Virtual Reference Specialist, in consultation with the Director of Library Services, will then review the chat transcripts associated with that address to determine any mitigating circumstances to be considered. The IP ban will be upheld or removed accordingly, and the user informed of the decision.
