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Libraries spend increasingly large amounts on electronic resources (ERs), but may not have adjusted staffing to support these resources. Assisting users with ER access problems is complex due to the many reasons a resource may be unavailable at a particular time. The objective of this paper is to describe the evolution of a library ER problem‐reporting help desk.

A pilot project was undertaken by librarians at the Texas A&M University Libraries to redesign workflows and staffing to provide an efficient, effective help desk service for solving ER access problems.

Including librarians with experience in licensing and managing ERs in providing help desk services improved response time, problem resolution, systematic information capture, and service expectations and policies, and also led to the development of an ER HelpDesk database with enhanced functionality.

Delegating ER problems solely to information technology (IT) staff may seem reasonable but assumes technology is the source of most problems; it is just as likely that the user, the resource, or a non‐computer‐related issue is the source. Librarians whose traditional responsibilities include supporting user access were effective in providing expert assistance with access problems. Cooperative efforts of librarians and IT staff are necessary to ensure reliable ER access.

This paper offers practical, experience‐derived advice on establishing and staffing an ER HelpDesk service, including the importance of involving technical services librarians in providing support.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the further evolution of electronic resources access support at Texas A&M University Libraries with recommendations for incorporating ER support into a virtual reference (VR) service. In a previous article, the implementation of a two‐tiered electronic resources (ER) HelpDesk service was discussed. While an improvement, that service existed in parallel with the library's VR service, requiring separate staff and expertise. After considerable discussion and exploration, it became apparent that the needs of ER support could be met, with some modification, within the VR service.

A project at the Texas A&M University Libraries sought to utilize an existing VR service, staffed by reference librarians and staff, to expand and improve handling and resolving ER access problems.

VR software is effective for managing an electronic access problem reporting system. Integrating ER support into VR more broadly and equitably distributes responsibility for access and supports improved service for patrons and increased transparency and functionality for staff who respond to electronic resources access problems.

Virtual reference and electronic resources staff can merge similar responsibilities for better service to patrons.

This article offers experience‐based guidance on utilizing VR technology and staff to effectively address and resolve electronic resource access problems. Our research suggests that there has not been another report of the use of integrating electronic resource problem reporting into virtual reference services.

Using the words of Lies Sercu in National Helpdesks for Intercultural Learning Materials: A Guide line, ‘Immigration, tolerance... integration, ethnicity, race... discrimination, exclusion... equal opportunities, multicultural... These are just some of the beacons guiding a debate on diversity, which is sweeping through public life in North America and Europe, and of which echoes can be heard in many other parts of the world’. As part of the process of border falls and due to a number of transitions taking place in Bulgarian society on a number of levels, many of the above listed “hot issues” be come relevant to Bulgarian society of today and many more will gain relevance in the future. Multicultural and intercultural issues, which have been recurrent motifs in present day public debates, also, logically, find reflection in educational policy making, since education in general, and especially the state, obligatory schooling system, is seen as a key location for influencing developments in society. To a great extent reflecting the above‐outlined tendencies, in several countries in Europe a number of National Helpdesks are founded. In general, Helpdesks address themselves to teachers, tacher trainers, text book authors, publishers, policy makers. Their purpose is to provide practical advice to educational practitioners related to pursuing the objectives of intercultural education. The primary focus of their work falls on teaching materials and media, mainly on text books, since, as empirical studies have established, it is what teachers predominantly use in their daily practice. As legal entities, being NGOs, Helpdesks position themselves proactively and become manifestations of a democratic, pluralist and civil society.

Presents a case study of the Library Technology Group Helpdesk at the University of Wisconsin covering the procedures, methods and tools used to support workflow efficiency and productivity. Shows how some of these assist the internal operations of the helpdesk as a technical support centre and service resource for library staff campus wide whilst others are used directly by library staff and departments in their daily work but are supported by the helpdesk. Provides a technical overview of remote reloading of electronic library workstations.

The purpose of this paper is to determine core competencies, for use as a foundation for staffing and training, and necessary to provide effective electronic resource (ER) access support.

The authors analyzed 580 ER access problem reports in a large academic library system to measure the specific skill(s) required for effective problem resolution. Problem reports were drawn equally from two different reporting systems: one using web forms and e‐mail and the other featuring real‐time user interaction.

Abilities fostered in reference work related to communication with users, staff, and vendors were by far the most crucial and highly used in successful problem solving, followed by the knowledge to make appropriate referrals within the organization.

Results reported are from one institution, albeit one which serves a very large user population with diverse information needs which provided a broad range of users and problem types.

Staffing for an access support service should draw upon employees whose skill set includes assisting users with more traditional information access, such as reference, as well as employees with expertise in areas such as licensing.

Resolving user‐reported online access issues is a mission‐critical library service function. The paper offers an objective demonstration that the skills leading to success in access support are the same communication skills valued in reference services and that the mechanism used for providing a virtual reference service can also be used for handling user‐access problems. Identifying and ranking these skills provides structure and best practice standards for continuous training and staff assessment.

This paper examines the business process of reactive maintenance projects and proposes an improvement through information technology. Among the major problems that have been revealed from the process analysis are getting the right problem for the right contractor, double handling of data entry and transferring information. These are due to lack of knowledge sharing and poor communication between different parties. Based on these problems, several requirements are laid out and they are used as a basis to develop a prototype system named MoPMIT (More Productive Minor Construction through IT). The main aim of the system is to explore the use of Web‐based technology to improve the managing of reactive maintenance projects. The system architecture and functional requirement of the MoPMIT system are well explained in this paper.

Knowledge acquired by employees from co-workers through social networks may serve to reduce technostress during the use of a new and complex information system. The role of gender-based employee preferences in forming and acquiring system-related knowledge through friendship, advice, and expertise networks, and the impact of network-embedded expertise on performance outcomes are explored.

The research hypotheses were empirically tested through survey data collected from employees of a large organization that had implemented an enterprise system.

The advice networks of female employees were an extension of their friendship networks, whereas that of male employees were configured to include co-workers with system-related expertise. Exposure to high quality knowledge flows resulted in lowered technostress levels among male employees compared to their female counterparts. However, there was only a marginal difference in performance outcomes. The “expertise-deficit” in the advice network of female employees was apparently compensated through their dependence on the helpdesk.

Research on system-related knowledge support through social networks has focused on the structural features of interaction ties with little or no emphasis on networking employees and their individual preferences. Moving away from this structural orientation, this study validates the contention that gender-driven motivations impact employee networking preferences, determine network-embedded expertise levels, and influence employee technostress. This study can help configure implementation environments that maximize network acquisition of high-quality knowledge, reduce technostress, and enhance performance outcomes.