The library's chatbot will "answer" your chat when librarians are offline, which is typically after 10 PM Eastern time. Librarians also go offline briefly between shifts during the day. The chatbot will help you discover FAQs related to research, writing, course materials. If you don't see a helpful FAQ, the chatbot will offer to submit a ticket for you, and the librarians will answer it as soon as they are online again.
If you click the library's chat button when it's online and it appears to connect, but no one answers (or the chat suddenly disconnects), it may be because:
Your internet connection (or the librarian's) was briefly down.
Your browser is caching the chat widget and interfering with a stable connection to the chat server.
You launched your chat just as a chat shift ended (there is a delay for the chat button to turn "off" when librarian goes offline). See the chat service hours here.
The chat service will record your chat attempt, and a librarian will follow up with you (as long as you provided a correct email address).To help prevent problems with chat, we recommend:
Check your internet connection. If you are at home and are having consistent problems with low signal or dropped connection, you may need to call your internet service provider for help.
