Tip 1 - The Patron Alert HUD
IM Gareth Otsuka and obtain a copy of the Patron Alert HUD. This enables you to surf the web and get on with other things while manning the ref. desk (an alarm is sounded when someone arrives).
Tip 2 - Greeting the Patron
To greet a patron I will usually say 'Hi [first name]', but also 'Welcome to Info International' and 'Let me know if I can be of assistance'. However these latter 2 lines I do not type in each visit but have set to automatically replay on pressing hotkeys. To set up:
Open your inventory, and Select Create --> New Gesture from the menu
In the window that opens, delete the default settings - the 'Trigger' /hey and the 'Replace with' text Hey!, and also delete the 'Steps' in the steps list using the 'Remove' button
Type a new 'Trigger', e.g., /greet
Select a 'Shortcut Key', e.g., Ctrl and F2
Add a 'Chat' step from the 'Library' to the 'Steps' list
In the box below the 'Steps' list type the text you would like displayed on the chat line on pressing the hot key, e.g., Welcome to Info International
Save the gesture
The gesture will need to be active before the hot key can be used (right click on the gesture in you inventory - it should be saved in the 'Gestures' folder - and select 'Activate').
Tip 3 - Getting Help
If you are at all stuck with a question, by all means ask by sending an instant message to the Librarians of Second Life group, there are a lot of very helpful people there.
Tip 4 - Statistics
A copy of the statistics reporting sheet for a shift can be found on this page, just copy and paste it into a notecard, and drop the notecard on the suggestion box on the desk where Hypatia Dejavu will pick it up, or drop it directly on Hypatia's profile.
Tip 5 - Non-English speakers
There can be a lot of non-English speaking visitors to the desk. There a two quite good and free translators, see this wiki page. I use both while on the desk, each for different purposes. There are also several commercial translators available, search Xstreet for these.