Responding to Emails

Owned by Jen Hunter
Last updated: May 04, 2022
2 min read

These directions pertain to the E-Reference queue and are meant for librarians or others who may respond to email but are not on the core reference team. 

Viewing the Ticket

When you are copied on a ticket or a ticket is transferred to you, you will receive an email in your inbox. Instead of replying to the email directly, click on the link to go into the Springshare platform. This is important for a couple reasons: 

  1. It gives you more reply options than simply replying to the patron. You can also post an internal note. 
  2. It will allow you to select “do not add to analytics”

You can also log in at https://princeton.libanswers.com 

  • Log in using the Central Authentication Service on the right.

Actions to Reply, Assign, or Post an Internal Note

Once you view the ticket you have three options: 

  • Reply to the patron
    • The patron will get an email with your response
  • Post an internal note
    • The patron will not see any message you post in this tab. It will be emailed to the people specified in the “email note to” tab
  • Assign/transfer
    • This allows you to assign the ticket to a specific person or queue. Any note you post in this tab is an internal note and the patron will not see it. 

Replying to the Patron

To reply to the patron you have a few options: 

  1. Reply through LibAnswers. This is the easiest way because you don’t have to copy and paste the patron’s email or enter an internal note after you’ve replied. It also gives you the most control. 
  2. Use your own email account to reply by copying and pasting in the patron email address. You will still need to go into LibAnswers, post an internal note that you responded to the patron out of the system, and close the ticket.


Before you post your reply and/or your internal note  you will need to do a couple things at the bottom of the screen: 

  • For Add to Analytics select “Do not add to analytics.” This has already been done by the member of the general reference team who assigned you the ticket. 
  • Submit the ticket as one of four statuses: 
    • Open: for when you need to get back to the patron
    • Pending: for when the patron needs to get back to you
    • New: only for when you are transferring to another queue
    • Closed: when you think the interaction requires no further follow up