Method #9 IM Chatty

Chat is not a new concept to me. I have tried it years ago and again most recently in various webinars and with a text referencing service that we are involved in called MyInfoquest. When the MyInfoquest libraries meet online for meetings, we use a combination of audio, online, and chat features. It is pretty high energy keeping up with all the various mediums and conversations. When I first tried chat years ago, it was not easy and I did not like it. Now that I have had more training and experience it is a lot easier. Chat/IM in libraries adds a whole new dimension of service. It fits in well with virtual library service. Though we do not currently offer this type of service we do plan to in the future. Currently we encourage people to drop by, call, or send us an email. We also have a Facebook, Twitter, and blog accounts to interact with people as well. After reading about Meebo, I think that would be a great way to start the IM/Chat service because you don't have to be tied to any certain account, it appears to interact with any of the services.

IM Wat IM

Well, that didn't take as long as I thought it would. IM or instant messaging, a concept that I tried years ago when first learning about computers. I did not like it then as a home use but have learned the benefits of it in the workplace. Since taking the 23 Things Web 2.0 experience but before learning about IM in the 23 things lesson, we have become part of a national pilot program of mobile reference service My Info Quest (the patron texts an answer and librarians answer via the computer). IM has come into play while attending the numerous meetings leading up to and during the project. The meetings are a combination of web, IM chat, and audio. Talk about multi-tasking :-) Since becoming involved in the mobile reference project I have been occasionally practicing text speak in conversations with staff. That gets interesting. As I get better at it, I will probably try it with some of our patrons to promote the mobile reference service. I do think IM has a place in the library setting and in regards to the text service, the IM lingo is important because you are only allowed so many characters. This can be a challenge for someone like myself who is very wordy or as some people have said about my writing style "chatty". I think the funniest thing is that IM lingo has been around for years, probably even before computers, it just wasn't called IM. I did choose gmail/google talk mainly because I already have my blog in google, and the reference service is provided through gmail so I figured this would give me even more experience with the various different functions google has to offer. TTFN and CHREO (made that one up...send your comments on what you think it means)