http://blog.uwinnipeg.ca/schwagbag/archives/2005/05/imers_not_digit_2.html Sherri reports on her survey. It’s fascinating! Excerpt: 3) Have you ever used the UNLV Libraries Chat Reference Service? And now for the interesting stuff . . . a mere 11.3% (c=21) of respondents reported that they have used the UNLV Libraries chat reference service in the past. That leaves a whopping 88.7% (c=165) of IMers who responded out in the (virtual) cold. Talk about ROI! That is not a very good one at all. Some folks, likje me, might even say “CUT THE CORD!” with such low numbers. Is it promotion? Bad software? General disinterest? Library administrators take […]
Categories Social Media
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I’m sitting here with tears welling folks…. http://www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog/3296744/in/set-83049/ This is such a powerful thing…. poor Mickey had aggression issues. My heart goes out to Cogdog. What a sweet dog my Jake is…he’s 11 now.
http://edificeref.info/?p=41 I also read an opinion piece on page 30 of the April issue of American Libraries. In “Eeewww! My Patron Tried to Pick Me Up”, Susan Braxton, a science reference librarian at Illinois State’s Milner Library, recounts a session of recreational chatting (the what-are-you-wearing variety) initiated by a patron. Braxton also discusses how to prepare for this inevitable type of conversation as you dabble in IM.
Anyone around to test three way video chat? I’m aching to try it! my iChat name: mstephens7mac IM me!
http://www.teachinglibrarian.org/weblog/2005/04/jybe-ho.html Nice post about Jybe from Stephen, who alerted me that my Trackback is not working. 🙁
At the Chronicle: http://chronicle.com/free/v51/i33/33a03401.htm (Gorman’s in there too… do with that what you will…) Last night, I was almost in bed and I stopped to check a couple of things on the Mac. Suddenly I had 4 IMs even with an away message. I just told folks I was off to bed and we’d talk today. Balance. Breathe. Nice.
http://www.teachinglibrarian.org/weblog/2005/03/early-adopter-of-sms-reference.html I apoligize if this made the rounds back in March — maybe because I was at CIL I totally missed it! But this is intriguing. I wonder what their numbers are? How the librarians feel about it? And what the student perception of the library might be because of this innovative service? Take a look at their info page for the service: http://www.selu.edu/Library/ServicesDept/referenc/textalibrarian.html
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/04/22/text.iq/index.html?section=cnn_tech CNN piece about a study out of the UK that finds folks are too distracted by email, messaging, etc. Bit that resonated the most with me: “Companies should encourage a more balanced and appropriate way of working.” Heck yeah! I need to ponder the implications here of the IQ stuff, but here’s another vote for balance in our library and information lives. Handle only the information you are comfortable with and know when to unplug. With that, dear readers, I am UNPLUGGING for the weekend.
I am loving this! A respondent says: “Kudos to linking to the Instant Messaging deifition in the Wikipedia from the Library’s website. It’s nice to know that UNLV’s librarians are up-to-date on things such as the Wikipedia. The idea of Instant Messaging for help sounds wonderful. If it isn’t a nuisance and is setup that a librarian at the help desk runs AIM in the background as she/he helps in-person patrons and then additionally helps online patrons, this could become a successful way to reach and help students.” Read all about it…http://blog.uwinnipeg.ca/schwagbag/archives/2005/04/imers_not_digit_1.html
And guess what? Your library sounds the same way if you tell patrons (of any age) that they can’t IM from your library because that’s not a valid use of your public computers. You’re basically telling people that their choice of communication channel isn’t allowed and that they should go elsewhere because you won’t be serving them today. ROCK ON!