My first thought on chat and instant messaging was negative because personally, I don't want to be THAT connected. I don't want people to know when I'm online because that's usually when I'm writing, and I don't have time for impromptu chats interrupting my chain of thought (multi-tasking went down the drain years ago; I can't walk and chew gum anymore). And that's what bothered me about MySpace with the little neon sign proclaiming to the world that I was ONLINE NOW!! I'd prefer to be a lurker observing from a safe, private distance. Why do folks need the world to know the very moment they're brushing their teeth or when they're depressed or that they're living virtually in some farm or aquarium and trying to get everyone else to move there with them?
But from a librarian's point of view, especially in the role as a reference librarian, this is an awesome idea-- providing real-time help for virtual patrons. One of the major weaknesses I have observed among library users (and experienced personally in graduate school research) is the struggle with discovering and using the best search terms. Some catalogs and programs are user friendly in that they are more forgiving if the searcher doesn't spell the words correctly or get the title exactly right. The results will spit out anything remotely resembling the search terms. Unfortunately, my library catalog is very unforgiving-- if the spelling isn't perfect or the title exactly right, the search results usually register zilch, nada, nothing. And if we librarians don't catch and assist the "no search results" patrons, they walk away empty handed. Online users are even further removed from our help, but tools like Meebome widget can connect us virtually to patrons who need help searching.
The assignment said to initiate a chat from our Yahoo or Hotmail accounts, but I'd have to sign up for that service, and I'd prefer to be hidden on my personal email accounts. Our school does have that capability through its email account, and I have tried it, but the problem was since I'm the only one here in my library, I missed instant messages while I helped students, taught lessons, and shelved books. But I can see how a reference librarian who spent much of her time at her computer would find this tool extremely useful in helping virtual patrons find what they are seeking.
I did use the MeeboMebox while it said TSLACDL was online-- very easy to use; but somebody must've been away from the computer because no one responded during the time I was working on this blog. Love the technology, though. What an improvement over the automated phone messages where you never really get to talk to a human being.
Art from Feathers, written by Donna Van Cleve and illustrated by Vanessa Roeder; available spring 2010. http://www.donnavancleve.com/ and http://www.nessadeeart.blogspot.com/
