#8: Web 2.0 Communication

Virtual communication is something that I am well-versed with. Being a young librarian, I grew up being 'plugged in.' In 8th grade I finally convinced my parents to let me have my own AIM screen name and after that I couldn't be torn away from IM and chat rooms. Now, however, I've let my AIM fall by the wayside; I haven't used it for 3 years, since I graduated from college. My preferable chat now is GTalk, tied in with my Gmail (what can I say, I love Google!). However, I only really chat with a few friends, which is much different than when I was in high school and chatting with anyone who would chat back.

Our library participates in the statewide Ask-a-Librarian chat service, and I staff that regularly. We have a local desk so that Santa Fe students can talk to Santa Fe librarians first, if possible. However, I don't see much use of this resource. I'm not sure if it's because of a lack of marketing, or if it's because this particular service isn't really intuitive or familiar to students. At USF, we had a brief experiment using Meebo for chat; we embedded the chat widget in the page, and we saw our statistics skyrocket. We had to stop after our trial period, however, because there were some lacks in the platform that needed to be addressed, including having multiple librarians logged on and statistics. Unfortunately the chat software we reverted to, RightNow, requires launching an unfamiliar looking interface, which really turns some patrons off. I have a Meebo widget embedded one of my professional pages, but it hasn't gotten any hits, mainly because it's a little off the beaten path.

I'd like to see about promoting this service more to our students, because I think it's a really great service that would be ideal for those who aren't on campus (we have multiple centers in other towns) or who just have a quick question.

E-mail is very near and dear to me; I check it almost obsessively! I have multiple e-mail addresses (Gmail, Hotmail, two old school addresses, and my work address). I tie my school addresses to Gmail, but unfortunately I can't link my Hotmail so easily. I have a Firefox extension called Webmail Notifier to let me know of new messages, and a Greasemonkey script that shows the number of unread Gmail messages in the favicon of my Gmail.

(the little bomb is because my Firefox is currently themed in a Super Mario theme--it's the close button)

I have noticed, however, that e-mail is not used as much at my current library as it was in my previous one. In my old library, there were so many distribution lists - the whole library, the whole library system (including other campuses), the reference department, the graduate assistants, the reference graduate assistants, etc., Things were sent out every five minutes it seems. I am very used to sending out interesting articles, updates on situations, questions--even pleas for help, if I was at the reference desk with a huge line! Someone would usually respond to the message by coming out to help. It's a great way to reach a large number of people or an entire department and get opinions and information when they are ready to respond. One does have to be careful, however, since e-mail is archivable and is apparently free game for information requests. I reserve my personal e-mails strictly to my Gmail account to avoid problems.

Texting is something that I don't really participate in. My phone doesn't really like receiving texts and I can't send them at all. I can probably see about changing my plan, but I just haven't bothered. My brother is a huge texter, however, and I can see its usefulness. I was really struck how handy it can be during the reports of the terrorist attack in Mumbai this past Thanksgiving. Many of the survivors talked about texting the embassies and authorities and getting information from family and friends by text. Because they had to be silent while the terrorists were in the building, they couldn't simply talk on their cell phones--they needed to text. Additionally, many universities and colleges now have texting alert systems for when an incident occurs on-campus, to let students know what places are safe and keep those off-campus from coming into a dangerous situation.

While texting in the library probably won't save lives, it can be quite handy. One feature that I absolutely love in the OPAC is the ability to text call numbers. At USF, students would arrive with their cell phones, brandish a text with a call number at us and ask where it was. This new feature is starting to show up more and more frequently (see one example here). I would love to make this available in my current library.

A few thoughts on Twitter. As much as I love e-mail and chatting, I simply could never get into Twitter. It reminds me of the status updates when they were added to Facebook. I thought they were a stalker's dream (Diana is sleeping; Diana is at class; Diana is alone in her apartment with the door unlocked) and I rebelled against them. I will now use them occasionally, but for the most part it stays empty. I do have a Twitter account, but my Tweets are few and far between (6 months ago!). I know it can be incredibly helpful and informative. For instance, Barack Obama used it quite effectively during his campaign, and many companies (including Bank of America, Comcast [which monitors but doesn't post], Virgin America, and Jet Blue) use it to promote deals and for customer service. There are also some really great API sites tracking specific Tweets, like the now defunct Politweets which tracked mention of the Republican and Democrat candidates through the primaries and presidential election. You can also track breaking news and Tweets on a specific topic, like the crash landing of the airplane in the Hudson River. I think I see Twittering more as a source for information that I peruse but don't contribute to (is that wrong or selfish of me?).

And finally web conferencing. I've had the opportunity to participate in a web conference for one of my LIS classes, involving lecture and discussion, and while I liked the format, I wasn't huge on talking. I much preferred typing in the chat box. I've also attended 3 different webinars since becoming a librarian (2 from NEFLIN!), and I do like that format. There's enough visual and audio interaction to keep it interesting, and while I prefer the face-to-face interaction, I definitely think it's better than nothing if travelling is out of the question. I think it would a huge boon to those serving on statewide committees and working with colleagues from other institutions, especially with travel so tight in these times of budget woes.

Whoo, that was a lot of writing! Hope my random readers enjoyed! I still hate fighting with Blogger every step of the way, BTW. I've just had to edit this post three times because it keeps taking out my spacing between paragraphs randomly.