[Web4lib] IM reference time and trouble?

[James Capobianco]

Dan,

You wrote:
"I'm still wondering if anyone has really found IM reference to be worth
the time and trouble.  If so, what has proven it to you?"

I've definitely found it worthwhile. It's not really all that much
trouble, and it's an easy way to connect with patrons and provide quick
reference help. If anything, since I've had experience with both, I've
found much more trouble with Virtual Reference systems that require some
other, unknown software to use. They were a headache to set up, cost
money, and had technical problems.

The "pure IM" is simple, our students know already how to use it, and at
least at my institution, has been well-received and well-used. In my
view, it's more time and trouble to deal with spam in a reference email
account than any problem in IM. 

What kind of "time and trouble" do you believe IM reference adopters
have to deal with?

James

James Capobianco
Coordinator of Web Development and
Reference Librarian
Emerson College Library
120 Boylston Street, 3rd Floor
Boston, MA 02116-4624
617.824.8332
james_capobianco at emerson.edu