[Web4lib] script recommendation

[Kevin.Cullen at UCHSC.edu]

Brian's Solution is fairly slick. At my library, we took a different
approach.

Rather than rely on specific networks and making people have chat
accounts, we bought a commercial Web-based chat product. One of its many
features is that you embed a <script> tag into your Web page and it
produces an icon that tells you whether online chat is available. We put
that icon all over our Web site. (examples:
http://hsclibrary.uchsc.edu/aal/ or
http://hsclibrary.uchsc.edu/databases/).

Advantages:

- No chat accounts required.
- Many staff can monitor the same chat service at once.
- No firewall/port hassles. That was a big deal for us, as many of our
customers are at the university hospital across the street and HIPAA
rules have forced their network folks to lock everything down.
- Zero barrier to entry. If the user has a Web browser, they can get in.
- Cheap. At $149, it's practically free. If your manager balks, just say
that's equal to two or three hours of staff time.
- You can (technically) edit the ASP code, though I'm not sure what the
license says about that.

Disadvantages:

- Requires a Web server with ASP support. Yes, that means Windows unless
you want to use a kludgy solution.
- Support is very limited.

I'm not saying everyone should run out and buy this product. However,
there are dozens of similar products designed for the corporate world
that work just fine for libraries. I'm sure you can find one to suit
your server environment, needs and budget. Some choices are attached to
fancy call tracking and CRM systems, while others are fairly simple.

This is an area where we can learn from the corporate world. When I go
to my power company, phone company, web hosting company, software
vendors and online retailers, none of them require an
AIM/Yahoo!/Gmail/IRC/whatever account and client to chat with them. I
just click on a button and it works.

And yes, this is a bit like some of the library-specific applications
that were popular a few years ago. However, those applications were
clunky due to over-ambitious feature creep. More generalized
applications have a much larger potential customer base and a better
chance to stand the test of time.

Cheers.

- Kevin F. Cullen

  Health Sciences Library - UCDHSC
  303-315-0739 


------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Wed, 16 May 2007 09:18:06 -0400
From: Brian Kennison <brian at wcsu.edu>
Subject: Re: [Web4lib] script recommendation 
To: "Sigrid Kelsey" <sigridkelsey at gmail.com>
Cc: web4lib at webjunction.org
Message-ID: <200705161332.l4GDWbxD053369 at libweb.library.wcsu.edu>

In message <cf57d3220705140914sac0307cpc413e65dd809f831 at mail.gmail.com>,
"Sigrid Kelsey" writes:
>Can anyone recommend a "who's on IM" script?  For example, a library
patron
>could access web page with a list of staff and IM anyone who had a
green
>light next to their name- and a red light would appear for librarian
who are
>not at their desk or logged off?  My gmail does this.
>

Sigrd,

I can't remember where I got this but it's very easy. Just grab these
gifs
(or make your own) and add this to your web page for each use who's
status
you need:

 <a href="aim:GoIM?screenname=[SRCEENNAME GOES HERE]"> <img
src="http://big.oscar.aol.com/[SCREENNAME]?on_url=http://library.wcsu.ed
u/images/chat_status_on.gif&amp;off_url=http://library.wcsu.edu/images/c
hat_status_off.gif"
border="0"> [Librarian's Name Goes Here]</a>
     
Visit http://library.wcsu.edu/web/assistance/reference/related/chat_ref/
to
see example.

--
Brian Kennison
Western Connecticut State University