[Web4lib] RE: Starting an IM Reference service

[Nancy E. Sosna Bohm]

We are an even smaller college (1400+).
This summer I put a Meebo Widget on the library home page while the head of
public services was in a session on the use of like technologies. So, timing
was essential to buy-in.
Because we're so small we have a lot of times when the widget shows that we
are not available, which is not desirable.
During the summer the librarian who was on duty for reference also covered
the IM reference. During the semesters it's not always possible to do that,
so sometimes a librarian who is working in her office will login to the
Meebo account.
It's not ideal, but we have been able to answer some questions via IM that
might not have been asked otherwise. And the patrons seem greatful.

Nancy E. Sosna Bohm
Associate Reference Librarian
Donnelley and Lee Library
Lake Forest College
sosna at lakeforest.edu

 

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Message: 27
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 10:33:33 -0500
From: Jonathan Bloy <JBloy at edgewood.edu>
Subject: [Web4lib] Starting an IM Reference service
To: "web4lib at webjunction.org" <web4lib at webjunction.org>
Message-ID:
	<2793B0685088F840AA0183F23866B4FC07E63F84 at 225-email.edgewood.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

A colleague and I would like to implement instant message reference service
at our library.  We've got a few questions and would like to get some wisdom
from the list.

Staffing:  This is our main concern.  We're a small college library (2400
students, 6 full-time librarians, 2 part-time) and are wondering how similar
libraries staff their IM service.  Does the librarian on duty at the
reference desk also handle the IM?

Hours:  Is your IM reference available during all library hours?  What about
during times when there is just one librarian on duty (which covers weekends
and evenings at our library)?

Technologies:  We're currently playing around with a Meebo account.  For
libraries using Meebo, do you also have accounts on the major IM services
(i.e. AIM, MSN, Yahoo, etc.) for student convenience?

Getting other staff on board: What's the best strategy for getting staff
that might not be as technologically savvy on board and involved?


--
Jonathan Bloy
Web Services Librarian
Edgewood College
Madison, Wisconsin
http://library.edgewood.edu