Chat (instant messaging) is not really a new thing for me. I do not use it a lot, but I am familiar with it. My first experiences with online chats were in the summer of 2007. I was taking an online class and one of the ways that the professor presented information was through live chat sessions. During the days before the chat, he would announce the date and time of the chat and students would sign in to participate. He would answer questions and give us opportunities to practice the new cataloging skill that we had just learned. I enjoyed the chats and learned a lot from them. The frustrating thing was that it was sometimes hard to keep up with which answer went with which question since sometimes several people would respond at the same time. Still, it was a good way to interact.
Recently I have chatted mostly on Facebook. I like it because it is a real-time conversation and a way to stay connected to people. I chat with people who live here in town and with people who live far away, and feel equally connected to all of them. I still like phone calls because I can hear my friends’ voices, but chatting is a good alternative—and it’s free and easy to do. The only difficulty is that it’s pretty much a chance conversation. My friends and I have to be on Facebook at the same time to chat with each other.
I really don’t see a problem with using chat/IM on a library website. I think that anything that helps library patrons get the information they need is a good thing. Even though I don't use chat in my library right now, I can see where it would be useful because it would allow students to ask questions even if they were on another computer in school—or at home. Here at school, students would not be able to chat from a cell phone since they are not supposed to have phones at school. As part of this unit, I looked at the Meebo site. I like the idea of students and staff being able to ask questions directly from the library website. As the lecture notes stated, having IMers add the library to a buddy list is a good way to develop and maintain a connection between the library and its patrons.
It seems that there are a lot of ways that a library could benefit from chatting with patrons. I hope that I can work out a way to try it sometime soon.
Recently I have chatted mostly on Facebook. I like it because it is a real-time conversation and a way to stay connected to people. I chat with people who live here in town and with people who live far away, and feel equally connected to all of them. I still like phone calls because I can hear my friends’ voices, but chatting is a good alternative—and it’s free and easy to do. The only difficulty is that it’s pretty much a chance conversation. My friends and I have to be on Facebook at the same time to chat with each other.
I really don’t see a problem with using chat/IM on a library website. I think that anything that helps library patrons get the information they need is a good thing. Even though I don't use chat in my library right now, I can see where it would be useful because it would allow students to ask questions even if they were on another computer in school—or at home. Here at school, students would not be able to chat from a cell phone since they are not supposed to have phones at school. As part of this unit, I looked at the Meebo site. I like the idea of students and staff being able to ask questions directly from the library website. As the lecture notes stated, having IMers add the library to a buddy list is a good way to develop and maintain a connection between the library and its patrons.
It seems that there are a lot of ways that a library could benefit from chatting with patrons. I hope that I can work out a way to try it sometime soon.
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