Instant Messaging: "What is it? Like a chat room or something?"

Umm, kind of. Instant Messaging (IM) is a form of real time online
communication usually in a closed/private chat between two people. That
is, I type "hey whazzup" to my friend in Wales and seconds later she
receives that message on her computer. At this point she can choose to
respond in kind ("howdy friend") or to promptly ignore me. Like e-mail
the message only goes to the user who you’ve chosen to send it to and
no one else. However, if you would like to get a group of people in on
the conversation most IM services offer a group chat function.

"Well," you might ask yourself, "what good is Instant Messaging to a
library then?" In fact, it can be an extremely useful and flexible
addition to any library’s tool belt. For example, Instant
Messaging allows for quick and easy exchanges with co-workers—more
casual than an email, less work than a phone call and great for communicating between branches. Perhaps there is
a patron giving you some guff and you want to covertly warn a co-worker
in their flight path. Instant Messaging would probably be the best tool
for the job.  Another really cool thing about Instant Messaging is how
easily it can be used as a virtual reference tool. Simply by
advertising a screen name or embedding a ‘meebo me!’ (explanation
below) widget in the library’s website you’ve provided the public with
another access point for reference help. For example, imagine a wayward
youth working frantically on a research paper that’s due the next day!
All is going well until…OH NO! Wikipedia doesn’t have the answer!
"Who else might be able to help me?" she thinks. "Perhaps a librarian?
But I can’t get to the library today…hmm…" She quickly surfs to the
local public library’s website and discovers that there is a reference
librarian available to chat. "COOL!" she exclaims. Being wayward and
all, this youth as an active IM’er promptly adds her local librarian as
a "buddy" on her IM program, starts a chat session with the librarian,
and the question is answered in minutes. Our youth goes on to write a
glorious paper and become president. Fin.

One other important thing to note. At present you can only chat with
people who use the same IM service as you do. That is, if you are using
AOL Instant Messenger you can only chat with someone who is also using
AOL Instant Messenger. There are however several programs that allow
you to be logged into different types of IM accounts simultaneously. A
few examples of these programs are Meebo, Trillian, and Adium
for Mac users. Of these three, Meebo is particularly interesting for a
couple of reasons. The first is simply because it does not require the
user to download any software and therefore can be easily used from any
computer. The second is that it has a nifty little feature called
"meebo me!". Meebo me! is an embeddable IM window you can easily add to
any personal webpage. This allows any visitor to a page using meebo me!
to chat with the person logged into the attached meebo account. Pretty
cool, eh?

Class Resources

Below are links to the web-based versions of four of the most
widely-used IM services. From these links you can set up your own
Screen Name (SN) and even use your chosen IM service online without
downloading any software to your computer.

Also, take a look at some of these libraries using embedded chat, like the meebo me! widget, for virtual reference.

Class Assignment

Your assignment is as follows:

  • Set up an account with any or all of the above mentioned IM services. IWhen doing so choose your screen name wisely. It will come to be your identity in the IM’ing world, and you will be at the mercy of your peers — I can do nothing to save you from them.
  • Try it out! Post your screen name and which service you chose right here in the comments section. If you’re feeling adventurous or aren’t able to download programs to your computer I recommend setting up a Meebo account.  My screen names are listed in the upper left corner of the page, and I hope to hear from all of you at least once by the end of the week!
  • Comment about your experience.

Extra Credit

If you have any questions, try getting a hold of me via the meebo
me! widget below. I am almost always signed in, but there may be a bit of a wait if I’m the middle of helping patrons. Please let me know WHO you are when sending a message. Thanks!