Comments on: use a mobile device for authentic text communication http://www.walkingpaper.org/805 A library weblog by Aaron Schmidt Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:02:38 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: caleb http://www.walkingpaper.org/805/comment-page-1#comment-24134 caleb Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:29:47 +0000 http://www.walkingpaper.org/?p=805#comment-24134 great points about authenticity - this is a good lens to look at the world through. i'm a little stuck on how it applies to text messaging, though. i simply don't understand (which isn't to say there might not be truth to it) why people would prefer to text people they know are using a mobile device. some case studies in this area would be valuable. it is pretty well documented/researched that virtual reference users prefer to know who they are communicating with, which (for me) is a better explanation for why a device-based sms service might be better than something like textalibrarian.com for a departmental library. the funny thing to me is that in many cases pretending to be a patrons' personal friend is the one of the least authentic experiences we can offer. most successful websites i can think of enhance, or in some cases are complimented by, face-to-face relationships and it is great to see this in action in reference using *any* communication mode. great points about authenticity – this is a good lens to look at the world through. i’m a little stuck on how it applies to text messaging, though.

i simply don’t understand (which isn’t to say there might not be truth to it) why people would prefer to text people they know are using a mobile device. some case studies in this area would be valuable.

it is pretty well documented/researched that virtual reference users prefer to know who they are communicating with, which (for me) is a better explanation for why a device-based sms service might be better than something like textalibrarian.com for a departmental library.

the funny thing to me is that in many cases pretending to be a patrons’ personal friend is the one of the least authentic experiences we can offer.

most successful websites i can think of enhance, or in some cases are complimented by, face-to-face relationships and it is great to see this in action in reference using *any* communication mode.

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