Do you have a list of people you wish would blog about what they’re doing in their libraries? Sue Polenka, Head of Reference at Wright State University’s Paul Laurence Dunbar Library was on my such list. She emailed to tell me I can erase her name. She’s started a blog called No Shelf Required. She calls it a “moderated discussion of the issues surrounding eBooks, for librarians and publishers.”
I hope that Sue fills us in on the eBook scene at her library because I understand that she’s transformed their reference collection and increased library usage. I also wouldn’t mind if she got a bit off topic and told us about how the library has been called a “hero” by students because of their gaming events. And they’re way into IM. Yay.
Thanks, Sue!
Last post I said I’d love to see a “People LOVE US on Yelp” sticker on a library door. My wish came true. Genesis Hansen, Web Services Librarian at the Newport Beach Public Library wrote me:
You said you’d love to see a yelp sign on a library, so here you go! This is the Newport Beach Public Library in Newport Beach, California. I was really stoked to get the letter and window cling from yelp, and so was my Director. All of our yelp reviews are 4 and 5 stars except one. Our 3-star reviewer complained about the poor wireless connection, but I sent him a message letting him know that we just upgraded our equipment, so I hope he’ll give us another try (can’t help him with the eye candy, though).
It’s great to get good (unsolicited) buzz from our customers, and it’s just one more way we can track how well we’re doing.
Agreed, and excellent work following up with the guy about your wifi. Way to be aware!
Flickr user Don and Kathy Gould also left me a comment on Flickr stating that the Palos Verdes Library District has one. Incidentally, when I checked out the PVLD website, the first thing I noticed was a nice, big MeeboMe widget. Then I noticed a link to their powered by Flickr 40 Families Project.
An inspiring evening. Thanks!
At age 76, my friend’s dad just bought his first computer: a MacBook. He’s getting set up with all of the best web based tools to use, including gmail. He was getting a computer lesson from his son-in-law and I chatted him up. Despite what he says, he’s doing an excellent job chatting. He even TOTALLY gets how to capitalize the RIGHT WORDS!
Let this serve as more evidence that age does not necessarily have anything to do with whether someone can use computers. Every reference librarian in your building could do IM reference if they really wanted to.
P.S. Just making sure you’ve seen that google is finally using its 5% stake in AOL for something: AIM chatting in Gmail.
So then why do some libraries block IM? And why aren’t more libraries available via IM?
Take a look at the press release for the AP-AOL Instant Messaging Trends Survey. The first pullout is amazing! The survey also states that teens are most likely multitasking when they’re IMming by researching homework assignments online.
These will come in handy if you’re trying to start an IM project at your library and need to present stats to the stat driven administrator.
-More than half (55 percent) of teen IM users have used instant messaging to get help with their homework. This is a 17 percent increase over last year. Meanwhile, 22 percent of teens say they have sent an IM to ask for or accept a date.
-Forty-three percent of teen IM users say they have used instant messaging to say something they would not say to someone in person. Teenage girls are more likely than boys to do so. Nearly half of teenage girls surveyed have used instant messaging to say something they would not say in person, compared with just over a third of teenage boys.
-Teens today are more likely to upload photos (42 percent in 2007 vs. 34 percent in 2006) while instant messaging. They are less likely to conduct online research for school (57 percent vs. 63 percent) or update their blog or social profile (33 percent vs. 42 percent) while sending IMs.
-Nearly three in four teens (70 percent) and one in four adults (24 percent) send more instant messages than emails.
-Multi-tasking remains very popular, as IM users tend to engage in multiple online activities while sending instant messages. Checking email is the most popular activity among eight in ten adult and teen IM users. After email, adult IM users most often conduct online searches (49 percent), while teens say they like to research homework assignments online (57 percent).
- Nearly four in five (79 percent) at-work IM users say they have used instant messaging in the office to take care of personal matters. One in five (19 percent) IM users say they send more instant messages than emails to their co-workers and colleagues.
IMming Reference Librarians, listen up! Meebo has released a meebo firefox add-on. Installing it will put a buddy list in the sidebar of your browser. The sidebar can be hidden if you don’t like it taking up the screen real estate.
One of the biggest complaints about using meebo at the Reference Desk is notifications and alerts. We probably weren’t the only one with this concern, because the add-on has all sorts of options about alerts.
Note: You’ll still need meebo.com open in a window or tab for the sidebar to work.
