2.0 Alphabet

is for meebo, which is "instant messaging everywhere." If you're stuck at a place where the IT department has locked down the computers to keep people from installing stuff, head for meebo to use popular IM programs, including AIM, Yahoo!, MSN, Google Talk, ICQ, and Jabber. Its versatility makes it useful for librarians doing chat reference or as a bookmark on public access computers, if you don't want to mess with separate applications for all these IM services.


Remember meebo? Way back in Lesson #2 - IM & Virtual Reference we used meebo to sample chat with each other -> take a look...


Web 2.0 Alpbahet:Part 1 (letters A - M) were originally published in Information Today 24.9 (Oct 2007): p.17(2).

SMS & Text Messaging

Another form of chat/instant messaging that is hugely popular is SMS or text messaging between mobile phones (or between mobile phones & PCs).

SMS, or "Short Message Service is a communications protocol allowing the interchange of short text messages between mobile telephony devices. The SMS technology has facilitated the development and growth of text messaging. The connection between the phenomenon of text messaging and the underlying technology is so great that in parts of the world the term "SMS" is used colloquially as a synonym for a text message from another person or the act of sending a text message." [Wikipedia] In use since 1985, SMS allows for a user to send a text with up to 160 characters between devices.

I'd wager that many of you have already sent a text message between phones. Did you know that you can also send SMS messages from your PC to a phone? You just need the receivers phone number and provider. Here are links to a few of the major mobile phone providers and their PC to phone text messaging:

Sprint - Verizon - T-Mobile - Nextel - Alltel

What about libraries? There are libraries now using text messaging to communicate with customers, receive questions and search the catalog. Take a look at some of these examples:

-Receive a text message from the catalog - tired of writing down all those titles? (University of Oregon)

-Ask a Science Librarian (Yale University Science Library)

-Get your library notices via SMS (Cuyahoga County Public Library)

-Search the catalog (Bibliothece di Roma)

How would you like to see SMS/text messaging used in the library?

Have you visited Tutor.com?

During these two weeks of exploring virtual reference it seems only fair to spend a little time discussing Tutor.com, one of our online homework help resources. It offers live, one-on-one tutoring for grades 4-12 in Math, Science, Social Studies & English and college intro.

Tutor.com is a resource that we have strongly promoted in our elibraries as a resource for their after-school crowd stuggling with homework. The service begins at 2:00 pm (when schools start letting out) and is available until 12:00 am. There are no time limits on each session which allows the students to take their time as they learn. After logging in, the tutors and students communicate easily via a chat and whiteboard. This may seem confusing but this service is acutally a very easy tool to use.

A visit to their website may be a good place to start and view the short video which explains the homework help service. Perhaps later you may choose to log in to Tutor.com from our HCPLC website under Databases and Websites > Online Learning. Tell the tutor you work for the library and that you are just trying to learn the product. They won't mind. It would also be a good idea to go prepared with a question, perhaps a math problem, and see how it works. You also have the option of visiting the Help section offline and learning all about the features.

This is a great tool. Take some time to familiarize yourself with its features and offer it to your customers as an after hours resource tool.

Meebo Anyone? (chat practice)

As part of Workbook section #2 - Instant Messaging & Virtual Reference we have asked that you participate in some type of chat or IM conversation. There's no better way to think through how libraries can best use this type of technology to serve customers without having some experience.

We now have an hcplc=Lib 2.0 Meebo Room so the we can practice chat together. It is not necessary to have a Meebo account to participate - if you have one, that's great - you can log in to Meebo and visit our training room. You only need to visit http://www.meebo.com/room/hcplclib20/, the password is "hcplc".

You will join the discussion as "guest######" (that's with some random number). The first time you type a message to the group, you will be asked to create a nickname. Please use your first name and last initial.

The room is open 24/7, but there may not be anyone there to IM at all times. So that you don't have to keep trying back, we have a schedule so you know when someone will be there to practice IMing:

Thursday (1/24) 10-11am & Noon-1:30pm

Friday (1/25) 1-2pm

Monday (1/28) through Friday (2/1) 11am-Noon & 1-2pm

Here's a brief YouTube video to demo what Meebo can do.

Ask A Librarian (AAL)

Just a little background info before you take the plunge and Ask A Librarian...

Probably the most visible way libraries use interactice technologies to help customers is through virtual reference. We are participants in a state-wide, collaborative chat reference services called Ask A Librarian - Real People, Real Help, Real Fast! (I appologize for the grammar, but that's the tagline for the service, "really"). The service is currently provided to desktop/laptop computers through an Internet browser (like Internet Explorer or Netscape). Customers can chat with a librarian in Florida and can collaboratively co-browse the web. Documents and files can be shared or pushed to customers as well. Ask A Librarian Mobile is now being offered to users of mobile electronic devices - PDAs, smart phones, etc. - that are Internet or wireless enabled. AAL Mobile is limited to email at the moment, but the Dokutek's VRLplus software that powers AAL will soon accommodate live chat.

While Florida's AAL program uses the Dokutek VRLplus software, there are other major library virtual reference packages. The most prominent are OCLC's QuestionPoint and Tutor.com's Ask a Librarian. Many libraries are also using free chat and IM programs to provide real-time reference help. Take a look at David Lee King's blog post - "Fun With Our Meebo Widget and the Library Catalog."

Libraries are not the only information providers - and certainly not the first - that use live chat to help customners. Many retail outlets and technical support services have used this for many years. Some of the key players in the industry are eGain, Live Help and LivePerson.

If you would like more information about library virtual reference programs:

Virtual Reference Training: The Complete Guide to Providing Anytime, Anywhere Answers,
by Hirko, Buff. Ross, Mary Bucher Publication: Chicago ALA Editions of the American Library Association, 2004. (NetLibrary eBook)

Going Live : Starting & Running a Virtual Reference Service, by Steve Coffman. Chicago: American Library Association, 2003.

Also, check out some recent articles available from our Gale Power Search databases.