Monday, January 28, 2008

Meebo and Me

Okay, I now have my own Meebo account from which I can access my AIM, Yahoo, and MSN IM lists. Except it only recognized my Yahoo ID. Not sure why. Oh well, ain't technology grand?

Anyway...the idea of Instant Messaging as a part of reference seems like a great idea (in general) to me. I think IM would make librarians appear more approachable and more easily accessible for many computer-savvy users. Like all Internet communications, though, I also see some potential risks. For instance, anytime you communicate with someone via words on a screen, much can be lost between the sender and receiver. Emoticons and similar additions can help, but they can never replace nuances conveyed through physical and/or vocal interaction.

Then there are the abbreviations. *violent twitch*

I don't care if language is fluid and IM abbreviations are the wave of the future; if someone types to me "How R U?" they might as well get comfy, because I don't respond to people who can't take the time (or lack the intelligence) to communicate with me using whole words. That might make me "old school" or a stuck-up snob. Fine. Doesn't change anything.

That said (or typed), I still look forward to the day when libraries can offer IM as a reference option. The more people the library can connect with, the more likely patrons will make use of our needed services and the more relevent we become to a changing society.

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