Thing 7

Communication Tools

• Email - At my library, we currently communicate using Email among staff and we also have an "Ask a Librarian" Email feature on our public website. I would say staff Email is our system's primary way of communicating. It can, however, be very frustrating as our filtering system is turned off and staff get lots of spam. Our "Ask a Librarian" feature on our website keeps us busy as we get several reference questions during the day via Email. Our library system also offers "Intro to Email" and "Managing Your Yahoo! Email" classes for the public that are extremely popular. I am the coordinator and instructor of these classes and I am continually amazed at how many people don't have an email account. Nothing makes me happier than seeing a student come into the library to check their mail after they have attended one of these classes.

• Instant Messaging - We have had IM for staff about a year now. I must admit that when we first activated it, I thought we would never use it (only perhaps abuse it). Boy was I wrong. It is so slick IMing colleagues at other branches to ask quick questions or to have them pull materials for patrons. No longer do we need to physically call another branch (and stumble through the phone menu) to track down a fellow staffer. We really use it all the time. Even if a staff person gets a call, we can quickly IM them to tell them they have a call on a certain line, no longer needing to announce it over the loud speaker for the world to hear. Don't get me wrong, a quick personal IM to a friend and colleague to brighten their day is always nice too. We have yet to roll out IM reference for the public, but it is on the horizon. I must admit, I am not a fast typer and prefer face-to-face reference interactions, but I think it is a necessity as it is a way so many of our younger users communicate. For this Thing activity, I have activated Google Chat and often IM with fellow 23 thingers Half-stepper and Runner Girl.


• Text Messaging - When I first signed my cell phone contract with Verizon, I was offered unlimited text messaging for $5 a month. I remember laughing and quickly declining thinking I would never use my phone to text message. Surely I would never text more than the free plan allowed (5 free per month - 5 cents each additional). I think I may have to re-think my plan... Talk about addicting! I never thought in a million years I would text message with friends and family with my phone. I was wrong again. I frequently have to pay extra on my Verizon bill for my text messages. It can get expensive, particularly when you incorporate photos with your text.

• Web Conferencing - I have participated in a couple Minitex Webinars and they were pretty slick. I remember I had an issue with sound on my desktop but I was able to hook up a pair of speakers. I really think that our profession will use webinars and web conferencing more and more for educational purposes. Now, if we can just get all our equipment to cooperate to allow for this new technology...

Grace prefers to communicate by meowing and wagging and thumping her tail.