At NEKLS Tech Day 2005, Shifted Librarian Jenny Levine talked about the popularity of instant messaging (IM) and encouraged libraries to use it to communicate with patrons (especially teen patrons). I know that a lot of you are now doing that, which is awesome!
Another potential way to communicate with teens and other patrons “where they are at” is to sign your library up as a MySpace member. The Hennepin County Library in Minnesota has done this. Others have, too. It’s a fun and free way to get information out about the library and to be a part of a medium that is incredibly popular.
Comment By: Chris
February 15th, 2006 at 1:23 pm
Haven’t done it with patrons yet, but I’ve used http://www.meebo.com to communicate with a staff member on a program we were organizing. Gave me brief 10-15 second breaks from a report I was drafting as she was asking for feedback on the material she was preparing.
Comment By: Brenda
February 15th, 2006 at 3:59 pm
For so long lots of libraries saw instant messaging as something “bad” that patrons did – “wasting” valuable computer time. I think it’s awesome that we’re now seeing libraries taking advantage of the tools and even pushing them in new directions.
Meebo is so handy!
Comment By: sharon
February 16th, 2006 at 4:41 pm
I use myspace for me, but I think I’ll make one for the Library…might be fun. We use chat all the time for staff-to-staff communication.