I'm not a fan of IM in general. I like it in Facebook and when talking to people about quick stuff, but I tend to be wordy and don't like to abbreviate (see my 25Things on Facebook!), so texting and IM'ing are really not my cup of tea.
As far as the Library is concerned, I like the idea about asking reference/homework questions and it's more immediate. However, in the article link, some libraries specified patrons were asking circulation questions, which I think is just teaching people to be lazy. It's very simple, if you're already on a computer or other texting device, to go online and check circulation information for your account, search for titles, authors, etc., without calling or texting and asking someone else to do it for you. It just seems like in this age of immediate gratification, someone is on the loosing end - namely library employees, so they will be doing all of the work. Maybe that's petty, but as we're educating people about technology, if the answer is in the computer somewhere, teaching them to find it on their own makes more sense than teaching them to IM someone who then finds the information for them.
That said, I did set up an account with Google Talk, and am not happy with it. Granted, I don't have anyone elses email addresses to add to the system, which makes it difficult. I IM'd with Lynn via the Playtime blog using Meebo, and since that works with everything I set up an account there. It's something I doubt I'll ever use on my own, but if a site/blog has an IM area to IM the reference desk or someone with a question, I'm sure I would use that.
See? Too wordy for IM or texting!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment