Library Voice

Sarah at Librarian in Black and Michael at Tame The Web have both posted some updates on their libraries’ Instant Messaging reference programs. Both services seem to be returning excellent numbers and are excellent examples of reaching out to the patrons. Both libraries are supporting the big three clients (AIM, Yahoo! IM, and MSN Messenger), which means that there really should be no one left out. Michael is even supporting Apple’s client, iChat.

Their numbers and success are encouraging (or perhaps overwhelming) to folks who may be thinking about starting a similar service. Our library is fortunate to be a member of OhioLINK, which offers a web-based chat service. We are able to staff a seat for our institution during most hours of operation. As mentioned in a previous post, I have made my Yahoo! and AIM screen names available to students at our university in addition to this service. They can find my screen names on my Business Blog, as well as under my library contact information. My hopes are that if they would like to contact me directly, this would be a great way to do so. CurrentlyI have no set hours of opearation as I can’t afford to dedicate a block of time just yet. However, I am available at all times while I am at my desk, so provided I am not in a meeting, teaching a class, or at the ref desk, I’ll be able to answer a question. Currently I am only supporting AIM and Yahoo! but that may change after I get the results of a survey I am doing.

During the first week of this quarter, I had the opportunity to market this idea to 80 business students during an overview of library resources. The last thing I show the students in every class is the business blog and my contact information, and I empasized the IM service in the last few classes that I have taught. During the second week of the quarter, I had six IM interactions in seven days. Not bad, but since then, all has been quiet. I have another round of classes to teach during the month of February, so perhaps this will stir up some more business. I guess we’ll wait and see.

There is no better way to describe this than to give a play by play. This is sort of how it happened as I have ad-libbed a little here and there to make it a little more intersting. And the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Jim, Bill, and I are having a conversation over our cubicle walls about blogs.
Jim observes that the word “blog” is a very ugly word.
Bill says, “Yeah, it sounds like that monster in Lord of the Rings.”
“Which one?” asks Jim.
“The one that Gandalf fought at the end of the first book. Where we were left hanging about what happened to him,” Bill explained. “I think the dwarves called it ‘Darrien’ or something.”
“Wasn’t that thing a dragon of some sort?” I ask.
Laura, Jim’s student assistant, chimes in, “Just Google It and find the answer.”

I start to type something in the Firefox search box for Google, but can’t quite think of what to type. How do I phrase monster thingy that defeated Gandalf in the first book/movie of the Lord of the Rings whose name, according to Jim, is just as ugly as the word ‘blog’? Instead, I turn to Wikipedia, which is a first for me. I had looked it over a couple of times before, but never to look for actual information.

Once there, I type ‘Lord of the Rings’, and then click ‘Go’. I look at the Search button as well, but ignore it for the time being. I still haven’t quite figured out what the difference is, but I’ll look into that later. ‘Go’ results reveal an article about the Lord of the Rings. I scroll down a bit, and in the Contents I click on a link to the storyline. Then I follow a link to The Fellowship of the Ring. At the end of the short synopsis, I discover the name of the monster whose name sounds like ‘blog’. It’s Balrag. And following the link for Balrag results in a page containing more information that I ever cared to know about the monster.

After my first use of Wikipedia, here are my thoughts. Would I put my English paper on the line and only use Wikipedia articles for my sources? Absoulutely not. There have been plenty conversations around the net and on listservs about the authority (or lack there-of) of the Wikipedia. However, I believe this is one particular case (and I am sure there are many more) that knowing about the Wikipedia and using it sure proved useful. I saved a little time as the actual time it took to find the information was much less than it has taken to read this post. I also learned a little bit more about this collaborative, free, web resource. Also, Bill, Jim, Laura, and I will all sleep better knowing that the monster thingy that defeated Gandalf in the first book/movie of the Lord of the Rings whose name, according to Jim, is just as ugly as the word ‘blog’ is Balrag.