- Describe how your library uses email. Has it improved productivity?
- Share your thoughts on online reference using some of the other Web 2.0 communication tools.
- Are you an active user of text messaging, IM, or other communication tools?
I was already familiar with most of the communication tools explained in this Thing. At the public library, I do not think that email has improved productivity. Every day I get anywhere from five to ten email messages, and 99% of them do not apply to me. Because we are such a large organization, blanket messages are often sent out to big groups of us. It is helpful for me as a part-time employee because I can stay on top of things from a distance, but most of the time it is information overload. I used to be really good about deleting read messages and filing away ones I wanted to keep into various folders... Then I just let it get out of control and I think my inbox has around 1200 read messages in it.
The public library just started offering a "text a librarian" reference tool. However, it's not done in house. It's a service we purchased, so some "librarians for hire" somewhere (who knows where) are the ones answering our customers' requests. A fellow librarian who didn't realize this was an outside service sent a few joking text messages to the number, thinking it was our own virtual librarian receiving them... Needless to say he was quite embarrassed when the outside librarians on the other end revealed the truth to him. I don't like the idea that this is an external service that we purchased. I realize that our library is not really equipped to have someone available 24/7 to answer texts, but it seems like there would have to be a middle ground.
Personally, I am a texting fool. I didn't use to text message at all. But in the past three years or so it's become one of the main ways that I communicate with my friends. I've also used various IM services since the mid-1990s, first on AIM and now primarily through GChat.
No comments:
Post a Comment