The LiB’s post got me to thinking about IM reference and collaboration. Our library is switching to meebo and meebome as of spring semester (at long last). We dropped QuestionPoint after numerous complaints among the librarians.
One of the things that this will improve is the ability to perform collaborative reference. As any librarian can tell you, sometimes the best resource is not a book, but another human being. And many times this person is not right in front of you. Just the other day I had a journalism professor ask if I knew of any tools that would help her news team pick who got to do which story on a first-come-first-served basis. Since I didn’t know of any tools off the top of my head, I IMed David over at GPC to ask if he knew of any tools. After some discussion, he suggested a wiki, since it will track who made what selection.
As more libraries switch to IM, this will allow for cross-institutional reference work. QP tried to do this with their knowledge base, but I never experienced it as being quick or helpful. But now, I can see myself on the Reference Desk, having a difficult time answering a question via IM, and inviting a librarian at another institution to join in a group chat. Making these sorts of connections will help get the users in touch with the information they need much faster.
It looks like it’s time for me to start collecting IM screen names for library reference desks, and adding them to our buddy list! Don’t be surprised if I message you for some help!
