Virtual Reference Service via free IM software

Instant Messaging (IM) tools are a low cost option in setting up a virtual reference service. So writes Bonnie Shucha, law librarian at U. Wisconsin Madison Law School. In an LLRX.com article "IM a Librarian: Establishing a Virtual Reference Service with Little Cost or Technical Skill" Shucha outlines what is needed.

Instant messaging services are not compatible with each other- the free IM services really want "friends" to talk their own circle of acquaintances into joining the same service. Yet for IM to be useful in a law library the librarian has to be able to accept incoming messages from the different services, be they Yahoo, Google, AIM or some other brand. To accept messages from all the services, Shucha suggests signing up for the same IM name on each service. In addition a reference service would need a software solution that can accept messages from various IM services. To monitor multiple IM services two companies provide solutions, Trillian and Meebo. Trillian requires a downloaded software client, whereas Meebo is a straight web connection to the service with no local software to install. Many institutions have restrictions on client software being downloaded so a straight web conection seems preferable.

With the technical details out of the way, Shucha makes a different point--why do it at all? Her answer is to more efficiently and effectively communicate the way your client expects to communicate, and also to establish a service presence where none has existed.

Possibly unexamined in IM a Librarian is the added workload this will impose. With any new service there is a level of uncertainty about the amount of staff time a project will require. It is important for any innovative service to have management support lest the innovator be overwhelmed.

Nicely written and well thought through IM proposal. Bibliorati says "Two thumbs up--on keypad."

Resource site for California public policy reports

Students of California government will already know about the Institute for Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley. An IGS librarian has created a nifty policy report service called California Policy Box. The newest featured report creates the lead story for the day, older posts move down one position. Each report gets a general topic assigned, and a link to reports on the same topic is provided. In the left frame you can go directly to the general topic of choice, examples include Crime and Punishment, Healthcare, and my favorite, Resources and Economy.

As The Count would say "Wonderful, but wait there's more." Waay doown in the left frame is a link to Organizations. The Organizations page is no link farm, rather the best list I have found for groupss that do research and issue policy reports about California. So if you want to get early word of a new report, point your Web alert service at the sites enumerated on this list.

While some useful and highly respected governmental sites like Little Hoover Commission and the Legislative Analyst make the list, other California agencies or commissions do not. Among the missing, the Air Resources Board, and the California Energy Commission, and an interesting hybrid page, the California Climate Change Portal. If all the CEC or the ARB did was issue government reports that would be reason to drop them off the list, but the climate and energy research that shows up in support of administrative law decisions or to supplement witness testimony at public hearings by those agencies makes them worthy of inclusion. Perhaps a second group of governmental organizations that publish policy reports could include those entities. Differentiating a private sector think tank from a government site might be a useful way of accomodating state agencies without diluting the strength of the IGS organizations list.

Those nitpicks aside, this is a good page to bookmark. The layout of the Policy Inbox is clean, lean and intuitive. BiblioRati gives it two thumbs up.

Useful Reports on Global Warming

• Alley, Richard, and others. Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis: Summary for Policymakers. Geneva, Switzerland: Working Group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, World Meteorological Organization. February 2007.
  http://ipcc-wg1.ucar.edu/wg1/docs/WG1AR4_SPM_Approved_05Feb.pdf
  
• Bemis, Gerry. Inventory of California Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990 to 2004 – Draft Staff Report. Sacramento, California: California Energy Commission, October 31, 2006. http://www.energy.ca.gov/2006publications/CEC-600-2006-013/CEC-600-2006-013-D.PDF
  
• Bushinsky, Joshua. State and Local Net Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Programs: California PUC Carbon Adder. Arlington, Virginia : Pew Center on Global Climate Change, undated. http://www.pewclimate.org/states.cfm?view=all
  
• California Climate Action Registry. Why Register GHG Emissions? Los Angeles, California: California Climate Action Registry, undated. http://www.climateregistry.org/HOWANDWHY/Why/
  
• California Climate Action Registry General Reporting Protocol. 2006. http://www.climateregistry.org/PROTOCOLS/
  
• California Climate Action Team. Report to Governor Schwarzenegger and the Legislature. Sacramento, California: California Environmental Protection Agency, 2006. http://www.climatechange.ca.gov/climate_action_team/reports/2006-04-03_FINAL_CAT_REPORT.PDF
  
• California Climate Change Center. Our Changing Climate: Assessing the Risks to California. Sacramento, California: California Environmental Protection Agency, 2006. http://www.climatechange.ca.gov/biennial_reports/2006report/index.html
  
• California Climate Change Center. Scenarios of Climate Change in California: An Overview. Sacramento, California, California Environmental Protection Agency, 2006. http://www.energy.ca.gov/2005publications/CEC-500-2005-186/CEC-500-2005-186-SF.PDF
  
• Easterbrook, Gregg. Case Closed: the Debate About Global Warming is Over. Washington DC, Brookings Institution, 2006. http://www.brookings.edu/views/papers/easterbrook/20060517.htm
  
• Fialka, John. “California Plots Greenhouse-Gas Strategy,” Wall Street Journal, November 17. 2006. http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB116372773248425830-MX5nl4Cw4XrpfdEvulceCJXC1mo_20071117.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top
  
• Fialka, John. “Politics & Economics: Carbon Curbs Gain Backers; Energy Groups Shift Stance, Possibly Giving Campaign New Fuel.” Wall Street Journal, February 27, 2007.
  
• Hanneman, Michael, and Alexander Farrell. Managing Greenhouse Gas Emissions in California. Berkeley, California: California Climate Change Center at UC Berkeley, 2006. http://calclimate.berkeley.edu/managing_GHGs_in_CA.html
  
• Methane to Markets Partnership. The Significance of Methane and Activities to Reduce Methane Emissions. Washington DC, United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2006. http://www.methanetomarkets.org/resources/factsheets/significance_eng.pdf
  
• Metz, Bert and others. Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage: Summary for Policymakers and Technical Summary. Geneva, Switzerland: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, World Meteorological Organization, 2005.
  http://arch.rivm.nl/env/int/ipcc/pages_media/SRCCS-final/ccsspm.pdf
  
• Miller, Michael. Global Climate Change. Palo Alto, California: Electric Power Research Institute, 2006. [Powerpoint presentation]. http://mydocs.epri.com/docs/CorporateDocuments/AssessmentBriefs/NARUC_Environment.pdf
• Patrick, Jason. “Bicoastal Carbon Trading: California and RGGI Markets Mapped Out.” Evolution Markets, October 11, 2006. http://www.evomarkets.com/assets/evobriefs/nw_1160589151.pdf
  
• Public Interest Energy Research Program, PIER. Emissions Markets: Characteristics and Evolution. Sacramento, California: California Energy Commission, March 2005. http://www.energy.ca.gov/pier/final_project_reports/CEC-500-2005-024.html
  
• Schneider, Stephen. Climate Policy. Palo Alto, California, Stanford University, undated. http://stephenschneider.stanford.edu/Climate/Climate_Policy/CliPolFrameset.html
  
• Stern, Nicholas. Stern Review: The Economics of Climate Change. Government Economics Service, HM Treasury. Prepared for the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. London, United Kingdom. The Treasury, October 2006. Executive Summary: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/8AC/F7/Executive_Summary.pdf
  
• Thompson, Vivian. Early Observations on the European Union’s Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme: Insights for United States Policymakers. Arlington, Virginia: Pew Center on Global Climate Change, April 19, 2006. http://www.pewclimate.org/docUploads/Early_Observations_on_EUETS_Thomson.pdf
  
• Thorning, Margo. California Climate Change Policy: Is AB32 a Cost-Effective Approach? Washington DC: American Council for Capital Formation, June 15, 2006. http://www.calchamber.com/NR/rdonlyres/F7F36D4B-44DB-4545-AE54-59AB8FF72A7C/0/ACCPstudy.pdf
  
• United States Climate Change Technology Program Strategic Plan. Washington DC: Committee on Climate Change Science and Technology Integration. (joint cabinet-member project), September 2006.
  http://www.climatetechnology.gov/stratplan/final/index.htm
  
• United States Energy Information Agency. Energy Market and Economic Impacts of a Proposal to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Intensity with a Cap and Trade System. Washington DC, United States Department of Energy, January 2007. http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/servicerpt/bllmss/pdf/sroiaf(2007)01.pdf