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."