VBPL and IMing [Thing #12]

It is my opinion that instant messaging and reference in the library are an excellent mix, and the next step in providing information services. We already offer our services via phone and e-mail why not take the next step and do so with instant messaging.

Having seen an Instant Message Information Transaction (IMIT), and talked with some of my co-workers about it, I have found myself anxious to start assisting customers using IMs. Now while I am very excited about the prospect of using IMs something I have heard being said is that it can be rather difficult; the most common problem is that it takes so long to find the information that the person ends up leaving.

Having not performed an IMIT yet I can't say for sure whether or not I agree. Being as familiar with IMing as I am I think I would have a good chance of being able to answer the question that somebody gave. I also already feel very comfortable IMing with someone and that might give me an edge. I also think that with time this program to grow to where it will be available the whole time we are open. The best way to learn something and get better at it is to just do it.



I found asking a question to be an interesting experience. the question I asked was what books my favorite author had written. I was told that we only had one book and it wasn't any of the three that I expected. I mentioned that I had heard she had written a couple books and then was provided with the title.

One thing I hadn't really thought of when I first asked was that I didn't know how many other people were being helped. I expected a response much faster than I received one. It didn't really occur to me at first that someone else might be in front of me, which is something that might help people be more patient.

The other thing that stood out from my experience is that the person helping me didn't trust my spelling of the author's name. The author's name is a common one but is spelled uncommonly. This is why they didn't come up with the correct title at first. I'm not saying that I'm a perfect speller all the time it was just interesting to me that they checked the name using the common spelling not the one I had provided.

I was impressed that they offered so many services to me. I was offered assistance looking it up in the catalog and requesting the book, which could have been very helpful.

Overall I was very impressed by my experience and would probably try it again sometime if I needed reference help. It's a lot better to me than calling, because it provides a little more anonymity.

Some of my coworkers expressed concern that some questions are too complicated to answer via IM. As far as I know, there is nothing that says we can't refer them to call in. If a question is becoming too complicated we could recommend that the person call in so we could better assist them.

Other than having to learn a new way to communicate with customers I don't see why a IMs can't be combined with reference services in a library.