Thing 5: Instant Messaging

I got my first taste of IM today. I've done something very similar to it before. Many, many years ago my sister and I figured out a way to "talk" in real time using our email. It wasn't called instant messaging at the time and I can't remember how we figured out how to do it. It was fun, but we soon discovered that it was just as easy to call one another on the phone or email back and forth. I feel the same way about it today. I had a short conversation with Allana via IM, but I could have just as easily had the same conversation over the phone or through email. And try as I might, I really don't see any practical applications for IM here in our library. The only example anyone has given me for how to use IM in a practical manner is with reference questions. I'm sure patrons would like this, as they would feel they were getting instant feedback. However, many of the reference questions that we currently get over the phone or through email require some research in other parts of the library, so we would have to step away from the computer for some time anyway. I don't think IM would be much more useful to us than email. It's fun and I know that kids love to use it to talk to their friends, but it's not something that I think would be a big help to me.