Thing Seven, 2a.

For the sake of a speedy co-worker I skipped ahead to Instant Messaging. It is, I will admit, difficult to talk to oneself in the virtual world.

The two of us spent a very brief seesion experimenting with Google talk. While it was simple enough to install I cannot say that I was terribly impressed with its functionality. At one point we completely lost one another; not a great situation if you are chatting with a distressed (or cranky!) student. Additionally, I found that I had a hard time contining my work and keeping track of chatting developments. I felt it might become challenging to pay attention to the user and perform research simultaneously. Perhaps my difficulties had a bit to do with my distate for multi-tasking, but I had expected a better notification system.

While I would be really interested in trying IM for reference I would like a chance to play around with some different providers. I would also be interested in hearing how other libraries deal with streamling their choice of tools considering the broad number available and the fact each student may prefer a different one.