Thing 7: Communication Tools

E-Mail
We have had e-mail reference for a while now. It works well. Whoever is on reference duty answers the ask-a-librarian e-mails, but we all see them. This way we have a sense of what the questions coming in are and what resources are useful to answer them. If we get the same question three times, I write a Frequently Asked Question answer for it for our FAQ page (see http://www.lawlibrary.state.mn.us/askfaq.html ). We refer to these a lot in e-mail reference, particularly the legal advice disclaimer we wrote for that page.

IM
We have talked about instant messaging for reference, but we are not using it yet. I have used chat when seeking tech support from web sites. In one encounter, it seemed as if some of the responses were automatically generated. For example:
Tech: Would you like me to do so-and-so?
Me: No, thank you.
Tech: You’re welcome.

Sorry, folks, the answer is Okay; not You’re welcome. An automated response might be quick, but it’s disconcerting when it doesn’t fit the situation. How can you be sure the person on the other end understood the rest of what you were writing? No wonder IM users ask first if you’re a robot.

Text Messaging?
We don’t get many questions or answers of 160 characters or less in a law library.

Webinars
The last Minitex Webinar I attended was the Best Practices in Online Reference Services. I have attended several others as well and they have all been valuable. I like the fact that you can attend a short seminar without having to travel. Staring at the computer screen can be a little hypnotic, but at least no one sees you if you fall asleep (not that I do, of course.)