Oh and doesn't this Thing cover a lot of territory? Jumping right in...
I don't feel as if email is draining away all my time and energy, but I think that's because I don't get much email in the first place. Most of my coworkers, if they go away for even a day or two, spend much of their first day back slogging through their inboxes. Me, I have to be gone for a week before that becomes a noticeable problem. I don't feel out of touch; it's just that my work-related mailing lists don't generate much email. I think email has slightly improved my productivity, although more in terms of quality than quantity. I'm much more likely to fire off an email to someone than to try to call that person--I find it easier to express myself in writing, and there's that ability to attach files (better than having to print out a file and mail it).
We have begun experimenting with instant messaging. We're considering offering IM as a way for patrons to ask reference questions, although we're going to thoroughly test the system first and see if we have enough staff to handle this. We're using Google Talk for these first tests because many people on staff already have Google accounts and because it's web-based so we don't have to get permission from our IT department to use it, but we're thinking about using Meebo if we decide to IM with the public. I must admit that the two of us who tried it yesterday were less than impressed. We couldn't see much difference between using Google Talk and using email, except that at least we know when we get new emails, and the web form of Google Talk didn't let you know when the other party said anything. You had to be staring right at the box to know, which meant you pretty much couldn't get anything else done.
Of course, an IM conversation between two coworkers might not be anything like a reference interaction between a librarian and a patron. Although this may not make things easier. One of the readings describes IM reference as "a sped-up email transaction." Fine, but some answers will take time to research, no matter which medium is used to ask the question. How patient will an IMing patron be if the librarian needs ten minutes or so to go track down the answer? If the librarian comes up with the answer only to come back to the desk and find that the the patron is offline, will the librarian feel as if she's wasted her time? If it had been an email transaction, she could just send the answer along anyway, but as I understand IM, both parties need to be present. "Speed is important but don't feel rushed," burbled that same article. Yeah, right.
Text messaging? One thing at a time. It's not a priority for our library at this time.
We've been participating in web conferencing for years now. It's definitely an improvement over driving all over the Twin Cities (or Minnesota) for meetings that only take an hour or so. The only problem I've experienced with web conferencing is that if you're in a cubicle instead of an office, it's difficult to participate without bothering your neighbors.
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