What can libraries and librarians do with IM? Many librarians have implemented external reference services via IM clients for their users. Some have found that IM allows them to more easily reach out to librarians in their organization and throughout the world (see appendix 2). Leave it to resourceful librarians to realize that if millions of people are using a social tool, maybe the library should be as well!

For a look at libraries offering IM reference, access the Library Success Wiki, and take a look at the “Libraries offering IM Reference” section. More than seventy-five libraries are listed as of May 1, 2006.

As I've written at Tame the Web and spoken about at many conferences, the number-one benefit of IM reference is the fact that, through IM, librarians put themselves out in the cyberspaces, online places where our users are working and playing. It creates a means of social interaction—of community. Many of these users are teens, a demographic that has adopted the medium in high numbers. IM is a way to engage them online.

“Online Reference,” Library Success Wiki www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Online_Reference&PHPSESSID=6907bce00d66fdb114a14759fba44364

“Librarian, How Do You IM? A TTW Survey” http://tametheweb.com/2006/03/librarian_how_do_you_im_a_ttw.html

It also puts the librarian as close as possible to the point of need of an information seeker—especially if the IM name is featured throughout your Web site and the online catalog as well as on other Web sites in your community.

Another IM benefit for library users: through IM, a user can ask just about any question and remain rather anonymous. This minimizes the occurrence of feelings of embarrassment, which a library user could feel when asking about sensitive subjects.

For the Computers in Libraries 2006 Conference, in a session devoted to IM and libraries, I was asked to speak a few minutes about how IM can improve collaboration and build community among librarians. So I created a brief survey at Survey Monkey, and the informal survey yielded more than 600 responses. Most interesting, I thought, were the open-ended, qualitative answers.

Question: “What are the benefits of IM?”; Answers:

• It's made it easier to communicate and to arrange meetings, carpools, and so on.
• I can discuss projects in real time with colleagues that are thousands of miles away or right down the road. It makes collaborating easier and opens up many doors.
• IM has begun to build bridges across the traditional staff/faculty divide.
• There is greater connection between us than before.

This last comment is telling. Could it be about your library system? Do you have discouraged librarians in your system? One of the survey respondents replied: “Many librarians in my library system would like to use IM both for reference and for staff purposes. However, this library system is very reluctant to change and slow to respond to most new ideas. I feel very discouraged when I meet with professionals in other library systems that get to try new things.”

I also received some survey feedback about barriers in some libraries that prevent the librarians from using IM. One type of barrier was the perceived intrusiveness of IM, “I don't use it. E-mail works just fine for me, without the intrusiveness of IM.” Another barrier was time: “We are a small staff and don't have time to be confined to the computer.” IT barriers were also cited: “Our City IT has forbidden its use for security reasons, so we rely on e-mail, phone, and face-to-face conversations to communicate and maintain relationships.”

I think IM in my public library is an example of the generation gap between staff members. We do not allow patrons to IM on library computers, and staff [members] are not supposed to IM, either. However, many of the young professionals do have one or more IM programs downloaded onto their computers (including the IT department), and we use IM at work. The staff that uses IM are more likely to want the IM and games ban dropped on public computers and want to start reference IM, a library blog, etc. So I see a direct correlation between librarians/library staff who IM and those who are forward thinking about library programs and technology.

Tame the Web IM-Survey Respondent, http://tametheweb.com/2006/03/librarian_how_do_you_im_a_ttw.html

The most interesting to me was the perceived “digital divide” in many libraries. Two different respondents noted: “Creates a digital divide, lots of LastGen librarians at MPOW who don't use it and are out of the loop,” and “I think IM in my public library is an example of the generation gap between staff members. We do not allow patrons to IM on library computers, and staff are not supposed to IM, either.”

So here are my suggestions for moving forward if you are interested in IM in libraries:

• more education;
• more case studies; and
• further examination of security issues.

Read more about the survey at: http://tametheweb.com/2006/03/librarian_how_do_you_im_a_ttw.html.

A scan through the “Online Reference” section of the Library Success Wiki reveals that many are following the procedures developed by the early adopters. Thomas Ford Memorial library in Western Springs, Illinois, and St. Joseph County Public Library in Indiana were two of the first libraries to offer such a service.

Remember how virtual reference services were supposed to change the very foundations of what we do? Remember how some librarians discovered that those systems required users to navigate into a slowly loading chat queue inside their browser so you could send, or “push” pages to them? Remember the price tag to participate in this type of service—let alone the money spent on training and promotion? Well, guess what? Libraries can use a newer method with the same results—any library, of any size, and for a very low cost that can result in a high return on investment. Many libraries have jumped on the Instant Messaging (IM) train, and it can be a FASTER ride to effective virtual reference on the cheap.

Michael Stephens, Tech Tips For Every Librarian, Faster IM, Computers in Libraries, April 2006

In a recent Computers in Libraries article, I proposed the FASTER model of thinking about IM Reference, for any type or size of library. This model addresses questions about implementation, workflow, and training.

• F is for Flow: Your workflow won't suffer at all if you incorporate an IM application on one of your reference-area computers; IM simply becomes part of the reference staff duties.
• A is for Asking Questions: IM Reference is still reference. Use your reference-interview skills and create some predefined questions/responses to engage the IMing user.
• S is for Software: Use software that connects to all of the major IM clients. The major clients are AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), Yahoo! Messenger, and MSN Messenger.
• T is for Training: It is important, however, to give all of the librarians participating in the project a chance to practice first. They'll thank you for it! All of the folks that work the reference desk at SJCPL have been trained to handle IM questions. It's part of the workflow each shift. The same goes for all the other internal IM-reference points: if you work at the desk, you have had IM training. One of these days, it may even be a requirement for prospective librarian employees (such as in the 2.0 job descriptions noted on page 13).
• E is for Easy: In the case of the FASTER IM, “easy” simply means making it easy for the library's users to find the library and ask questions of the library online.
• R is for ROI: IM yields a good return on investment: free software and minimal training.³

Using One IM App

Connecting to all three via one application is an easier solution than opening all three of the clients on your IM reference computer. Give one of these a try:

Trillian—A Windows-based application that supports multiple types of chat. The application, available as a free download or upgradeable to the “pro” version for a fee, includes audio chat, file transfers, group chats, and chat rooms. (www.ceruleanstudios.com)

Gaim—An open-source software choice that runs on Windows, Macs, and more, and sports similar features as Trillian. (http://gaim.sourceforge.net)

Fire—An open-source Macintosh application used by SJCPL for virtual reference, with many of the same features as the above. (http://fire.sourceforge.net)

Adium—Another open source Macintosh application. (www.adiumx.com)

In addition, there is GoogleTalk (www.google.com/talk) and ICQ (www.icq.com). These could also be solutions for online reference, if your user base utilizes them. And watch for MySpace Messenger; it will be a must for libraries wanting to reach teen and young adult users. (http://mashable.com/2006/03/12/myspace-messenger-screenshots-emerge-launch-imminent).

According to Pew Internet and American Life Project, “One in three (thirty-three percent) IM users send mobile IMs or text messages from their cell phones at least once a week. This is a dramatic increase over 2004, when just nineteen percent said they do so, and 2003 when the figure was ten percent.”⁴ Some libraries have started Short Messaging Service (SMS) reference points. Students at South Eastern Louisiana University can text the library with their cell phones. For more, read the Librarian in Black's excellent summary of a presentation on the topic at Internet Librarian 2005 (http://librarianinblack.typepad.com/librarianinblack/2005/11/text_a_libraria.html).

There are just a few things to be mindful of before you implement IM in your library. The Alexandrian Public Library (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) put forth these guidelines (which could be a policy or procedure statement that your library could emulate):

• Any screen names that send IMs containing obscene language or that are harassing will be blocked.
• We are unable to answer lengthy research questions via IM—for example, a complicated genealogical research question.
• We are also unable to provide advice on questions of a medical, tax, or legal nature.
• IM Reference is part of our regular reference service, which includes in-person and telephone reference services. Sometimes we might be answering all kinds of questions at the same time, so please be patient.⁵

When a question is too complex to answer over chat—say people want law questions answered, or they really need to be looking over a text to fully understand the information—we ask them to come in to the library and to look over the information themselves (if possible). It seems to me that patrons have been self-monitoring question complexity—we do get some head-scratchers via e-mail, rarely do we get IM questions which are more than ready reference. To this date, we have not gotten any complaints via IM.

Sarah Hill, SJCPL Head of Reference, on IM-Reference Questions at SJCPL

Stephen Abram, “Twenty Reasons for Teacher-Librarians to Love IM,” Multimedia & Internet@Schools 11 no. 4 (July/August 2004): 16–8.

Christina M. Desai, “Instant Messaging Reference: How Does It Compare?” The Electronic Library 21, no. 1 (February 2003): 21–30.

Sarah Houghton and Aaron Schmidt, “Web-Based Chat vs. Instant Messaging,” Online 29, no. 4: 26–30.

Irene McDermott, “Text Messaging: E-Mail on the Go,” Searcher 12, no. 9 (October 2004): 47–50.

E. Thompson, “Expertise Is One Click Away with Instant Messaging,” KM Review 6, no. 4 (2003): 16–9.