Thing 7: Web Communication Tools

Newish, newerish, newest - or maybe old, medium, and right now? That's how I think about some of these communication tools.

Today I attended a very good presentation by John O'Brien, VP of Academic Affairs at Century College who reiterated that today's 19 year old college students don't email so much as they IM or text message. I have seen this in people related to me.

Here's the dilemma we keep confronting over and over when thinking about these tools in regard to our own library. ....the percent of typical 19 year old college students who use us is only one segment. We have very technology savvy students and many non traditional students (some of whom have no computer skills) who cover a wide age range. What percent of our core users are using these tools????

Our use of email: we are so dependent upon it that we have almost stopped talking with each other, a hazard.

Our use of IM: it has been used as an intergroup communication tool, rather than one that we have opened to the public. It is the only way we often can get a response from one of our group members who is outstate, and this is not a millenial! If we ever set up an IM type "Ask Us" Meebo would be good since it could enable anyone from different IM products to interact with us.

Text messaging: who would pay for this? We don't have cell phones in the library. I don't do text messaging on a personal level either due to the cost. Yes, yes, we know that the newest research says that the thing that people of a certain age could not live without would be their cell phones, above their computers. The video demonstration of a student texting a librarian (is this in a library) puzzles. Is there some reason a face to face question is bad?

Webinars: wonderful! We "attend" them all the time for training. Time saver and money saver. Almost as good as sliced bread.

Twitter. I watched the videos. I understand that if you are at a giant conference with many venues like ALA it could be good if a bunch of people all have texting or iPhones or Blackberries and could use it to set up meeting after sessions for dinner. Otherwise, I don't get it nor its extensions. I am trying to figure out why anyone would use it.

Again, feeling overwhelmed by all the technology possibilities in Web 2.0. It is up to us all to pick and choose wisely given that there is only so much that can be monitored at once and also for us to produce quality accurate work.