Thing 7. Web 2.0 Communication Tools

Email:

In the productivity hints, I loved getting permission to be brief and to use correct punctuation, capitalization and grammar. Be polite. We use the stationery option in Eudora and it makes it easy for everyone. I also like the Squirrel Mail way of checking in on my account on weekends and when I'm away. I try to be faithful about responding to emails that require a response because I expect others to respond when I ask questions. I try to not be chatty or bothersome and have made an effort to be breif and to-the-point.



IM:

I've been IMing for quite some time now...with my kids, my friends, I even did some IM comfirmation classes with the student I was mentoring who left the country. IM is great. I still prefer the telephone, because I have trouble judging how others are feeling without hearing their voices, but angry, heartfelt, joyous, confused conversations are definitely possible through IM. I've watched my sons develop great relationships with others in different parts of the country that they've met only once and we could not afford to call often by using IM.



Text Messaging:

Cool that Millennium will be building Texting into future upgrades. Will it be as asronomically expensive as my cell's program?! We had to block it on our family contract because it was definitely not in our budget. I think it is a good idea, but not at the expense of our limited budget. Having said that, I think that texting your library is a great idea. It's a way to get help/information quickly. I would need to learn the Text language and all our staff would need to become more comfortable with Texting. I wonder if this would be something for branches with reference Librarians. And between the patrons at the desk, on the phone and those waiting for email response, where in the priority list do Texters come?



Web Conferencing:

I have acutally taken classes throug WebJunction and I enjoy this kind of class, but I think I learn more when I can take them at my own pace. Often these are offered at a time that is not compatible with my work schedule, BUT I'm trying to take advantage of some since they're free.