Instant Messaging Reference. A Practical Guide

219 Pages·2008·8.411 MB·English

by  Rachel Bridgewater and Meryl Cole (Auth.)

Instant Messaging Reference
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Instant Messaging
Reference: A practical guide
R B
ACHEL RIDGEWATER
AND
M B. C
ERYL OLE
Chandos Publishing
Oxford · England
Chandos Publishing (Oxford) Limited
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Avenue 4
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www.chandospublishing.com
First published in Great Britain in 2009
ISBN:
978 1 84334 357 8 (paperback)
978 1 84334 358 5 (hardback)
1 84334 357 6 (paperback)
1 84334 358 4 (hardback)
© R.Bridgewater and M.B.Cole,2009
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List of figures and tables
Figures
2.1 The Internet Public Library’s web form 9
3.1 How IM works: client computers
communicating with central IM server 31
3.2 How IM works: client computers
communicating directly 31
3.3 Example of an IM contact or ‘buddy’ list 35
3.4 Entering your account information into
the IM client 36
3.5 Example of an IM chat window 36
3.6 Example of a chat in progress 37
3.7 Emoticons 38
3.8 Inserting a link into a chat 39
3.9 URL inserted into a chat, formatted
successfully 39
3.10 Using the link dialog doesn’t guarantee
results in all clients 40
3.11 Status messages 41
4.1 Yahoo! Messenger website 50
4.2 Yahoo! Messenger site with sign-up link 51
4.3 Signing up for a Yahoo! Messenger account 52
4.4 Meebo web-based client 54
4.5 Adding an account to Adium 58
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Instant Messaging Reference
4.6 Adding an account 59
4.7 New conversation open in tabs 61
4.8 Getting a message 63
4.9 An authorization request 63
4.10 Responding to a chat 64
4.11 The chat window indicates when you
are typing 64
4.12 Chat in progress 65
5.1 Sample chat with Marcus Brown 85–6
5.2 Oregon State University Libraries’
website – the chat window is actually just
an image of a widget 88
5.3 Yale University Library’s service population
statement 89
8.1 Popular widgets and their features 129–30
8.2 Visit site and customize widget 132
8.3 Create account or add account information 133
8.4 Copy the code from the site 134
8.5 Example of a widget 135
8.6 Oregon State University Libraries’ chatbox
image 142
8.7 Gateways, queues and operators in
LibraryH3lp 158
8.8 Adding a queue 159
8.9 Adding gateways 160
8.10 Adding an operator 160
9.1 Two Yahoo! users can chat with
one another 187
9.2 Multi-protocol clients allow a user to sign
into all her accounts at once 188
10.1 Wyoming State Library promotional
campaign 196
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List of figures and tables
Tables
2.1 Demographics of internet users, October–
December 2007 15
2.2 Virtual reference models at a glance 20
3.1 Major IM protocols 33
3.2 IM clients 42
5.1 IM guidelines 82
8.1 How to use some popular widgets 137
8.2 XMPP servers and clients 151
9.1 IM language – a brief primer 184
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About the authors
Rachel Bridgewater is an academic librarian living in
Portland, Oregon. She is currently the electronic resources
librarian at Reed College. Prior to joining the staff at Reed
in 2008, Rachel was the reference coordinator at
Washington State University Vancouver library. In both
libraries she initiated and coordinated instant messaging
reference service as a way of extending reference service
beyond the desk.
A frequent speaker at library conferences, Rachel strives
to help library audiences understand how social software
and media are changing the information landscape in which
they operate. She also speaks, writes and teaches about
copyright policy.
Rachel writes about library and information policy issues
at http://command-f.info. In her spare time, Rachel runs
around Portland.
Meryl B. Cole came to librarianship from a wide-ranging
background in teaching and corporate communications. Her
work in distinct and diverse communities – university,
community college, corporate America and international
school – shapes her thought process and encourages her to
think broadly. After becoming a librarian in 2005, Meryl
worked as a reference librarian at Washington State
University in Vancouver.
Throughout her career Meryl’s focus has been singular:
impart and share information in a variety of ways and
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Instant Messaging Reference
experiment with a variety of methods. The appeal of IM
reference for Meryl is that it is both an alternative and an
additional method, not replacing but augmenting traditional
approaches to reference.
Meryl believes in the vitality of librarianship in today’s
increasingly wired world. The strength of the profession lies
in librarians’ resilience and resourcefulness.
xiv
Acknowledgements
Our heartfelt thanks go to all of the talented librarians who
contributed their first-person experiences using IM. These
narratives enrich the book tremendously.
(cid:1)
Josh Boyer, North Carolina State University, Pam
Sessoms, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and
Amy VanScoy, North Carolina State University.
(cid:1) Karen Diller, currently assistant vice chancellor of
academic affairs at Washington State University
Vancouver.
(cid:1) Jason Eiseman, librarian at the law firm of Schwabe,
Williamson & Wyatt.
(cid:1) Kate Gronemyer, reference and instructional librarian at
Oregon State University Cascades Library.
(cid:1) Erica Carlson Nicol, electronic resources librarian at the
Holland and Terrell Libraries of Washington State
University Pullman.
(cid:1) Jenna Ryan, science reference librarian at the Middleton
Library at Louisiana State University.
(cid:1) Caleb Tucker-Raymond, project coordinator for the
Oregon Statewide Reference program, L-Net.
Rachel. I am grateful to all my mentors, who have
encouraged me to try new things, think new thoughts and
experiment with new approaches to service. With thanks
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