AISB IM is EZ

O, IM, how I both love and hate thee.

IM Love: It's easy to use. Main Reference's IM service using Plugoo is great. Don't have to download Yahoo Messenger and end up having to download Yahoo detritus with it, for example (IM Hate issue), just to IM a question if you usually use, say, Google Chat. From a work perspective, IM is just another way to help people find the information they need--and an easy way to send patrons weblinks right away.

IM Hate: I thought I'd try meebo.com, but my computer kept crashing on it today and the meebo screen wasn't instantly clear to me. I have little tolerance for technology that doesn't instantly make my life simpler. If it isn't seamless or intuitive, then what's the point? Learning how to use new tools shouldn't be difficult. The complicated part of lifelong learning should be the intellectual activity.

Back to IM Love: I've now worked Main's IM service from both sides of the desk and now have not only answered questions, but had one answered as well. Today I asked for the population of Cologne, Germany, and received the answer and the source of the answer. (Don't know what I'll do with the information, though...)

And once more to IM Hate: I've used Google Chat long enough to know that I really don't like carrying on conversations with more than one person at a time. I can do it, but it's a little too reminiscent of the reference desk at the old Main library on Sunday. That would be the really old Main, the one where there were just two people staffing the reference desk, one from Main and one from a branch. It was hectic. It wasn't much fun. There was no way to give anyone the assistance and attention he or she deserved. Multiple chats ongoing chats feel that way to me--not the way I choose to multi-task.

Guess these IM Hate entries make me an aging curmudgeon, but the IM Love ones show that I am a fan of it.