Please send statistics!!

We need statistics for our trial. We have adapted two versions of our reference statistics sheets for the IM trial. Please choose the version that best suits your purposes. The first form is exactly like the one at the reference desk /except/ it has the option of using “M: IM request”. We think it’s best for the librarians who plan to IM from the reference desk along with other campus librarians. The second form is a shorter version and can be used individually in your office or at the reference desk.

1^st form: http://insideirt.austincc.edu/library/docs/forms/IM-ref-stat-2pg.xls

2^nd form: http://insideirt.austincc.edu/library/docs/forms/IM-ref-stat-abbr-2pg.xls

I've only had one IM.

Week 3

It's week three - I've had two chats so far. How about you? Have you been sending your statistics to Melinda? The statistics form will be available in the list of resources off to the left of the page if you need it again. (Lola, Melinda - Is that available online somewhere?)

What questions have you had that you had to come to a person for help? Even if you've already gotten your answer, please ask it again here in the comments so we can update the training materials. We want to make this as smooth as possible when we start introducing it to more librarians.

Questions, comments, concerns? Reflections? Please let us know how you're feeling about the program. Are you comfortable on meebo? How are shift changes working for you? Do you like working in your office or out at the desk? How are students responding? What problems are you having? If you don't want to write your own post, just email your comments to me, Melinda, or Lola and we can post them for you. (Or not, if you have something you'd like to tell us, but otherwise keep private.)

We have some fancy new bookmarks promoting IM coming our way soon to help us publicize.

Thanks again for all you do!

-Ellie

Multitasking Tip

Have a bunch of things open and worried about missing an IM? Keep meebo open in a separate browser window and you'll see it blink at the bottom of your screen when someone IMs you.

Your meebo account

Just discovered that there might have been a miscommunication about adding accounts to your personal meebo logon due to this image.



It might make it seem like you need to add all of the acclibrarian accounts to your accls meebo account, but you should not. When you're adding other accounts to your meebo account, only add your personal accounts, do not add acclibrarian, otherwise you'll bump off the person signed on for their IM shift whenever you log on to your personal account.

If you've added acclibrarian, please remove it from your accounts list. The instructions for adding an account on the IM training page will help with this. http://insideirt.austincc.edu/library/sd/IM/IMtutorial.html#meeboaccount
The section for deleting accounts is at the very bottom.

If you have added the accounts, or you're not sure if you have, make sure you wait until your next IM shift to change it or check, otherwise you'll still have the problem of bumping the other person off.

Remember to check in first

I was logged in to the acclibrarian meebo account today and got a message from aol instant messenger telling me I was signed in two places. I signed out of the acclibrarian meebo account assuming it was the next person taking over her shift. Then I went to IM her to remind her to check first next time in case I was with a student, which I wasn't, so no harm done. But then it turns out she didn't get my IM to the aol screen name. She signed out and in and everything was fine.

So this is a reminder to make sure the last shift has signed out before you sign in for your shift to make the swap go as smoothly as possible.

Thanks!

Meebo Sidebar

I've found comfort in using Meebo as a sidebar to Firefox. The switching back-n-forth between screens caused a little anxiety for me. The images are blurred but you can see how I'm using it at: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhmdg2tn_4dnxj5c

I agree with the "flaky" part

Last night when I was signed in as acclibrarian, Meebo told me acclibrarian signed in from an AIM account from somewhere else. Meebo kicked me off, but I signed back on and everything went smoothly after that. Maybe it was an AIM issue . . .

(And when it says "posted by ren" that's me, Karen.)

Meebo, thou art flaky

I don't know if it is meebo or the server but I've had two network interruptions. Now meebo is having problems logging into GoogleTalk. I tried signing off of meebo and then signing back on. But 2 seconds after signing on I got an error messge.

I've tried using the "sign on" option under the gmail screen name but sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. It looks like it has let me sign on. For now....

Lag time

I've noticed that when I sign on to two different meebo accounts in Firefox, it can increase lag time.

I discovered this when clicking on Account or Preferences, or even sign off, and it would take several seconds for the window to open. When I sent test IMs to myself and to the acclibrarian account, the lag was a problem there as well. Yesterday, I tried logging in to one account through Firefox and the other through Internet Explorer, and I didn't seem to have a problem.

If you're noticing the same problem with lag time when you're signed on to both your personal IM account and the acclibrarian account in Firefox, try using Firefox and IE and hopefully it will fix it.

Day 2

Thanks again to all our volunteers! I just wanted to remind everyone to add anyone you chat with to the buddy list. That is the only way to save that person's transcripts.

I noticed when I signed on for my shift today an old question popped up from a yahoo user. I replied but she said she had already been helped. Not sure what was going on there....