Well, communication is a very big thing...e-mail is pretty obvious, I couldn't survive without it, although the productivity hints had some very good ideas that I will try to implement. IMing is something I've never gotten involved in at a professional level. I did just participate in a webinar through Minitex about best practices for online reference, which discussed IM and text messaging in reference. I think it's great that libraries can offer so many points of entry for reference services, but I do worry about spreading ourselves too thin.
I think it's pretty obvious that better communication helps productivity and services overall. That is not to say that too much information/communication doesn't bog us down on occasion. The important thing to remember is that these are all tools for our use - we can not let ourselves become slaves to the machine!
Our library is a small branch in a big system. We use e-mail and some of us do chat (I currently do not). Many of our patrons prefer to stop by the library and we also have patrons who still use the phone (remember the telephone?). The key is to find what works for the patrons, and build the services around their needs. For our professional communication, we can use the same or different tools.
Flexibility is, imho, the key.
2 comments:
Nice banner--my mom knit me the socks that are second from the right. I love them!
Enjoying the blog--hope you are planning to keep up eith the Things.
We use IM at my accounting firm. It is very handy -- saves having to run all over the (huge) office just to ask a quick question. It is rather less intrusive than a phone call, since the recipient can answer at their leisure, but more immediate than an email. And yes, I have been known to email someone who sits 20 feet away.
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