Instant Messaging Questions welcome after session

How often do you use Instant Messaging (IM) ? 1. Every day 2. A few times a week 3. A few times a month 4. A few times a year 5. Never 6. I don’t know what Instant Messaging is

What is IM? Instant Messaging is typing back & forth in “real time” similar to a phone conversation – usually one to one Instant messaging is done though: widgets software clients web-based clients

Our current networks In store for patrons: Our current networks won’t change for those who’ve buddied us Our “AskUs” page will still show this list of networks Patrons will have no knowledge we’ve added Libraryh3lp

Our current networks In store for staff: We simply add Libraryh3lp to Pidgin, MOVE these networks into Libraryh3lp, and DELETE these networks from Pidgin. (less clutter) Only the Libraryh3lp username will be visible in Pidgin; no more maintaining all these networks in every instance of Pidgin.

Our current networks

Worldwide coverage 24/7

What is Libraryh3lp? people at the University of NC invented a Super-IM, just for libraries special widgets with added functionality 3 types of widgets we can provide for patron use (KH)

New functionality: multiple-person monitoring in groups called queues transfer of chats notification that someone picked up a chat repeated audio alerts when a chat is unanswered transcripts statistics No more dependence on AIM because Libraryh3lp handles all traffic Better up-time! Benefits of Libraryh3lp

Two options for monitoring: Pidgin (software) Pidgin ties a username to a computer somewhat (but you can quickly switch logins inside Pidgin by toggling checkmarks under “Accounts”) WebChat (web-based) Web chat lets you monitor from any computer with internet access

Our change will be transparent to the patron Except for these improvements Widgets can pop-out or stay on top Links will be clickable inside the widget, unlike now! Long catalog & database URLs will no longer break Transcripts can be ed from the widget Patrons can receive files (coming up in demo)

LibraryH3lp Jabber Server that processes everything LibraryH3lp Jabber Server that processes everything AIM LibraryH3lp Widgets Google Talk MSN Yahoo Systems Team queue Ref queue ITSS person on 1 st floor Circ queue patrons come through: goes through server in North Carolina We can transfer any type of IM to any staff monitoring Pidgin or WebChat 80% of traffic

Login with your username. We never need to login as a queue name. Login with your username. We never need to login as a queue name.

LibraryH3lp – about queues Widgets are “online” when at least one staff person belonging to its queue is online Queues can have one or more staff Staff can belong to zero, one, or more queues. Zero queues? Yes, individuals not in a queue can still receive transfers When a chat comes to a queue, all online members of that queue will see it. The first to respond will “win” the chat The rest are notified of who took the chat

LibraryH3lp – about queues A queue can exist without an accompanying widget. These queues are for transfer purposes. Some libraries choose to have 1 queue only, usually reference, that fields all questions and does transfers. Others are putting up ILL widgets, Circ widgets, Tech-help widgets on various web pages.

LibraryH3lp You can make your own individual widget for your personal web page by logging into Libraryh3lp’s admin page as yourself. Use their widget designer to generate the code to paste into your page. This is also where you change your password please don’t forget it!

LibraryH3lp Demo

LibraryH3lp Next Steps Implement Reference after some practice (if they prefer) Units could discuss whether and how they’d like to use IM Discuss cooperation between departments – queue coverage, hours, and who monitors Has internal uses too – no need to belong to any queue -not as intrusive as the phone – answer when you can -collaborate, ask an opinion, test things, great for that “quick question” -send a file or URL to someone

LibraryH3lp I’m adding info about Libraryh3lp here: Questions Welcome!