Its All Pidgin to Meebo Crystal Goldman University of Utah MPLA/ULA 2008 Conference Salt Lake City, Utah

Meebo v. Pidgin o Why not use traditional chat reference? o Why these programs? o Background of each o Features o Pros/Cons of each o Personal Recommendations

Deficiencies of Chat Reference o Multiple chat protocols that patrons might prefer to use o AIM, GoogleTalk, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, etc. o IM is single-user, and library reference departments are multi- user o Need one public identity, but multiple librarians

Why Pidgin and Meebo? o Free o Interface with embeddable widget o Trillian o Multiple chat protocols o libpurple o Programming library o Connects to/interfaces with all chat networks o Manages accounts and preferences

Meebo History o Created by Seth Sternberg, Elaine Wherry, and Sandy Jen in o Received funding from Sequoia Capital in December 2005 and Draper Fisher Jurvetson in January 2007 o Six chat protocols o Embeddable Meebo Me widget o Meebo Rooms to embed a chat room o Firefox extension, browser sidebar with buddy list

Pidgin History o Formerly Gaim, created in 1999 by Mark Spencer o Dispute with AOL for their AIM naming trademark o Fifteen chat protocols o Allows developers to create their own custom plugin applications

Finch and Adium o Finch is the text-based version of Pidgin o Adium o Pidgins sister project for Mac OSX o Like Pidgin, it uses a plugin system o essential features provided through plugins

Meebo o Pros o Web-based o Accessible from anywhere with the internet o Simple user interface o Video/Audio Conferencing o Cons o Logging in bumps other users offline o Does not log chats from widget

Pidgin o Pros o Pidgin4lib - feature/plugin specifically targeted at library needs o Interfaces with Meebo widget using a plugin o Logs all chats regardless of origin o Cons o Complicated interface, high learning curve o Plugin system, must update manually o Must download to each computer o Portable app on USB drive o Windows only, must use a sister program in order to switch to Mac

Sources Consulted About Adium. (2006). Retrieved April 12, 2008, from About meebo: Instant messaging everywhere. (2008) Retrieved April 20, 2008, from Adium. (2008) Retrieved April 5, 2008, from Casey, M. E. & Savastinuk, L. C. (2006) Library 2.0. Library Journal 131 (14): M is for meebo: the meebo storylive and uncut. (2008) Retrieved April 16, 2008, from Pidgin Portable. (2008) Retrieved March 31, 2008, from Portable Adium. (2008) Retrieved April 20, 2008, from Wells, C. A. (2003) Location, location, location: The importance of placement of the chat request button. Reference & User Services Quarterly 43 (2): Retrieved March 7, 2008 from Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts. What is Pidgin? (2008) Retrieved April 5, 2008, from