Wicked Widget

I am part of an age group where we pick and choose what technologies we use and others we dont use at all. My friends and I dont use IM at all, but I know that all my younger siblings use it on a constant basis more, than the good ol' fashion phone. I think If our library had enough people interested in using instant messenger along with standard ways asking for reference question ie phone and in person. If there is a reference desk where there are people constantly there working at the at computer that can field questions coming from IM, phone and in person it could work great. For smaller branches it wouldn't be very practical since we are always running around all over and might be awhile till we check the IM. I know that we have been talking about using IM within the system in contacting other services such as IT or IS services, which could really be effective without needing to tie up phone lines.