Chat and Text Reference

I wanted to remind everyone of two exciting changes that are taking place at the reference desk this semester.

Meebo chat reference

We’ll be using Meebo to handle chat reference questions, rather than the Trillian program we have been using. This allows us to place Meebo chat widgets on our site, which can be used by anyone, whether or not they have an IM/chat account. But, we can still be contacted by AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo, Google Talk, and MSN Messenger users via our screenname, GettLibraryHelp.

When you log in to the reference desk for the first time this semester, you will need to log in to the Meebo notifier. To do this, click on the Meebo symbol on the bottom right of your screen (see the image to the right), enter our username (gettlibraryhelp) and password (same as the password we use to sign in to the Reference Desk computer). Ask Jess or Meggan if you need help with this. Meebo notifier will let us know when a new message arrives. There’s an online demo of how the notifier works.

Text a Librarian (Mosio)

To reach us via text, patrons must send a message to 66746 and begin their message with musslib. When a text message arrives, we will be notified via Meebo chat. Text messages that arrive via Meebo will include a link to the Text a Librarian (Mosio) system, where we will answer the text message. The username is musslibAdmin, and the password is the same as what we’re using to log in to Meebo chat and the reference desk computer.

If you have any questions about the Meebo chat or Text a Librarian services as you begin to use them, please let me or Meggan know.