Adventure 6: Instant Messaging
November 21, 2008 
Well, I had fun with this one! I went in two different ways to ask my questions. First I used “Ask Away”. My question was to find the names of some vines I could plant by my stockade fence– ones that would turn into a beautiful color in the fall. I was connected with Sarah (24/7 librarian), Questionpoint chat service. She really worked on this one. We had quite a “chat” going! She asked me for more info as to what I was looking for, then she pushed a couple of web pages to me. One of the web pages was that of a nursery catalog that gave great descriptions of various vines. In the end she suggested that I go to my library and look for some books on the subject. I felt she was helpful and put me in the right direction. My second question was not very successful. I went into “Reference” and used the blue box to give my question. My question was that I wanted info on the history of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN. After waiting more than 15 minutes the session was joined by Jordan, Naperville Public Library. I told him that I was interested in a book or maybe a DVD. He said he would check the catalog. Then he said he was having difficulties and that he was ending the session! Well– that’s that! Guess I will not get my info regarding the history of the Grant Ole Opry. I would try this service again and would suggest it to patrons– hopefully they will get a good response and not have their session ended due to difficulties and no other explanation. However I guess that’s RL. Nothing’s perfect. I feel that IM and Ask Away is good for libraries because patrons can get answers any time of the day. Sometimes questions arise that need to be answered “now” and can’t wait until the library opens.
I also checked out the link to AIM Acronym Dictionary. I have always wondered about these. Of course, ASAP was familiar, but I was surprised that TGIF was not on the list. I printed the list and hopefully I will use some of these abbreviations. My friends will probably wonder what I am trying to say, or– maybe they will be impressed! OK- B4N!
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