Thing 7 - Web 2.0 Communication Tools

As I wrote in blog 2, on Thoughts about Library 2.0, it's always interesting to remind ourselves that even simple email is really a internet communication tool (Web 2.0).

EMAIL - I read through the productivity hints for email, and I was surprised to not see one listed that I think is critical - make sure your subject line is descriptive, and updated. When making successive communications about a subject, add a line or word relevant to discussion, such as 'I object to the first agenda item', or 'I can't make the meeting on the 4th'. Gist of message can often be summarized in subject line for your recipient.

INSTANT MESSAGING - It was mandated quite a few years ago that everyone in my information organization get an IM account, and we're expected to log on at the start of every day. I found it helpful early on to add some clients to my list, and then I could tell by the icon when they were logged on, and then call them when needed. This helps with those in a different time zone.

One nice thing about our IM service that it seems to stay logged in even when I remove my laptop from its base and move to a different location. Last week I had to meet a client in a different building, and while I was out I had offered to drop in on a second client in yet another building. While I was still meeting with the first, client #2 used IM to confirm our meeting (and offer to meet me in the location of my first meeting). I don't think I'd ever had a client track me down using IM, but it sure was handy ! My laptop as a portable communication device !

TEXT MESSAGING - I read and watched videos related to TM, but still don't quite see how useful it would be in our corporate world. Fascinating to see that capabilities are being included in library automation or management tools. I think there are some fuzzy grey areas between these technologies, as one can easily program their email to deliver to their mobile phone, so a person can pick up emails easily (maybe this is only true for i-phones? That's my experience).

WEB CONFERENCING - not much to say about this. Like the telephone in an office - critical for doing certain types of business. I've been amazed at the various web conference tools that vendors have used to host their meetings with our staff. Most seem free (or maybe vendor pays something -??). Many are clearly free. But I'm not required to evaluate or choose these tools. Probably change quickly anyway.

TWITTER - seems just crazy! May be a nice way to combine different tools in one place, and I could see this in a public or academic library reference desk. And the unusual situations, like while attending a professional conference, and discussing while sitting in the audience. Might be an interesting transcript to bring back to help explain some components of what was discussed at the conference. This would be a nice productivity enhancer.