Many library Reference Desks have begun using IM in some fashion. Whether it be a full-scale Online Chat Reference Service to a simple AIM or Yahoo Messenger account, it’s becoming more common to see something available that’s quicker than email to get help from a Reference Librarian.

For those libraries who already have an IM method of communication for your patrons, Congratulations! For those who don’t, it’s easy to get started and is much appreciated by your patrons. See my post from over a year ago about The Role of IM in Reference.

Just how much university students appreciate it was driven home to me yet again last night. I was doing an instructional session in a class with mostly seniors. When I mentioned that our Ask-A-Librarian page listed the screen names in AOL IM and Yahoo Messenger for asking questions of a Reference Librarian, the students went nuts. They thought it was very cool and wondered why they’d never known about that before.

As of this Fall, 2006, our IM Reference stats at Butler University have surpassed our email Reference stats and are regularly more than half of the number of Reference questions we get by phone. And this is only the second academic year we’ve offered this service.

So, as a reminder to all of you academic librarians who teach instructional sessions to students, be sure to regularly mention any Ask-A-Librarian program you may have and especially bring out your accessibility via IM. The students may not know it (even if it’s listed on every page on your website) and they really do appreciate it, use it, and think it’s cool.
:-)