Since I was an “Ask Away” reference librarian for at least one year, I have quite a lot of experience on this particular service. Whereas I understand the use for such a service, I felt that many of the questions asked would be better answered if they were directed directly to the library concerned rather than to a pool of reference librarians; many of these questions would have been more easily answered by a simple phone call to the home library. Because my life answers to many interests and schedules and I rarely sit at a computer at home, I have little need for instant messaging personally. In the interest of time, I prefer to speak with a person directly, which is more “instant”, than to try and “read between the lines” in a so-called “instant” message.
I did look at the “Aim Acronym Dictionary” and was amused by “BIL” = boss is listening (but didn’t really understand how it could apply to typed messages) and like BTDT, NP, and GTG, as these are all phrases that I have been known to use (been there, done that; no problem; got to go).
December 23, 2008 at 9:12 pm
I get what your saying but there are people out there working in Starbucks or other spots and the only communication they are using is IM. And then there’s the after hours option as well…