Posts Tagged ‘reference librarians’
Beyond 160 Characters in the Library – Text Messaging Reference Doesn't Need to Be Limiting
July 20th, 2009
There seem to be varying stories about the history of SMS (Text Messaging) and why Friedhelm Hillebrand, the creator of SMS, decided on 160 as THE number. Some say it’s the amount of characters on a typical postcard, many other stories not that he just determined it while sitting at his type-writer in Germany, noting that most sentences do not require more than 160 letters. In many blog posts and mentions about using text messaging reference in the library, we see it noted that phones are limited to 160 characters. While this statement is mostly true, some phones and carriers let users extend their messages, this limitation only hinders your ability to respond to patron questions based on what method you are using to respond to them.
Without getting into the various ways you can respond to a patron inquiry to extend your response beyond 160 characters, suffice it to say each system has its own unique solution, most requiring more manual work on your part. Instead, let me explain how Text a Librarian solves that problem and makes it significantly easier for librarians: character counters and multi-message splitting.
Mosio's Text a Librarian enables you to send text message responses beyond 160 characters.
Character Counts and Multi-Message Splitting
Text a Librarian has a real-time character counter and message view so you can see exactly what the patron’s text message is going to look like as you type it out in the answer box. If you type beyond 160 characters, the system shows you what the second message will look like and will send it as such, extending the space you have to send a thoughtful and well-formed response. It seems relatively simple and it was built to be that way, but it is a necessary functionality to make it easier for librarians to respond while offering patrons the most helpful and content-rich answer they can get on their mobile device.
Which is More Important: The Patron Experience or Librarian Experience?
Our answer? Both. In speaking with anyone on the Mosio team, you’ll often hear the phrase “patron experience” or “librarian experience” when it comes to our system and interaction design. Simply stated, we don’t see a reason to offer a reference service if it’s going to be difficult for patrons or librarians to use, no one is going to get excited about it. In fact, a handful of people ask “why don’t you have the page auto-refresh when a new question comes in?” It’s a valid question and we initially integrated it. Then we tried answering a question when another question came in. The page becomes a moving target and the assumed convenience of having a new question magically appear on the page becomes frustration at the inability to answer the question you’re working on.
The product team is working on a few additional features that will take mobile reference even further, providing a richer experience to both patrons and librarians, enabling both to get excited about its simplicity and ease of use. For the time being, this functionality is being well received by our libraries using the system, expanding the character limitations within the core technology.
Reference Librarians: SMS / Text Messaging Skills Are Not Needed, Your Research and People Skills Are
July 4th, 2009
- Reference Librarians: SMS Skills Are Not Needed, Your Research Skills Are
As excited as I am to see that more and more libraries are seeing the value of offering text message reference service to patrons, I find it troublesome to read posts and articles claiming that “librarians need SMS skills now.” It’s unnecessary pressure being put on an already tough job market at a time when new technologies are flying quickly at everyone in the working world at an alarming rate. Texting in the U.S. is more popular than talking on mobile phones and you can bet that a large % of your patrons send texts on a regular basis, regardless if you are at a public, academic or corporate library. SMS reference services increase your patron outreach, provide them access to you wherever they are and mobile reference is definitely here to stay. But to say that this increase in text message usage means you need to get skills doing the same is like saying English teachers need skills in rapping because many of their students are writing hip hop rhymes. It’s helpful for them to be aware of and embrace it, but it’s totally unnecessary for them to grab a microphone and sign up for the next MC battle they can find.
Although a handful of us are active participants, being a texter is not a job requirement at Mosio / Text a Librarian. In fact, if a candidate stated that they sent/received 200 texts a day or that their last phone bill had 10,000 SMS messages on it, I would sincerely question what they spent their days doing. In fact, one of the people doing our market research is not a texter. Do you know what that person is great at? Research. That’s why we hired him, that’s why we love his work. He knows a lot about the mobile industry and can find information for us faster than anyone I’ve ever met. His skill set in research and his abilities to produce it for us is why he is here.
Should your library embrace and offer text messaging reference services?
Absolutely, according to many librarians and from the hustle and bustle of things around the office at Mosio, the entire industry sees it as a need.
Should you run out and buy a smart phone and get on a SMS plan so you can learn how to communicate with your patrons utilizing the SMS reference service?
No, unless you want to. If you’re curious and you want to try it out, we think that’s great. If you feel that it’s a big part of the future of libraries and think your library should offer it, even better. That is the most important part.
Here are three reasons why you don’t need to have SMS skills:
1) Mobile phones are an inefficient way to answer reference questions.
Texting on a phone is not and will never be faster than typing on a computer. Mobile data speeds will never be faster than internet speeds. Phone processors will never be faster than computer processors. Even if you send and receive twice as many text messages per day than the average American teenager, it doesn’t mean everyone else does and you still will not be able to help patrons faster.
2) You have and use a computer connected to the internet.
You don’t need a gadget along side the computer you use at the reference desk. If your library just bought a phone and signed a 2 year contract so you could offer text messaging reference, I’m sure there’s an element of excitement about having the phone at the library. The form factor is cool, but you don’t need a phone, you just need the computer you’re already using.
3) There are better things you can do with your time to be of great assistance to patrons.
In a glance at five job posts/descriptions for reference librarians, there are three keywords that I found show up consistently: research, resources and experience. Patrons need you to help them find information, they don’t need you to be a good texter.
Our belief in this is why we chose the tagline “Patrons text questions. Librarians type answers.” Text a Librarian’s technology enables libraries to implement text messaging reference at their libraries without SMS skills. Patrons have those skills, but if you don’t, you’re not alone and we’re here to help.
