Why can’t we just use a phone to handle SMS reference services? We get that question a lot. It is a great question seeing as mobile phones provide the “truest” form of SMS communications – similar to listening to a vinyl album on a record player. Our answer usually goes something like this: You can…BUT… […]
Tag Archives: SMS Reference
Library Marketing Tips, Part 1: Avoiding the Noise (Templates Inside)
2) Choose more than one method, include one you absolutely know will work. Prior to being in the mobile industry, I worked in internet advertising and guerrilla marketing, both when they were considered very new. I saw over 400 campaigns take place and always noticed one thing: the brands utilizing more than one method or […]
Beyond 160 Characters in the Library – Text Messaging Reference Doesn't Need to Be Limiting
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 […]
Reference Librarians: SMS / Text Messaging Skills Are Not Needed, Your Research and People Skills Are
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 […]