The Reference Desk is now set up to use Meebo. Meebo does the same thing that Gaim does (which is what we’ve been using), namely combining multiple IM accounts into one interface, so we only have to run one program to allow people with different IM programs to contact us.

BUT (and that’s a big but), there’s a very special thing that Meebo does that programs like Gaim and Trillian do NOT, and that is providing an embedded “widget” allowing people to IM us without having any IM program installed. I’ve already set up a widget for Meebo on our Ask A Librarian page, so give it a click and see what it looks like.

The only thing that Meebo requires is logging into it through a web page and keeping that web page open. If you use Firefox, it’s just an extra tab and I’ve already configured Firefox to open the library website AND Meebo in two different tabs when Firefox is launched. Internet Explorer 6 doesn’t have tabs (and IE7 cannot run on Windows 2000 machines), so if you use Internet Explorer you’ll need to have two browser windows open–one for the library website/catalog and one for Meebo. I’m keeping the library website as the Home Page in IE and have added a link on the toolbar for Meebo. Since we’ve gotten used to having a separate application running with Gaim, it won’t be much different except that both windows will be Internet Explorer. My recommendation: use Firefox. 🙂

(For what it’s worth, Meebo widgets can also be seamlessly used in LibGuides, as you’ll be able to see by looking at my profile.)

(See http://meebo.com for more information about it.)

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