Oh my, I started instant messaging a long long time ago, 1998. Before we married, my husband and I conducted a very long distance relationship with the help of AOL's IM. He was in UK I was in TX. I don't IM as much as I used to, I think I burnt out. I do have IM capabilities through Yahoo and I have used the Facebook chat option.
For libraries I think IM is a great way to provide virtual reference and assistance. At my library we offer general chat reference and the subject librarians have virtual presence for subject specific reference. What I love are the questions from users inside the library, "I'm on 6th floor, where do I find X?" just as much as users who are IMing from home. It's all about getting to where our users need information and assistance--point of need! (sorry I've been reading a lot about virtual reference for my class) :) Also, it's fantastic for users who live miles away from a library, feel uncomfortable communicating orally on the phone, and who simply prefer to be more anonymous.
So my current IM service is Yahoo Messenger and my username is viaggio74.
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