Yesterday we soft-launched our IM reference service here at the U of Calgary. We're using Meebo to handle all our accounts, and also chose it for the ability to use the MeeboMe widgets. Back when I did my screencasting seminar for the SirsiDynix Institute, Sarah Houghton-Jan asked a question that really stuck with me; "can you embed screencasts within databases so they're available to students right when they really need them?" And so what we've done with some of our widgets is embed them at various points within our catalogue (click through for full-sized images):
Another neat feature is that when we're logged in to Meebo, the name of the MeeboMe Widget the patron is using is displayed, so as soon as they pop online for a chat we know they're coming to us from the catalogue, which gives us a heads-up on the type of question or research they're currently doing. Now if only we could get these things into some of our databases - anyone have any ideas?
Technorati Tags: Meebo, IM
