Thing 14: Instant Messaging / Meebo (Week of 3/16)

This week's topic is Instant Messaging.

Instant Messaging (IM) is a brief, real-time tool which allows you to send short messages via the Internet--similar to texting, but on your computer. Of course, IM is only really "instant" if the person you are contacting is available at that moment--but you can determine that before you send a message.

Some libraries are using IM as another way to make contact with their patrons. For example, visit http://www.orlandparklibrary.org/ask.htm to see how Orland Park Public Library invites patrons to IM staff on their "Ask a Librarian" page, in addition to offering the more conventional methods of phone and e-mail. Here at La Grange Noël uses IM to keep in touch with her teen patrons. Take a look at http://www.lagrangelibrary.org/lagrange/yaservices.asp and scroll down the page to see her IM widget.

This week's Tech Play Exercise:

In this exercise you will set up an IM account and practice sending a message.

1. Set up a Google Talk IM account. Go to http://talk.google.com/. Click on the blue Download Google Talk button. (If you have trouble, you may have to allow pop-ups by clicking on the pop-up toggle button on your tool bar.) Follow the steps on the Download Wizard. At the sign-in box, click on "Don't have an account." Fill in the required information for a user account. Create your "desired username." This is what your friends will see when you send them an IM. It's a good idea to scroll through the user agreement.
2. Click on the Accept button.
3. Read the information page if you want. Then Launch Google Talk. Look for the grey "word bubble" icon to appear on your task bar (in the lower right corner of your screen). The words "Google Talk" should appear when you let your mouse hover over the icon. (Hint: If you don't see the icon, click on the white arrow to see more options.)
4. Now you're ready to add a Friend so you can begin IM-ing. Click on the "Add" button in the lower left corner. Type over the highlighted Sample Friend in the box by replacing it with lgpublib@gmail.com. This will invite Noël to be your Google Talk Friend. When she opens her IM account and finds your invitation, she will accept and write back.
5. Post a message to your blog. Were you able to IM in real time to Noël, or someone else on staff? (Real-time messages, faster than e-mail, are the real point of IM.) Did you find it handy?
   

Note: Remember, with this account you can only IM other people who have set up G-mail
accounts through Google.

Challenge:
If you want to IM friends who don't have Google IM accounts, you can use an aggregator such as Meebo. Wikipedia calls Meebo "an...instant messaging program which supports multiple IM services." Go to http://www.meebo.com/ and click on "Sign Up Now." Enter a Meebo ID (the name you want your friends to see). Choose a password and confirm it. Keep in mind that you need to set up accounts with Yahoo, AIM, etc. (by clicking on those buttons and following their directions) if you want to IM with friends who have those accounts. Try this with a friend who has a non-Google account. You can IM Jeannie at her Yahoo account: dilgerh.