In early June news broke that Google had acquired the embedded social media platform Meebo. Shortly thereafter, Google announced that on July 11 they would retire the Meebo Me Widget, a component of the service that supported online chat. This was unwelcome news to many libraries who used the Meebo Me widget to provide online chat reference services, including the Nebraska Library Commission.
The Commission had been using the Meebo Me Widget to offer chat reference service since October 2006. Because chat is an important part of our reference service, we started looking at replacement options right away. For us it was important to find a product that not only allowed us to embed chat boxes in several locations on our website but also allowed patrons to chat anonymously with our reference staff. Based on these criteria, in conjunction with a very small budget, we decided to go with LibraryH3lp.
Patrons shouldn’t notice a huge change in how LibraryH3lp works compared to the Meebo Me Widget. There is however a new feature you may find helpful. Depending on your question the librarian’s answer may include a lot of information, a book title, or even a URL or two. Instead of writing this information down or cutting and pasting it, patrons can email themselves a copy of the chat transcript. Here’s how: After completing your conversation with the librarian,click on the white envelope icon. It is located on the right side of the chat box above the area where you type. When prompted enter your email address. As with Meebo, this service is anonymous. We do not know your name unless you provide it and you will not know which reference staff member is answering your question unless we identify ourselves.
Please ask us a question and take LibraryH3lp out for a test drive. Currently you can find the chat box on the Ask A Librarian pages on both the Nebraska Library Commission and NebraskAccess websites. Don’t be surprised if you see it appear on a few other pages in the future.
