IM-ing

I have used IM-ing in my library work. When I recently cataloged a large collection at UNL on LibraryThing, I used instant messaging to have someone help me do the Russian cataloging. I trained my computer camera on the title page of each Russian book and my Slavic-cataloger friend at Berkeley transliterated each title, author and publisher and, together, we found records on OCLC for each item. That helped me to determine which library's catalog to search in LibraryThing (LT), so I didn't have to click endlessly around in LT to find which library might hold these obscure titles.







Here are a couple of screen shots from the project ...










Other than that, I IM with several people, non-work-related. My son loves to click on the emoticons while I do it, so he can even join in though he's too young to write. It's good for adding a private comment to a conversation if someone is within earshot of a phone or Skype conversation you're having.