Method #9--Chat and IM

Ages ago I used to use AIM on a fairly regular basis.  Seems like I mostly used it with my immediate family.  However, we all stopped using it at some point.  Cell phones, and in particular phone texting, have now replaced IM.  Texting seems like just another version of IM.  Although I do have a Google account, I don't use gmail or AIM, and I really don't want to start.  I did do a short chat with Naomi one evening with MeeboMe on the 12-Step page.   I always thought chatting was fun, but really have no opportunity to do it now.  I could be very excited to have chat capability from my library webpage for answering catalog and reference questions.  However, currently Meebo is blocked at my school, so I'd have to talk tech into letting me have an account.  Also, personnel would be an issue.  This library is a one-woman show.  There are times I would be hard-pressed to keep up chat conversations, since I have multiple tasks to perform each day.  More importantly though, I would think that reference help would be more useful to students during the evenings when they are at home.  That would involve me setting a time I would agree to be online every night.  I might be willing, but it's hard to imagine students really making use of that service.  Don't most teenagers start their homework about 11:00 p.m.?  A Facebook account might be more useful, but again, it's blocked at school.  As I've progressed through this online workshop, I've realized more and more that many K-12 schools (at least mine) are dragging their feet when it comes to using current online technology.  Fear and over cautiousness are the apparent reasons.