A Public Library Mosio patron writes, “We’ve been using Google Talk to notify us of new Text a Librarian questions. Now that Google Talk has been discontinued (and sort of replaced by Google Hangouts), we’re finding that Google Hangouts is not notifying us of new Text a Librarian messages. What do you recommend for a library […]
Tag Archives: Text Messaging Reference
25 Great Text Messaging Acronyms You May or May Not Need to Know for Your Text-a-Librarian Service
Do you speak text? Your patrons speak many languages, and you can’t learn them all. But one thing you can do to improve service to your patrons is familiarize yourself with some of the more common terms and phrases in their languages of preference. If your patron is text-savvy enough to be texting his or […]
Library Customer Service: Online vs. In-Person (Ask a Librarian Software vs. Asking a Librarian in Real Life)
Libraries, and the folks who work in them, solve problems for patrons by connecting them with the resources and information that they need. In today’s online world an ever-increasing amount of this help is taking place via the magic of the web and mobile technologies. Patrons are no longer face-to-face with the library staff who […]
Patron Relationship Management (PRM) – Mosio’s Future in Libraries
As we gear up for another ALA Annual the company has had some interesting discussions on new announcements and our directions in the world of library software. A couple of weeks ago I had a great meeting/conversation with one of our partners and the discussion of library customer service came up. At the end of […]
New! Simple but Effective Feature: Text for Instructions
“Aren’t you oversimplifying this? Yes. That’s the whole point.” From the Steve Krug’s new book, Rocket Surgery Made Easy We’ve added a simple, but very effective feature we call “Text for Instructions.” Simply stated, it means your patrons only have to text your keyword to 66746 for instructions on how to use your service. What happens […]
Why We Don’t Use Google Voice as an SMS Gateway
Google products are great and we use a handful of them at our office. But the question of using a “Google Voice SMS Gateway” for text messaging reference software has come up recently with regards to Mosio’s Text a Librarian, so we wanted to quickly explain why we don’t do it. The answer is simple: […]
Word of Mouth Marketing in Libraries – Info and Articles
Then and Now… Faberge Shampoo started it all with their famous commercial from the 1970s. Peggy Barber and Linda Wallace nail it in their new article, “The Power of Word-of-Mouth Marketing” in the November issue of American Libraries Magazine. We wrote a post called “Word of Mouth: The Best Form of Social Media” as part […]
Text a Librarian Video – Text Messaging Reference Software for Libraries
Progress As Promised – The Future Value of Software as a Service for Libraries
“Here is the prime condition of success: Concentrate your energy, thought and capital exclusively upon the business in which you are engaged. Having begun on one line, resolve to fight it out on that line, to lead in it, adopt every improvement, have the best machinery, and know the most about it.†– Andrew Carnegie […]
Start Pages as Library Virtual Reference Tools: Pageflakes and iGoogle
We realize that start pages have been talked about in the library community for several years. Michael Stephens wrote a great piece on start pages about 18 months ago (originally written in Computers in Libraries in April of 2007) and Dr. Joyce Valenza recently wrote a piece called “netvibes enhanced!” on the School Library Journal […]