Meebo me

Meebo Me is is a social platform connecting users with their friends across the web. It began in 2005 as a browser based instant messaging program which supported multiple IM services, including Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, AIM, ICQ, MySpaceIM, Facebook Chat, Google Talk, CafeMom and others.

Meebo me is a widget that can be installed on any web page. A widget is aimply a piece of code that you can insert into your web page to display content. Meebo Me helps libraries offer patrons help where and when they need it, for example, on the Ask a Librarian web page or anytime a catalog or website research produces zero results. This allows people to IM you without being logged in or even registered with an IM services. Under the Meebo preference options, you have an option to create and customize a widget.

Duke University Medical Center Library began using Meebo in January 2007. The initial project was a soft rollout with no marketing while the librarians integrated Meebo into the daily reference workflow. A Meebo Me widget was embedded in the library's Ask a Librarian web page, Clinical Tools page, and Facebook page and on each public computer in the library using the Active Desktop feature. Usage has steadily increased. For a more complete list of libraries using Meebo, see the Library Success wiki at http://www.libsuccess.org. Forty-five libraries have listed Meebo or Meebo Me as a method for conducting IM reference

Features of Meebo

• Customize the Meebo background and text color.
• Display emoticons, or smiley faces, in your messages.
• Play a sound to alert you when you send or receive an instant message. This can be useful as you will probably want to leave the Meebo window open and start a new window or tab to continue using the Internet.
• Save your conversations. To view the chat log later, right-click on the buddy's name and select View Chat Log. One drawback is that chat logs can only be viewed by individual buddy name, not in one long chronological list, making them difficult to use for monitoring reference transactions or for training purposes.
• Select a custom buddy icon by clicking on the Meebo logo that appears next to your welcome message in the top left-hand corner.
• Block users who are not on your buddy list (not recommended if you are using this for virtual reference).
• Sign-in with an invisible status so others cannot see that you are online.
• Download a Firefox browser add-on that allows you to have visual notification when your buddies log-in or out or IM you. Another option is to have your buddy list embedded in your browser window. This offers you an easy way to share links and images by dragging and dropping them on a buddy name.

Although Meebo has only been around a few years (September 2005), it has quickly grown in popularity. In fact, Meebo reported that “in March 2008 more than 30 million people used Meebo to the tune of 5 billion messages”. While other IM service providers offer web-based IM, not many offer the same services and features as Meebo, including their aggregator function. True to their open source background, Meebo encourages users to submit applications built on their provided API, report bugs, and give suggestions. Ultimately, Meebo offers a lot of great services at a great price…free!