IM Reference Frequently Asked Questions
- What is Instant Messenger (IM)?
- Who am I chatting with?
- Who can IM Hostos reference librarians?
- Can I text you from my cell phone?
- I don’t want to download anything, sign-up for anything, or use my cell phone.
- What software do you use, and why?
- What questions do you answer?
- How are IM conversations different from Face2Face conversations?
Instant Messenger allows you to connect to anyone, anywhere in the world, for a real-time text-based conversation. It's chatting .. you may already have a device installed on your machine for IM... (yahoo, msn, aol) or you can use our ready made chatting feature through our widget.
Who am I chatting with?
You'll be chatting with real human reference librarians. We all take turns logging into IM, so you probably won't chat with the same person every time.
Who can IM Hostos reference librarians?
IM Reference is intended for Hostos students, faculty, and staff.
Can I IM you from my cell phone?
If your cell phone has IM capabilities, add us to your buddy list and send us a message. Whenever you log into your IM account (from your cell phone, or a computer, or anywhere your IM software is installed), you’ll be able to see whether we’re online, and if we’re available, you can ask us a research question. Although the Hostos Library does not charge any fee for this service, your phone might charge you for IM (just as they charge you for voice calls and text messages). Please check with your cell phone carrier as we not responsible for any charges you incur while using this service.
I don’t want to download anything, sign-up for anything, or use my cell phone.
We have a chat widget on our site (http://www.hostos.cuny.edu/library/hcc/help.asp) you can use to IM us without logging into an account of your own.
What software do you use, and why?
We don’t endorse any particular companies. We know our Hostos community uses a lot of different IM clients, so we’ve signed up for some popular ones. If you’re on-campus and you’d like to suggest we sign-up for additional accounts, please email us at reflibrarian@hostos.cuny.edu.
What questions do you answer?
--> Help defining your research topic
--> Help beginning your research
--> Librarians will point you to which databases to use for your research.
--> Tips on searching specific databases
--> Librarians will help you check Hostos library holdings
--> Help with verifying a citation
--> Explanation of library services and policies
How are IM conversations different from Face2Face conversations?
IM conversations tend to be less formal than Face2Face conversations. We know you expect quick responses, and so that's our goal. If we don't answer right away, please be patient. We might be in another chat conversation, or assisting a person face2face. We will answer you as soon as we can.
