Skype and instant messaging are a cheaper way for people to communicate with colleague; love ones and friends. Using Skype is just like talking to each other face to face and I use it to keep in touch with friends and family who live interstate.
I am an external student living in Melbourne so to communicate with my group members for assignment 2,  would be difficult. So to be able to use Skype as a way for us to communicate is fantastic. My group finally got together on Skype after we both recovered from illnesses.
Using Skype was very easy but we had technical issues with sound. It did not stop us discussing assignment 2 using the SMS section of Skype. The other advantage of Skype over emails is that you get to know your group members in a more informal setting. For example with both enjoy doing cross-stitch. The outcome of this is good cooperation for assignment 2 and friendship after Inn333 is over. Overall the experience of using Skype was very rewarding and at the end of the session we had the framework done for assignment 2.
Many libraries provide instant messaging and VoIP reference services, how would you feel about communicating with patrons this way? Do you think uses would have different service expectations when they use these tools?
[Skype] and instant messaging are a cheaper way for people to communicate with colleagues; loved ones and friends. Using Skype is just like talking to each other face to face and I use it to keep in touch with friends and family who live interstate.
VoIP
[Wikipedia] Is the voice over Internet Protocol that allows communication over the Internet.
Instant Messaging in Libraries:
[Educause]Â Instant messages is the way people can communicate through personal computers or mobile computing devices.
With the budgetary restraints and libraries having to justify themselves within an organization, the use of instant messaging and Skype would go long way to help them achieve this. It would allow communication between branch libraries to go more smoothly.
Communicating with patrons using instant messaging and VoIP reference tools would be a bit confronting for me at first. That is always the case when you learn to use new technologies in the work place for the first time. At first you always worry about being to slow or not providing the right information to the users.
If the user is not happy with the answer or the service provided they will not came back and use the service. Unhappy users would not recommend the service to others and this in the long run would affect the Library service has a whole.
On the other hand I would realize the benefit of instant messaging and VoIP to provide a more compressive library service to everyone including:
 House bound
External users
Interstate and overseas users
Library Help Desk – to be able call for assistance.
I do not think that users have different expectation using VoIP reference services or instant messaging over face to face encounters. All users expect great and prompt service from their Library and this will not change by using VoIP reference services and instant messaging  are just another way for Libraries to increase good quality services to users.
Jennifer Diggens 