Thing #7.3: Text Messaging (SMS—Short Message Service)

I've often asked friends and family who are avid texters, "why text?" I never really understood what the advantages were to texting (over e-mail or even phoning!) After reading the material in this section, I have a better understanding of what texting, or SMS is. I can see that it is a more private, less disruptive and less time-consuming than a phone call and a more efficient, to the point way of communicating.

The article on using SMS in libraries was interesting to me. I think it's a great idea that patrons would have the option to be notified that their items are in - via texting. Also, providing reference services via texting is a great idea. Again, it might be a challenge to come up with enough staff to provide these services like SMS reference and IM. But with the rise in texting (and perhaps the fading away of traditional e-mail), we librarians will need to be open to meeting the needs of customers who prefer to communicate with us in these newer ways.