Thing # 7.4: Web Conferencing

It was interesting to listen to Tom Peters talk about the use of web-conferencing by librarians and in libraries. He pointed out that basically this is a way for people to meet online in lieu of an "in-person" meeting. Libraries can use web-conferencing for meetings, workshops and even for public programming for patrons. This is an interesting idea: providing mini "webinars" for patrons interested in learning to use various library services and/or resources. I can see that being a well-used service in our busy metropolitan branch, with our patrons being very computer-savvy and interested in learning to use our databases, MNLINK database for ILL requests, and other resources. Web-conferencing and workshops might be a good way to meet the needs of our home-bound patrons who want to participate in our programs, but have difficulty getting to the library.