Have you ever used any online meeting or online conferencing tools?
Yes - not always with a library.
If so, which ones?
Skype - my sister was studying abroad in England...this was much less expensive than calling on the phone, Elluminate - used this for attending seminars and for library instruction, GoToMeeting - used this to learn about different things (mostly database demos), and a few others. I took a few online classes through Texas A&M and we had a weekly discussion where we used a virtual conference software (I can't remember which one).
Is your library currently using any of these tools in conjunction with staff or patrons?
Yes. We use Elluminate to provide library user instruction to off-campus classes/students. I think it's very helpful for students. They can can ask/answer questions, do polls, learn, and watch it later if they want.
I would love to see this used more. I really like the idea of librarians sharing information. I think it would save some of us (those who have to pay for all associations/conferences out of our own pockets) a lot of money on travel and registration fees if there were more virtual conferences. (Plus, when there are a million slotted at the same time, you could watch the saved conferences later so you don't miss anything).
I really like the idea of the author visits via skype. I think that could be expanded to guest lecturers (maybe not for libraries, but for classrooms).
One of my coworkers introduced me to JoinMe earlier this summer. I have not had a chance to use it, but I really want to. She suggested that it comes in helpful during reference questions regarding technical issues because you can share screens. I think that would be so useful. I've definitely had weird stuff come up that takes FOREVER over the phone, that might only take a few minutes with JoinMe.
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