1. Its All Pidgin to Meebo Crystal Goldman University of Utah MPLA/ULA 2008 Conference Salt Lake City, Utah

2. Meebo v. Pidgin o Why not use traditional chat reference? o Why these programs? o Background of each o Features o Pros/Cons of each o Personal Recommendations

3. Deficiencies of Chat Reference o Multiple chat protocols that patrons might prefer to use o AIM, GoogleTalk, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, etc. o IM is single-user, and library reference departments are multi- user o Need one public identity, but multiple librarians

4. Why Pidgin and Meebo? o Free o Interface with embeddable widget o Trillian o Multiple chat protocols o libpurple o Programming library o Connects to/interfaces with all chat networks o Manages accounts and preferences

8. Meebo History o Created by Seth Sternberg, Elaine Wherry, and Sandy Jen in 2005. o Received funding from Sequoia Capital in December 2005 and Draper Fisher Jurvetson in January 2007 o Six chat protocols o Embeddable Meebo Me widget o Meebo Rooms to embed a chat room o Firefox extension, browser sidebar with buddy list http://www.meebo.com

13. Pidgin History o Formerly Gaim, created in 1999 by Mark Spencer o Dispute with AOL for their AIM naming trademark o Fifteen chat protocols o Allows developers to create their own custom plugin applications http://www.pidgin.im

15. Finch and Adium o Finch is the text-based version of Pidgin o Adium o Pidgins sister project for Mac OSX o Like Pidgin, it uses a plugin system o essential features provided through plugins http://www.adiumx.com

17. Meebo o Pros o Web-based o Accessible from anywhere with the internet o Simple user interface o Video/Audio Conferencing o Cons o Logging in bumps other users offline o Does not log chats from widget

18. Pidgin o Pros o Pidgin4lib - feature/plugin specifically targeted at library needs o Interfaces with Meebo widget using a plugin o Logs all chats regardless of origin o Cons o Complicated interface, high learning curve o Plugin system, must update manually o Must download to each computer o Portable app on USB drive o Windows only, must use a sister program in order to switch to Mac

19. Sources Consulted About Adium. (2006). Retrieved April 12, 2008, from http://trac.adiumx.com/wiki/AboutAdium About meebo: Instant messaging everywhere. (2008) Retrieved April 20, 2008, from http://www.meebo.com/about Adium. (2008) Retrieved April 5, 2008, from http://www.adiumx.com Casey, M. E. & Savastinuk, L. C. (2006) Library 2.0. Library Journal 131 (14): 40-42. M is for meebo: the meebo storylive and uncut. (2008) Retrieved April 16, 2008, from http://www.meebo.com/history Pidgin Portable. (2008) Retrieved March 31, 2008, from http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/pidgin_portable Portable Adium. (2008) Retrieved April 20, 2008, from http://www.freesmug.org/portableapps/adium Wells, C. A. (2003) Location, location, location: The importance of placement of the chat request button. Reference & User Services Quarterly 43 (2): 133-137. Retrieved March 7, 2008 from Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts. What is Pidgin? (2008) Retrieved April 5, 2008, from http://www.pidgin.im/about