I just had the following IM conversation. (Other person’s IM name withheld)
[07:34] xxxxxxxxxxxx: Good Morning
[07:37] msauers: Sorry, not recognizing your IM name…
[07:37] xxxxxxxxxxxx: It’s me DEBBIE
[07:38] xxxxxxxxxxxx: you know your sis in law
[07:38] msauers: Sorry, you’ve got the wrong person.
[07:38] xxxxxxxxxxxx: who is this?
[07:38] msauers: Michael Sauers, Aurora, CO
[07:38] xxxxxxxxxxxx: oh sorry
[07:38] msauers: no problem
[07:39] xxxxxxxxxxxx: have a great day
[07:39] msauers: you too
I’m not sure what the moral is here but I do find it polite to assume that someone contacting you via IM is not a spammer. You can always block them if they are. Also, I wonder how many other “msauers” there are out there. I’ve been using that username for more than ten years now so it’s not often I’m confused for someone else.
Michael Sauers is currently the Director of Technology for Do Space in Omaha, NE. Michael has been training librarians in technology for the past twenty years and has also been a public library trustee, a bookstore manager for a library friends group, a reference librarian, serials cataloger, technology consultant, and bookseller since earning his MLS in 1995 from the University at Albany’s School of Information Science and Policy. Michael has also written dozens of articles for various journals and magazines and his fourteenth book, Emerging Technologies: A Primer for Librarians (w/ Jennifer Koerber) was published in May 2015 and more books are on the way. In his spare time he blogs at travelinlibrarian.info, runs The Collector’s Guide to Dean Koontz Web site, takes many, many photos, and typically reads more than 100 books a year.
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