Hi everyone,

I’ve had a few questions about the display of Queues & Buddies in the Pidgin chat window. 

Each queue is essentially a channel within the overall LibraryH3lp chat network. The channel that everyone uses and is connected to is ask-a-librarian-general.

Some people/departments have also set up their own individual queues, which means that not everyone is connected to those queues. However as part of the bigger chat network, they do “light up” up in the overall Queues list when they’re active.

Your Buddies list appears below the Queues. Buddies show you which other library chat operators are online with you.  A chime sounds when anyone signs on or off.  Also displayed in the Buddies list is the LibraryH3lp “don’t delete me” message, which we need in order for the system to work.

To avoid confusion between Queues & Buddies, you may wish to minimize the Queue display. You can do this by clicking on the tiny box beside the Q in the Queues heading. This will collapse the list. I’ve attached a screenshot to illustrate.

If you have any other questions, please let me know.

Betty

Betty Braaksma, MLS CUA

Usability Liaison Librarian/Virtual Reference Coordinator

University of Manitoba Libraries