ABSTRACT
The arrival of email and the internet in libraries in the early 1990s and their subsequent wholesale adoption to a point at which we can now barely remember what it was like to run libraries without them, has provided librarians with numerous opportunities and challenges. In today's online world, information can be communicated as text, audio, images or video; however, none of these formats is as rich or productive as face-to-face communication. Face-to-face communication will always have the edge over online communication as it allows us to convey information both verbally and non-verbally. The value and rewards reaped from face-to-face communication in terms of subsequent word-of-mouth recommendation and resultant service reputation are so startlingly obvious that it is a wonder that we spend as much time sitting in our libraries as we do. Inviting users to evaluate library websites, blogs or tools preferably on neutral rather than library territory is an excellent way of connecting with users.
