Instructions for Accessing ACRL OnPoint

While not necessary, ACRL recommends creating a Meebo account for the best experience while participating in ACRL OnPoint discussions/events. Creating a Meebo account is quick and easy. Simply follow the directions below!

1.     Navigate to http://www.meebo.com. Trouble accessing http://www.meebo.com? See troubleshooting tips below. On the right hand portion of the page, you’ll find a sign-in box for Meebo. Click “sign up” in this box (see graphic below) and you’ll be taken to the new account registration page.

2.      On the sign up screen, enter the desired meebo id (username) and password you would like to use to access your account. Once finished, click Next to continue.

3.      On the next page you’ll be asked for your Full Name, Email, Gender and Age.  Ata minimum we ask that you fill in your Full Name and Email address. The other bits of information are not necessary to create a Meebo account. Once your information has been entered, simply click the “Create Meebo Account” button at the bottom of the window detailed below. You may be asked for additional information, such as the login and password for AIM, Yahoo IM, MSN Messenger and Google Talk. These are not necessary for full participation in ACRL OnPoint and can be entered at your discretion. You will also be asked to refer friends to the service. Feel free to cancel out of this portion. No worries!  Your account will still be created even if you do not refer friends. You should now be signed into Meebo.

4.      The default interface of Meebo is to display the contact list on the right hand portion of the screen. By default, you should have a personal room on your contact list (contact lists will vary dependant upon what additional IM services you have setup to use through Meebo). At the bottom of the main page you will see a search dialog box.

Using this, you are able to search for group chat rooms, such as ACRL OnPoint. Simply enter ACRL OnPoint into the dialog box and click the magnifying glass. At the time of this writing only one single room existed with the name “ACRL OnPoint.” You can clearly identify our main chat room by the following logo:

5.      Double click on ACRL OnPoint in the search results and you will be connected to the chat room. See a screenshot below.

 6.      ACRL recommends using the “Become a Member” option for permanently adding the room to your contact list if you plan to participate in ACRL OnPoint discussions regularly. Doing so will eliminate any future need to search for the room.

7.      In the future, you’ll be able to quickly select the ACRL OnPoint room from your contact list and be instantly connected with your peers.

Please note: ACRL OnPoint will be using a third party service through Meebo.com to conduct group discussions. As the meetings are public, we highly discourage posting personal information such as your member number to the main discussion board. If you need to communicate this information to another individual in the chat, please make use of the private message function. Doing so will keep your message from appearing in the public log files.

Troubleshooting:

Recently members have had issues connecting with Meebo due to firewall restrictions.  In the event that you are unable to connect to Meebo from your workplace, you may wish to try connecting via https://www.meebo.com to the service.  Some companies and universities have blocked access to Meebo from their networks.  As such, you may be unable to circumvent any current network restrictions in place using the above method.  In the event that the site is blocked on your workplace network, please contact your local IT department and request access to the service.

Additional resources for using Meebo:

If you need additional help on a specific topic, Meebo has created an excellent resource at http://blog.meebo.com/help. Please visit this page for troubleshooting and other issues with using your Meebo account.

See you online!