[DCRM-L] Virtual meeting technology being used by DCRM(G) editors

[Erin Blake]

Several people on this list have asked about the technology the DCRM(G) team is using to have our weekly virtual meetings, so I figured it was reasonable to send the information to the entire list, even though it's not strictly to do with rare materials cataloging.

Basically, we combine a conference call with desktop sharing software, so everyone can see the document being edited (or the AACR2 rule being looked up in Cataloger's Desktop, etc.).

We use join.me as the desktop sharing software. The presenter goes to https://join.me and clicks "Share" to install a desktop widget (no one else needs to install anything, just the presenter). You can un-install the widget after each session if you want, or you can keep it on the desktop.

Join.me also offers conference calling services (a phone number everyone can dial into), and I think the only catch is that people dialing in have to pay long-distance charges. Because we've never needed to bring in more than four outside people, we've just used the built-in conference call feature on the Folger phone system.

To start desktop sharing:
1. Click the "join.me" widget  on your desktop
2. Click "Share"
3. Copy-and-paste the resulting URL into an e-mail that you send to everyone in the group (don't send it to a publicly-viewable list unless you want anyone who stumbles across it to be able to see what's on your desktop during the session)
4. When the recipient clicks on the link, it will open a browser window showing the presenter's desktop

Features:
-- "Chat" (speech-balloon icon) lets participants type messages everyone or a specific person can see (usually used by us to say "My phone died, can you call me back?")
-- "Pause screen" (radio-wave icon) lets the presenter freeze the view in its current state so he/she can quickly check their e-mail without other people knowing
-- "Participants" (head-and-shoulders icon) shows who is participating (to change from showing up as "Viewer Serial Number" to "Your Name" just click on your line and type in whatever name you want)
-- "Share control" (mouse icon that looks like an acorn) lets control of the presenter's desktop be shared with any participant. For example, instead of dictating to the presenter while he/she types, the person with the great idea for a re-write can request to share, then use their keyboard and mouse to type on the presenter's screen (bonus hint: I installed join.me on my mum's computer, and now if she gets muddled and afraid to click on something she phones me, e-mails me a link, and we talk it through while I click and type the right things)

The catch:
As far as I can tell, there isn't a serious catch, even though it's free. I searched around to see if there were complaints of people at join.me secretly taking control and hacking into computers, but there's nothing bad out there. They make their money from "Join.me Pro" which allows you to schedule meetings (instead of sending the URL at the moment you're ready to share), customize the look, share presenting (instead of just sharing one desktop), and other things our group doesn't particularly need.

I guess the other catch is that if your internet connection is slow, there's an annoying delay between when the presenter does something and when you can see it at a distance.

Hope this helps.

If you have any questions, please let me or anyone else on the DCRM(G) team know.

     EB.

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Erin C. Blake, Ph.D.  |  Curator of Art & Special Collections  |  Folger Shakespeare Library  |  201 E. Capitol St. SE  |  Washington, DC 20003-1004  |  office tel. (202) 675-0323  |  fax:  (202) 675-0328  |  eblake at folger.edu  |  www.folger.edu



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