This discourse analysis study examines the use of online texts in the live conversations of adolescents at and around computers in the Young Adult section of a Midwestern public library serving a diverse SES population. On the cusp of cyberspace, where online texts influence conversation and the conversation influences the creation of online texts, the adolescents in this investigation were found to use the text for their talk in five ways: reference, authority, experience, expression, and instrument. These techniques are delineated and connected to classroom teaching. The conclusion of the article focuses on the broader teaching implications as they relate to these teens' literacy practices at computers in the library. (Contains 1 figure.)