Friday, June 12, 2009

Thing 34. Is this Our Competition? Online Answer Sites

I think people like to use online answer sites because they are quick and easy. I also think, to a certain degree, people use these sites because they want answers from people who have experience with the subject. I realize that this is no true for all of the questions but in many cases “real life” advice can be more helpful. For example, if I have a parenting, gardening, or pet questions, I will look it up in a book; but the answer may not work the way the books says it should. Then I would go online and talk to people about how they handled those situations.

Many of the questions being asked on these sites would be better suited for a reference librarian. My feeling is that people may not realize what sort of online reference sources are out there. They use the sites that are heavily advertised instead of sites where they could receive higher quality information. Libraries have a great web presence and online services but often do not have the money to advertise these services. It seems to me that libraries will need to start aggressively marketing their online services in order to stay competitive. The Slam the boards events are a great example of this.

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