Thing 34! Is it Competition? Online Answer Sites

1 How do you get rid of a chest cough?

2. When does fall semester start at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah?

3. Does anyone still use a VCR?

4. What caused Amy Grant and Gary Chapman to divorce?

5. What books can you recommend for a 3 year old?

The above questions were some that I found on sites I explored in Thing 34 today. At a public library, they may not be unusual questions, but at our college library I am more likely to be asked if I can refill paper in the printer or help someone with the copy machine. Finding "instant answers" is motivation for people to use popular Internet sites. Other questions I found like "How do you find true love?" seemed to be something that one might post, but not ask a reference librarian. After browsing many sites, I have a better appreciation of them. Not all were satisfying to me. The ChaCha one was interesting for the many types of questions. At the SnappyFingers site which searches frequently asked questions, I had to ask about six questions before finding one with an answer. The one that I thought of that finally was answered was "What date will Easter be on in 2010?." I did ask a reference question of the Library of Congress, so will be interested to see if I have an answer in my e-mail in a few days. (Update: I had a response in less than 24 hours). While asking several questions, I did not try to answer any, so should try that soon.

For some questions, the collective wisdom of the responders may be more helpful than asking one reference librarian. The accuracy of the answers can be an issue. Slam the Boards is something I enjoyed reading about, and want to explore more.

The readings for Thing 34 on the future of reference were fascinating. I liked the one by Scott Carlson of the University of California - Merced from the Chronicle of Higher Education. I also enjoyed reading the views of Helene Blowers who is credited with the 23 Things, and enjoyed learning more about the origin of the project. It was interesting to me that she mentioned RSS as one of the most important when I have recently been reading of the predicted decline of RSS. At our college, the reference desk changed in the last few years. Although we still have a presence at the circulation desk, I found agreement with the article talking about our "reference questions" now having more to do with computer and printer problems. With the proliferation of Internet answer sites as explored in Thing 34, I will be interested to see the future of reference as libraries continue to evolve.





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