27 April 2009

Thing 34 Is This Our Competition--Online Answer Sites

I just visited Snappyfingers, a site that puts FAQ questions & answers together & makes them available using a keyword search. This can be a very helpful place to go to get information on a variey of program/hardware specific questions - both by librarians and their patrons.

I've also visited Yahoo!'s answer site in the past, and found the ability for me to rate the answers given a nice feature.

I read the article on "lauren's library blog" on the future of the reference desk, and I must admit, I agree with most of the information she has mined from the articles she's read on the topic. There are many ways to provide reference services without a desk in the middle of the reference books. I have heard many good things that are happening in the "libraries" of SecondLife for reference. Web2.0 has many things that can be, and have been, adapted for librarians to use, so why not make use of them??

I really like the idea of Slam the Boards! I'll have to make a real effort to particpate in this effort. It is very important for reference librarians to be more vocal in their knowledge, & to promote their resources & services - I see this as a great way to do so!

20 April 2009

Thing 33 - Travel 2.0

I took a look at a few of the "Travel 2.0" sites on this thing's article (TravelAdvisor, Wines & Times, Boo), and I didn't really learn/see anything I hadn't known before. I really do not see many applications for library use, except perhaps if patrons come in and need help planning a trip and they wish to use the internet to do so. But even this use is not a major one, since so many people already know about the many travel sites like Travelocity and Yahoo travel that also have reviews and other features these Travel 2.0 sites offer. So I really don't see the need for library staff to have a lot of knowledge and experience with them.

I can see the usefulness of some of these travel sites for people planning a trip, but the ones I looked at all had quirks. They quirkiness mostly comes from not being well known, and the reviews and ratings of hotels or attractions are very low. I looked up Washington D.C. on Boo.com and The White House as an attraction only had 3 people review their visit there. It is really hard to see the value of a place with only 3 ratings!