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!