week 8 Answer boards and social searching

This is another application that I have often looked at and used but never thought of in a library environment and it was an eye opener.

I know many libraries have ask a librarian spots on their websites that patrons can email questions and I see this as another way of doing that but with the added bonus of input from the public as well. This could be in the form of helping with the question but also in the feedback. How often have we helped someone and thought I wonder how they went or did those books really help and could I have done better. Answer boards enable you to get that feedback and help you improve your skillset.

I can also see answer boards helping library staff gain some experience and improve their skills. A library could use answer boards to hone and improve the skills and knowledge of their staff (Preparation for those tricky questions always sent to the reference staff as well as practice at getting to the information faster which another blogger mentioned in their comments) Something to think about

Also I had fun with answering the questions and I'm curious how my answers will be received.