Philipp, would you term Y! Anwsers , a powerfull method of community research ?? What is yoour opinion ?
I still remember that the Stephen Hawking question, got about 15,000 comments with 48 hrs. That is, hecka lot of traction within knowledge Mngt!! |
That was a special case though. Not to say that Y! Answers isn't a useful tool. I think it is great. |
It's nice for people who can't use Google properly.
Maybe you should check : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox |
i am at level 2 in Yahoo Answers and if you take active part in it everyday surely you can come to level 4 within 2 months ......... |
Not bad. Google Answers usually seem to be cross-referenced though, it's got a slightly different target/ethos. With the answers you get there, you can go visit the references to verify the veracity of what is said, with Yahoo Answers it seems it's basically equivalent to asking a question on a blog. You might get gold, you might get lead. You might not even know the difference. |
Do most of you realize that just about every library in the U.S., U.K., Australia, and many other countries offer 24x7x365 online chat reference research? It's free.
Of course, this is in addition to email and phone reference. Even the Library of Congress offers these services.
If you have reference need where a library research might be of us and want to talk to a research expert who can also provide you with access to fee-based databases (many libraries offer them) you might want to take a look at these services. Co-browsing in some cases too!
Examples: http://www.sfpl.org/sfplonline/asklibrarian.htm Look for the "Live Online Reference" link.
http://www.loc.gov/rr/askalib/
Australia's AskUS Service http://www.nla.gov.au/infoserv/askus.html
Btw, as Philipp knows most public libraries offer FEE-BASED full text databases for free. Every library offers different resources. All you need is a library card. More here: http://www.betanews.com/article/Finding_Answers_Beyond_Web_Search/111824
For example, some libraries offer free full text access to every article ever published in the NY Times, back to volume 1, no 1. Full image too!
Also, libraries offer (Remotely) full text books (no limit on how much you can read) and dowloadable audio books. |
Gary: Libraries need to market better :-(.
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Seth: I hear you and you are 100% correct.
In fact, this is a problem long before you, I, or any of us were born. That said, if people did some research on their own, they would be amazed at what's available for free.
Of course, as you know, we try our very best to promo some of these services on ResourceShelf and now on this new Ask.com page that will offer much more as the year moves forward: http://about.ask.com/en/docs/about/garyprice.shtml
Btw, it's not only libraries but other information vendors. One example.
ebrary.com http://www.ebrary.com
This is a service that sells its services to libraries and is often available for free. It digitizes books. Full text, full image.
However, if your library doesn't offer the service, you can get access to part of it for free. http://shop.ebrary.com
This service offers more than 20,000 books, sheet music, etc. Full text searchable, NO limit on how much you can read. All you need to due is put some money ($5/U.S.) will do the trick on a deposit account. Then, free to search and read. Pay only to copy/print page (about 25 cents/U.S.) per page.
ebrary is run by Christopher Warnock. If that last name sounds familiar, he is the son of the founder of Adobe.
Thanks to Philipp for allowing me to share. |
Yes, i have been using it for various purposes like finding out more about my car problem to all the way of asking for opinions. Its been pretty impressive.
As a matter of fact, i have lately taken to answering some queries myself.
- Me |