Answerland's Weblog
Librarians in Oregon are designing a multi-type virtual reference service to bring librarians to patron desktops all over the state. But there's a lot to decide. Our weblog highlights crucial issues and offers Oregon librarians a place to contribute their insight.









 

We Wonder about Wondir

Is it better to ask an information professional? Or a professional with information? The Wondir service is betting people will prefer the latter and has created a service that allows people to ask questions of others.

Wondir offers a search function, the option to post your question to a running ticker where someone can pick it up, and links to experts you can email.

We tried asking a reference question we got in Answerland today: Can you find the text from the Rufus Griswold preface to Volume III of The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe?

The search results included a link to the online text of Volume III, but the Griswold preface was not included. We knew that before we asked, so that wasted our time. There was also a Poe biography which was not what we wanted. The other links were strange: a PDF file with information for the deaf and hard of hearing, something about Braille, and something about international negotiations. The suggested "experts" were even stranger: SpamFork who does Internet marketing, Tech Guy who builds large software systems, and American Pit Bull Registry who promotes Pit Bull recognition. Global warming was offered as a related news story.

Makes you wonder who's gonna Wondir very long. Try it yourself at www.wondir.org.


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Last update: 4/16/2003; 8:54:52 PM.