Were we surprised when we came across this article about Yahoo Answers on ABCNews.com? Sadly, the answer is no. What is very upsetting is that there is not one mention of any type of library virtual reference service be it email, phone, or chat. Sure, in some cases Yahoo Answers might be just what the user is looking for (I guess) but once again the hard work that libraries and librarians provide gets overlooked. A tip of the cap to fee-based xrefer that offers direct links to library reference services on each of their results pages.

NOTE from Gary:
As a member of the Ask.com team, it’s my hope that we will work directly and indirectly with the many library-based virtual reference services moving forward so the public can have a reminder that these services are available. I would welcome your suggestions (email:gary.price@ask.com) on how we can achieve these goals.

See Also: For those of you unaware of virtual reference services (most often totally free of charge), this article has much more, including examples. Virtual reference can run from telephone and email question answering to 24×7x365 online chat with a professional librarian.

5 Quick Examples:
AskUsNow (State of Maryland, Statewide, 24×7x365)
AskNOW (State of California, Statewide, 24×7x365)
AskNow (Australia, Nationwide)
Ask a Librarian: Library of Congress
AskA+ Locator Service

See Also: Sloan’s Collaborative Live Reference Services Webliography

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