slamming the boards wnylrc

Slamming the Boards

WNYLRC Lunchtime Learning WebinarDecember 4, 2009Bill PardueArlington Heights Memorial Librarybpardue@ahml.info

What are boards and why should I slam them?

Boards = “Answer Boards” = Online Q&A sites where users post questions and hope that other members of the public will provide answers.

May include voting for “best answers” Perhaps some of these questions could be

better answered by librarians?

Slamming

Visiting answer boards and giving answers Promoting the fact that a librarian answered

the question Providing a link to help users find their own

libraries, VR services, etc.

How did it come about

Conversation at 2007 Collaborative VR Conference in Denver

Chose 9/10/2007 as a start date Decided to send out monthly reminders to

participate on the 10th of each month.

Support Site

http://answerboards.wetpaint.com Follow the “Slam the Boards” link on the left. Register as a participant, start a discussion,

etc.

Challenges

Finding suitable questions to answer Deciding what boards to frequent Finding the time to do it! Accepting that you’re helping raise

awareness of librarianship in general, probably not helping your specific patrons.

Who’s doing/done it?

Librarians in US, UK, Australia... Entire Enquire (UK) service

http://answerboards.wetpaint.com/page/Participating+Librarians

How do I participate?

Rule #1—Just do it! Add your name to the participating librarians’

list if you’re interested. Try to set aside a little time to pick up a few

questions. No one’s tracking you or keeping count. No

pressure!

Participating, cont’d

If you can’t make it on the 10th, pick any time that works.

If you can do it more often, even better!

Strategies

Look in categories in which you have some expertise, geography-specific, etc.

Consider setting up alerts, RSS feeds, etc. (varies based on the boards you watch)

Use a footer/signature you can paste into your replies so you can promote quickly & easily. Keep it in a text file on your desktop.

Don’t limit yourself

Doesn’t just have to be Yahoo, Askville, etc. Look for local discussion boards, newspaper

comment threads, etc., anywhere that might be a place you can provide answers.

Lets look at some boards!

http://answerboards.wetpaint.com/page/Registry+of+Answer+Boards