Had an interesting time exploring the Web 2.0 award winners. I wasn't able to really check out a few I was interested in because I don't have the newest, latest and greatest version of Flash installed on this particular terminal. I wanted to try out Frappr and Guess the Google, but without Flash 9, I seem to be out of luck. These are the problems one encounters when using random terminals for 23 Things.
I did manage to check out the Cocktail Builder - and wasn't terribly impressed with it - it's a nifty concept, but doesn't work as well as I had hoped a Web 2.0 Award Winner would.
Disappointed with the Cocktail Builder, I ventured over to Yahoo Answers - wow. That's a site that lets everyone feel like an expert. Users can ask questions - about nearly anything, and other users can answer, based on whatever knowledge they have. One question can have many answers - and visitors to the site can give a "thumbs up/thumbs down" review to any answer they wish to. It's an interesting concept, and in terms of 'raw functionality', yes, it does work. The biggest question here is: are these respondents any good? I think the term "hit or miss" accurately describes the responses that one might recieve on Yahoo Answers. Nevertheless, it is certainly interesting to read the responses (and questions).
Is there any use for YahooAnswers in the library? I don't really think so. In fact, it kind of goes against all my instincts as a reference librarian, since very few of the respondents can offer any sort of citation, and most seem to be answering out of personal experience (which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but as we all know YMMV (your mileage may vary). But there is a certain rubbernecking kind of entertainment factor...
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