Helping Users Help themselves - Maximising LibAnswers Usage

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are a commonly seen feature on library websites. Most libraries provide a short list of FAQs on static HTML pages while others employ full-blown knowledge base systems that list the answers to hundreds of questions. In Aug 2010, the National University of Singapore (NUS) Libraries began using Springshare’s LibGuides. At the same time, we also moved from a static HTML list of FAQs to Springshare’s LibAnswers platform - a database driven knowledge base system enriched with Web 2.0 features. LibAnswers is a stand-alone but related module to LibGuides. It acts as a tool to allow students to e-mail or text questions to a librarian. LibAnswers tracks and organizes these questions. A librarian can then answer a question and add it to the knowledge base which is accessible through a widget which can be placed on a LibGuide or on a static HTML page. As an added benefit, LibAnswers has a reporting component which allows questions to be tracked and reported.