Don Hawkins October 26th, 2009

No, not beehives, but hives as used in social reference services.  According to Margaret Smith, Physical Science Reference Librarian at New York University, hives are question and answer sites, where you can ask a question and get an answer.  They are something like the old STUMPERS list.  Some of these sites are moderated; others are not, and they take various forms.   Most are “staffed” by volunteers.

Here are some “hive sites”:

• Yahoo! Answers
• AskMetaFilter
• Library Society of the World FriendFeedRoom
• Wikipedia Reference Desk
• Wiki Answers
• BobstRef
• Newman Library Reference Blogs
• LibAnswers

If you want to build a hive, you need to decide what content goes into it (the “pollen”) and what reward or motivation will come out (the “honey”).  Who will staff your hive?  “Worker bees” (contributors)?  “Beekeepers” (supporters)?  And if your workplace hates bees, you don’t have to bring a hive into your organization:  you can “Slam the Boards”–go out to other people’s hives.

Hives.  What a great analogy to illustrate a new type of service! 

Don Hawkins
Columnist, Information Today, and  IL 2009 Blog  Coordinator

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