Slam the Boards: Librarians’ Outreach into Social QA Sites

摘要

Slam the Boards (STB) is a grassroots activity in which librarians visit social QA sites on the tenth of each month and answer as many questions as possible. Through this activity, librarians hope to represent librarianship at a new venue; encounter users beyond the library and provide well-sourced, dependable answers to people’s questions; and ultimately increase the public’s awareness of libraries. Semistructured interviews were conducted with participating librarians, examining their motivation, experience, and reflection. Findings of the study can help develop an in-depth understanding of STB and yield insights on how to efficiently and effectively promote library resources and services beyond the library.