I was at a library Q&A session in Columbus last month and it totally changed how I ask for help online.

The speaker was a librarian who does research for people. She said a lot of questions she gets are too vague, like 'tell me about history.' She showed us how to rephrase them to be specific, like 'what were the main industries in my town in the 1940s?' I always just posted my broad questions here, but now I try to give way more context. Like, what I already looked up, or what exactly I'm stuck on. It gets way better answers. Has anyone else tried being super specific with their questions here? Does it work for you?

3 comments

3 Comments

julia_anderson6h ago

Ugh, sometimes vague questions spark the best discussions though.

ray_campbell465h ago

Honestly, they mostly just waste everyone's time.

nora1104h ago

Spark the best discussions" feels like a huge stretch. Vague questions usually just lead to people talking past each other about totally different things. That's not a good discussion, it's just a mess.