Last week, I started doing some work as an independent contractor for a company called ChaCha (click the link to go to their homepage). The company’s concept is really cool: say you’re out to dinner with friends and you’re arguing about who played Ross and Monica’s mom in friends. If you can’t settle it, text 242242 (yes, only 6 numbers. It spells ChaCha) on your cell phone and ask! A guide (like myself) will answer you back via another text message.
I like the concept for several reasons. One, it puts the human element back into information finding. How many times are we faced with automated systems now? ChaCha is the opposite of that! Also, you can ask questions like why is the sky blue or how do I play a C# on the trumpet? Besides that, if you’re lost and need directions, just ask ChaCha. (Ex: I’m at Nacogdoches and 410 in San Antonio. How do I get to Commerce St?) Plus, you don’t ever have to pay 411 fees again, since ChaCha is FREE.
Ok, now I sound like a commercial, but I really like the concept. The information really is free. As long as you have text messaging on your service, you can text ChaCha for free. So try it out! Let me know what you think. I really want to know!
congrats on a job sweetie!! =) I will definitely try ChaCha out… hmm… when will Sarah & John be stationed in the US of A? 😉
awesome news on the job!;)
Hey, you’re on the cutting edge of reference services! I’m going to be doing similar work at the reference desk of the URI library this semester. It will be interesting to see what kind of impact private information retrieval services like ChaCha will have on libraries. I think this means we’re in competition with one another now ;).