LibraryCrunch Visual Archive

It looks like one of Microsoft’s newest services is about to launch. We got to see this when I was out in Seattle in January but we were under a non-disclosure agreement. Called QnA, this new service will harness the expert in everyone (well, at least on one subject, right?) and offer answers to questions, much like Google Answers or Yahoo Answers. The new service goes into private beta soon, so I’ll write more about this as I get to test it. In the meantime, here are some screenshots courtesy of Microsoft: From Microsoft: This new Windows Live Search vertical offering will help consumers simply find what they need, from anywhere by providing a place for people to ask any question, get credible answers and vote on the quality of the responses on any given topic from a large community of helpful people, not just experts. This service will allow consumers to tap into the power of the online community by facilitating a melting pot of human knowledge that isn't easily accessible or available on the Internet today. Topics will range from business, health, arts, sports, technology and more. * Does ivy kill trees? * What's a good, inexpensive moving company in Seattle? * Any great ideas on getting motivated to exercise? * What's the best chocolate chip cookie recipe? Key features include: * In a one-to-many system, consumers may pose questions to the Windows Live QnA community, thereby creating a store of human knowledge containing facts, opinions and experiences on topics ranging from business, health, arts, sports, technology and more. * People then can rate answers and reputation-based scoring is available so you and others know which sources are most reputable. * Questions are tagged so others can easily find similar or related questions and answers to learn from * The ability to mark and remove inappropriate content Ultimately, QnA will be deeply integrated with Windows Live Search, providing a rich, integrated searching service - enabling you to search and find answers on the Web, or from experts on a given topic as part of a vertical search experience. Windows Live QnA beta is the latest example of our efforts to continue to redefine search to make it faster and more relevant for our consumers with live connections to information they want. We want to put the consumer in control of their search experience, customize it for their context, present search results in a usable format, and empower users to make their own choices. See also from SearchEngineWatch