Internet Public Library

My friend JB at hogswallowing (link on the right of the main page) sends along word of the Internet Public Library, or IPL. (link)

Let’s say you’re interested in… astronomy. Go to the main page, find “Science and Tech” among the links on the left. Hover over it, then “Astronomy” pops up. Click to find links to all sorts of astronomy sources and Web pages.

Why is this better than Google? Because all these sources have been checked out by the library staff. So there’s a higher level of trust that you won’t be looking at some wacko’s Web site, where he claims that God put the twinkly lights in the sky 150 years ago.

But wait! There’s more!

Click the “Ask a Question” link, and you can fill out a form to ask any question you want. The library staff will look up the answer for you and get back to you.

[Before you go asking questions, you should check out their “Frequently Asked Research Questions” to see if yours has already been answered. (link) Actually, you should check it out anyway, even if you don’t have a question.]

God only knows how long they’ll be able to answer questions from random people on the Net. I mean, how can they possible keep up? And how can they deal with all the morons who are willing to ask idiotic questions as joke, even at the risk of killing a cool and free service? How, I ask you, how?