by Gillian Taber

Created on: June 19, 2009

The simple answer to the question is that Answers.com is a website where you can find answers to your questions. Of course, it is more than that and surfing onto the website will show you exactly how much more.

The homepage is headed by an empty space into which you can type your question. Asking 'What is the highest possible IQ?' sends you to a Wiki Answers page with a one-line answer ('we don't know' - if you are interested). All very simple and straightforward but that question could have been typed into Google and returned hundreds of answers, so why choose Answers.com?

Answers.com isn't just a one trick pony. Not only do they have an online dictionary and thesaurus, they have access to various online reference sites which will return more answers to your question. Their reference library covers sixteen different categories which are laid out very much like Helium.com (Religion and Spirituality for example).

Clicking on a category in the reference library (in this case, Animals) takes you to a list of available reference pages. These pertain to a particular category of animal or to a Zoological Glossary. Clicking on the glossary gives you an almost bewildering array of choices and it is probably easier to ask your question in the search bar than to spend time wading through the long lists.

The front page also offers a variety of news and events pertinent to the day. Famous birthdays, today in history and word of the day all offer interesting diversions. Answers.com is very obviously a part of Wiki Answers as most of the results returned come firstly from Wiki Answers. Answers.com is more a gathering point for all the information than an actual resource in itself. A little like a catalogue for answers where you can pick and choose who to go with (and who to trust).

Perhaps the most interesting part of the site is the interaction by the community. Questions can be asked and answered in the forum. Whether these answers are reliable is for the individual to judge. As with most forums, there are some people who take it seriously and some who delight in misinformation and Loki-like mischief.

Answers.com is not the most user-friendly if you are looking for certain sections and it can take a little while to locate the part of the site you are looking for. Entering a question into the search bar and highlighting the Community Q & A section appears to be the quickest way to get to the forum. The forum isn't particularly impressive (and is once again referenced to Wiki Answers) and seems aimed at a younger demographic than those seeking answers to weighty questions. One sub-forum is entitled 'Kontributor Kudos' and perhaps no more need be said.

The other interactive part of the site involves users answering the questions asked, especially if a question has not been answered at all. Below any result you may see returned there is a section that asks if you can answer a series of questions that are currently empty. Again, whether the quality of these answers is reliable is debatable. Users may want to turn to more academic sources for serious questions and use Answers/Wiki Answers.com for the fun stuff.

Overall, Answers.com doesn't present itself as a particularly easy to use, reliable reference site and it is probably simpler to type the question into Google and find a well-known, expert source if you want your answers.

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