Its all in what you know: Internet information and expert referral services

The free flow of information, from those who knew to those who'd asked, was a core operating principle. Informal knowledge bases accreted over time in public FTP sites, gopher servers, and FAQs. Later, as the user-friendly Web came to overlay the native Net interface that only a nerd could love, online access became increasingly democratized and content more commercialized. Gradually, information-sharing became a commodity-not necessarily with an explicit price tag attached-but often used to attract users and keep them coming back to a site. Web-based information exchange comes in many flavors and forms, from the ad hoc, unmediated sharing of expertise in chat rooms, email groups, and online forums to digital library reference services staffed by degreed professionals. In between lie an interesting assortment of so-called "expert services" that feature self-identified (and sometimes credentialed) authorities poised to tackle anything from quick reference questions to complex and specialized consulting assignments in a variety of fields.