The ChaCha search engine and Indiana University (IU) are collaborating to create a reference desk in order to connect students with search experts. Indiana University students and faculty will have access to resources provided by IU’s librarians and info-tech staff via ChaCha.
“We’re experimenting with some of the cool things we can do when we apply human intelligence to all that’s the best of the university’s Internet,” stated Scott Jones, a ChaCha co-founder and IU alumni (class of 1984). Amazon founder Jeff Bezos invested $6 million into ChaCha around January 2007.
ChaCha utilizes two types of search: instant and live guided. Instant search works just like a Google or Yahoo! where relevant websites end up at the top of the search result pages.
Live guided is the more innovative type of search created by Chacha where a real person (guide) will chat with you and understand what exactly you are looking for. ChaCha currently has about 30,000 guides that power its search.
