With services such as Tangler making it easy to set up online discussion forums, how can libraries put this to good use? Discuss.

I think they are a good way of sharing ideas, gaining ideas and helping to create new ideas.  They can be helpful, inspirational and more, but only if they people are willing to contribute.

I also think it is very interesting that the Google Ads on this Tangler Forum all seem to relate to Web 2.0. I am assuming that Tangler has harvested keywords from the Discussion description and matched it back against Google Adware. It would be safe to assume that Tangler can negotiate a better revenue stream by ensuring targeted ads than adopting a random ad approach and I guess this forms part of the Tangler Business model.

P.S.  The Tangler WYSIWYG interface for posting messages is simple but very easy to use.

Looking at the impact of microblogging, mobilisation of blogs, and the take up of portable devices such as Blackberries and iPhones, online library sponsored discussion forums will probably get more traction if they are accessible from hand held devices. The key hot button will of course remain the relevance of the discussion topic to the end user. However, the take up of social networking demonstrates that there are a lot of people who want to get connected and communicate. If libraries can effectively leaver off this trend they will be well positioned in in the emerging portable web.

I think this could be a good way for research staff to communicate among themselves on a national level and maybe even with clients. It is a quick and informal way to share knowledge and experience within a team and to get feedback and assistance via a forum conversation.