Are the Ask a Librarian answers published (stored in an open database)?

The answers are stored whether in public or non-public archive. Most of the answers are stored in the open archive. The non-public database is open only for librarians, they can visit it in the same web-adress and with same logins-passwords, where they do the answering. Nowadays about 40% of answers are stored in non-public archive. You put the answer to the non-public archive if you think that it is not useful for anybody else or the same question and answer to it is already in the public archive (for example how to get a PIN-code to your library card). Usually we also put answer to the non-public archive if we can’t help the questioner in any way (didn’t find the answer and not even couldn’t give any organisation or specialist to ask for).

You can look the open archive of english answers in http://www.libraries.fi/FI/asklibrarian/archive.asp In the english archive there are about 160 answers. You can look them by choosing in the middle of the form, Search answers within the last XXXX, choose ALL from pull-down menu and press SEARCH.

In the finnish open archive there are about 5 720 answers and in the swedish archive there are about 130 answers (swedish is another official language of Finland, about 6 % of population have swedish as their mother tongue).