You have to almost be a research librarian to know how to structure a search query. Indeed, it's the cumbersome language of search functions that often stymie information seekers. A machine doesn't learn, doesn't think, doesn't discern. And the reason for that is the nuances a human can discern and relate to in terms of a news item or weather or anything you might find interesting on a given day just can't be matched by a machine. Experts at work AskMe is typical of the way most expert sites work.
Visitors can search for answers in one of two ways.
At the site's home page, they can type in a question and, based on the words in the query, AskMe's search engine will comb through profiles of its 90,000 experts and come up with a list of about 15 people most likely to provide the answer. The other way to find an expert at AskMe is to search through broad categories, like arts and leisure or technology, and find a specific topic you're interested in. Clicking on the topic produces a list of experts. Users make their choice by reading a brief profile of each and by examining answers the person has given to past questions. Next to each profile, AskMe also provides the average rating, from one to five stars, that the expert received from past queriers based on their satisfaction with the answers.