Go Ask Alice!


 * This article is about the health website. For the book, see Go Ask Alice.

Go Ask Alice! is a Q&A service provided by Columbia University for both students and the general public with questions or curiosity about health topics. The name of the site came to a site producer in a dream and is not a reference to the Jefferson Airplane song "White Rabbit." The site also has no affiliation with the book Go Ask Alice by Beatrice Sparks, Ph.D.

Go Ask Alice! started in the fall of 1993 at Columbia University's Health Education Program (now called Alice!). In the fall of 1994, the website went global. A book, ''The Go Ask Alice! Book of Answers'', was published in 1998. Due to the age of many of the answers, and new research and development in the medical field since they were written, many answers have been or are in the process of being updated as of 2006.

Each week, the site posts new questions and answers and/or updated answers to older questions in the archive. In addition to these questions, the site updates also include a poll, reader responses to older questions, and a "theme of the week" section that includes selected archived questions and answers.

Go Ask Alice! receives about 2,000 questions per week. As of 2005, there are about 3,000 questions and answers in the archive.

Go Ask Alice! usually takes a progressive stance on more controversial topics like homosexuality, premarital sex, abortion, and sex education. Readers are given information about the topic at hand, then encouraged to both continue to inform themselves and make their own decisions, taking into account their personal moral, cultural, and/or religious beliefs.

The service usually provides a fair amount of background information, references, and quotes from experts for those unfamiliar with the subject being addressed.