Expert finding is a challenge

Expert finding is challenging for many reasons including:

 * The volume of commnication or publicaiotn is no indication of  expertise.

 * The first expert you find may not be the best one.

 * Certain topics engendr more opinion than facts and so finding the true expert can be difficult

 * There generally is a lack of access to infomation about past performance of experts

 * New employees don't know about informal social networks hence cannot exploit these to find experts.

 * Privacy concerns may limit the degree to which measurements of experts performance is shareable.

 * Expertise is not distributed evenly and strengths of associations among experts vary siginifieantly.

 *There are no standards specifying the criteria or qualifications necessary for particular levels of expertise.

 *True expertise is rare and expensive.Often access is controlled,either informally or formally,either by the expert  themselves or their management.

 *Expertise continously changes and require awareness of this dynamic.

 *Solution to complex problems often require either communiites of experts or divers ranges of expertise that need to be brought together to solve the complex problems.

 *The communication with experts may be impeded by geopraphic, time difference, and cultural barriers.

 In summary, expert finding is a complex and difficult task.