#8 Tagging, folksomonies & social bookmarking in Del.icio.us

Tagging is an open and informal method of categorizing that allows users to associate keywords with online content (webpages, pictures & posts).

Unlike library subject cataloging, which follows a strict set of guidelines (i.e.Library of Congress subject headings), tagging is completely unstructured and freeform, allowing users to create connections between data anyway they want.

This week, in addition to exploring Technorati tagging and while there are other free online social bookmarking sites around such as Connotea, we will focus on Del.icio.us (keyed in as http://del.icio.us/).

Del.icio.us is a social bookmarking manager which allows you to bookmark a web page and add tags to categorize your bookmarks.

Many users find that the power of Del.icio.us is in the social network aspect, which allows you to see how other users have tagged similar links and also discover other websites that may be of interest. The BBC news website invites readers to tag articles using Del.icio.us, while the new ABC news website now features tags.

For this exercise, browse through the following discovery resources including libraries that are using tags and an experimental museum tagging project. Focus on Del.icio.us and learn about this popular bookmarking tool.

Discovery Resources:

• Us.ef.ul: A beginners guide to Del.icio.us
• Several Habits of wildly successful Del.icio.us users
• Check Library Journal 15/9/2007 for an interesting article on Tags (link not possible)
  

Reflefsen, M. Tags Help Make Libraries Del.icio.us. Library Journal, vol 132, 15 (Sept 2007)

• Yarra Plenty Library and Danbury Library in Connecticut are now using Library Thing tags. (Search on a general fiction title for best results).
  
• Steve The Art Museum social tagging project
  

Discovery Exercise:

1. Take a look at Del.icio.us using the PLCMCL2 account that was created for this exercise. Note: In this account you will find lots of resources that have been highlighted or used throughout the course of the Learning 2.0 program. Or view the Del.icio.us account has also been created for use by operators on SLV chat.
2. Explore the site options and try clicking on a bookmark that has also been bookmarked by a lot of other users. Can you see the comments they added about this bookmark or the tags that they used to categorize this reference?
   

Create a blog post about your experience and thoughts about this tool.
Can you see the potential of this tool for research assistance, or is it just as an easy way to create bookmarks that can be accessed from anywhere?
What are your thoughts on the wider use of tags, including on the SLV catalogue?