LJ Article on Tagging in Libraries

The latest issue (9/15/2007) issue of Library Journal has a nice summary by Melissa Rethlefsen of the ways that libraries are taking advantage of tagging.

Tagging – is it all that it could be?

The Wired Campus blog has an interesting post on tagging called “Tough talk about tagging”. See the comments for concerns about the lack of controlled language/authority control in tagging.
Back in January, the ResourceShelf discussed why tagging is potentially quite useful for personal use and small groups, but has not yet proven to be so valuable for the masses. They note that many of the most popular tags are technology-related and ask whether non-techies are publicly posting. That post was responding to the Pew Internet and American Life survey on American tagging. This report includes an interesting interview with David Weinberger, the author of Everything is Miscellaneous: the Power of the New Digital Disorder. Folksonomies had gotten quite a bit of attention in the mainstream press including this Newsweek article. Now folks are asking “Is tagging stuck?”

Technorati tags

One of the ways that the millions of blog posts are being interconnected is by the inclusion of Technorati tags in blog posts. When a group of bloggers use the same tag in their posts, then readers can quickly click that tag and see what other blog entries have been so tagged. See, for example, what happens when you click on a tag for one of the recent library and info science conferences:

• ALA annual conference: ala2006 ala2005
• ASIS&T annual conference: asist2006 asist2005
• Computers in Libraries conference: cil2006
• Internet Librarian conference: il2006 il2005

While as a classification scheme, tagging is a crude method, it still is useful and fun.