Social Bookmarking and Tag Tag Tagging

From our first class, I signed up for an account with del.icio.us, but was still vague of its definition and uses.  For example I thought that because I had a personal account, this information was private.   Hammond et al. provided a useful explanation of how, why, and what tagging and social bookmarking is.  I enjoyed learning about the difference of tagging as a free-structured approach that uses folksonomy to the controlled vocabulary I learned about in previous semesters.  While the idea of free-floating classifications seems of course unorganized and moving away from the innate desire to categorize, I actually prefer this approach because it uses language, phrases and dialects that I understand.  Tags are also dependent on the situation and generation.  This is useful because it can frequently be updated, changed or added onto.  However, in the library classification systems such as Dewey and Library of Congress Subject Headings, versions are expensive and at that, updated less frequently.  I think that a library website with the ability to search through the catalogue using this 'folksonomy' approach would be useful in finding material that is generational, cultural or content specific because it would allow users to search items outside of the controlled vocabulary most libraries use.  Just as a quick example, I tried searching Bart SImpson on the Trent U library catalogue.  There were no results that corresponded to the cartoon character I had in mind.  However, I searched Bart SImpon on my del.icio.us and, voila, numerous results from quotes to YouTube vids appear. 

One thing I found intersting in this reading along with others was that the concept of tagging and del.icio.us is personal because it is at the hands of the user, but that it is actually very "social." Porter's article stressed the idea that network value comes before personal value. Once there is network value, individuals can find value within and contribute to the whole value.  I am not quite sure what to think of this, but from experience in using del.icio.us, I found that there is both personal and network value. I signed up for the optional Facebook integration since I am familiar with Facebook and use it frequently.  This I found was very personal.  However, the option to search other user accounts, existing tags, popular tags and use tags as a part of website design gives social booking marking network value.  I think that the case studies that used the Link Roll in del.icio.us were very neat because it allows you to share the tagging that you think is most important through your normal website.  This showed how tagging is a very social format of research.  

I'll admit I have not been doing as much tagging as I should.  Hopefully after this week, I will understand tagging more in-depth. One thing I really like about del.icio.us is how it organizes the material you tag into different categories once you have added enough.  This to me is like your own personal dewey.  There are different categories to which you think the material belongs.  In fact, Hammond et al refer to social bookmarking as a representations of "a user's own personal library placed on public record."  In a distance setting, tagging is a good idea because you aren;t always hearing students' and teacher inputs and discussion, so you can learn from their tags what their understanding of a subject is. It is basically a shared knowledge of what we are learning.  Unlike essay writing where you don't want to tell your ideas incase someone uses the same one, tagging in this course allows for a common knowledge where everyone is learning the same things and on the same level.  There is little competition, no who's right and who's wrong and everyone gains from the exercise. This is ideal for a library because equal opportunity of learning and access to knowledge is always our full intention.