Tag team back again

Similar to Angie's statement in her blog, I also admit to slacking a little on the whole tagging through del.icio.us. Though I'm blaming this on the fact that I hadn't used it before and therefore, didn't attribute personal value to tagging, out of ignorance. For years I have been been a slave to bookmarking favourites on my computer, creating a library of categories and hoarding websites with pride. However, earlier this summer something happened... my computer crashed, and I lost everything. I told everyone that (despite losing thousands of pictures, music, and movie files), the biggest headache was losing all of my precious bookmarked sites....but then I made the realization that I NEVER EVEN USED THEM! Instead of going back to retrieve what I had found, I ended up Google-ing only to find the same information...again.....

After going through the readings this week, I can definitely see the benefits of using a site like del.icio.us that will let me categorize my favourites based on terms that come naturally to me... and the fact that it is shared with others is only a happy side-effect. When I initially was thinking about this concept, it occurred to me that the downside of tagging is that not everyone would tag an article/video/picture of interest using the same terms...this could result in people not being able to find what they want if they browse under the "wrong" term. Then Hollenback's article "Even tastier del.icio.us" let it be known that there was a remedy for this very problem called nutr.itio.us that keeps a history of your previous tags, as well as an auto-complete option that suggests the most commonly used tags. I'm a fan of this idea, because it seems that using the most popular terms when you're inputting an item would create more consistency.

I think the great thing about tagging is the pool of knowledge that it creates. Instead of hundreds of people writing about the same thing, coming to the same conclusions, people can instead tag articles they feel strongly about. Although of course it is great to read different opinions and perspectives, pointing people towards what is considered the "best" articles, this can cut down on the so-called "information overload" by allowing for a democratic voting system, in a sense. As Hammond pointed out, "the best applications become more useful for all participants the more that people make use of them." Sometimes the masses really know what is best for them - so why should we let someone else behind the wheel?

It was interesting to see the different ways tagging was implemented in the case studies. I think the library that made the most effective use of tagging was the PennTags project. Right away I was struck by the layout, and found that placing the tags at the top makes it easier for the user to recognize and use. Also, the Seldovia Public Library made great use of tagging by recognizing that, since theirs is an all-volunteer organization, they needed to look to innovative ways for support. This is especially true if there is a lack of trained staff or staff in general.