Being able to save my bookmarks to a web based site instead of on my less-than-mobile home computer is a great energy saver. As I prepare to move across country once again, I am happy to know that if my computer crashes I'll have those favorites waiting for me online. I won't have to go through the pain and frustration of finding them all again. I've already transferred most of my favorites onto my new bookmark page.
"Tagging" is a very nice sorting tool. It works well if you do it correctly. I did a search for "opera" tags on the Del.icio.us page and the search brought up over 41,800 sites... mostly for Opera browsing software! As I had intended the search to bring me sites on the subject of "opera" as in The Metropolitan Opera, I didn't really get what I wanted. There was a link to the Met site (saved by 149 people) but I had to slog through the software sites to find it. When I revised my search to include the tags "opera," "music" and "theatre", I got 314 links to sites featuring the subject I had wanted. I guess it's true: "garbage in, garbage out." Even more so than in the past, I have to be specific as to what I'm searching for.
I have gone back through my series of posts and added some tags to a few of them. I've tried to be creative (hard for me!) and add some that apply but are unexpected. Following some unexpected tags on the sites that turned up in my opera search has been a great way to broaden my tag vocabulary as well as my knowledge of the sites that are out there.
The web truly is a web!
4 comments:
I think you missed your calling by not becoming a librarian! There's still time.
Well,I did take the various skills and abilities surveys that are available to our students through the ATC. They said I should be an archivist! Or a performer... So could I possibly combine opera with archiving? Mmm...
You definitely hit on the problem with tags -- everyone is using their on idiosyncratic system and vocabulary. It works to a certain extent, but it's sloppy.
Wrote this quite a few days ago, but couldn't remember my Google password. So, here it is now. Ironically, Darren also started a conversation about controlled vocabulary on his blog...
This is an area where I think libraries have done it better (we just haven't gotten that message out). Controlled vocabulary, where the "tags" are defined by a central body/organization, would require that the two be differentiated (say, "Opera - theater" and "Opera - computer software").
Tagging also makes me appreciate the hard work of creating controlled vocabulary - I tagged a bunch of bookmarks, then had to refine my tags to be more precise!
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