Week #6--Tagging and Folksonomies

Yes, libraries are changing. And for the most part, I think it's all for the better. I remember back in the stone age when I was in college and writing a paper. I would type parts of it as I got the research finished. Research being perusing tons of books and journal articles to find the bits and pieces you needed to defend your point of view. Then I would take the pages and cut them up into paragraphs and tape it all back together in some appropriate order. Then I'd edit again, move a few more pieces around and type it all again as a final draft. What I would've given for a word processor! In those days if you studied in the library, you studied alone. Because if you were with someone else, you would be talking and you'd be asked to leave.

I guess I don't need to list all the ways research and libraries have changed and the technology involved. But it's definitely a more welcoming, livelier, and noisier place. A lot of research revolves around databases, search engines, bookmarking, and proper tagging. Research articles or items for purchase when tagged incorrectly, show up in the oddest places and are just a nuisance. Tagged correctly they pop up nicely when you need them.

While I'm not certain if I'll ever use Delicious as I'm happy with the "favorites" on my computer, I really like Technorati. It's a good place to keep track of blogs on various subjects and a way to get my blog seen. I've set up an account but probably won't do anything with it until this course is finished and my blogs are more pertinent to my new life after 60.