#13: Tagging - a del.icio.us improvement in Web 2.0

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During this 23 Things trek, we've used Web 2.0 sites that make use of tags. A brief definition was provided as we explored Flickr, and we could just leave it there (tags are keywords we choose to associate with an image, a title, a Thing, etc.). But tags deserve a little more spotlight time because they hold amazing Web 2.0 potential and have already revolutionized information access.

Tags democratize (or anarchize, if you take a dimmer view) information. They disregard or embrace, as users choose, the usual labels 'the establishment' has always used. Tags give library subject headings a run for their money.

Folks, tags are the hallmark of what is known as folksonomy. And that's a fancy word making reference to taxonomy, the formal classification and hierarchical structure of a topic or area of information.

Tags are terrific! They are

• personally useful
• personally relevant
• link us to other users (social element of Web 2.0)
  
• discovery tools (find out what others' have tagged with same word)
  
• based on plain language (informal, no imposed vocabulary/subject headings)
• freeform - unstructured, without hierarchy (as in headings, subheadings, etc.)
  
• current and timely
  

Tags are Web 2.0 loud and proud. And they figure prominently in this Thing's featured tool: Del.icio.us. Yes, those 'dots' belong there (no keyboard spasms creating staccato typos). Type it in as http://del.icio.us/, and don't stick a .com at the end.

Del.icio.us is basically an online bookmarking manager, but so much more. Because of tagging, del.icio.us stands out on the social Web's phenomena of collective collections.

The site houses your bookmarks on the go. Find yourself moving from computer to computer - and annoyed that you have to Google to get that url you've forgotten or must visit a site's main page and click five times to get the page you actually want? Bookmark using del.icio.us, and you have those pages just a click away wherever you are! While you're at it, take a look at how others have tagged the same link - and use those tags to discover more sites that interest you.

Discovery Resources

• The Otter Group webcast tutorial for del.icio.us
• Take a look at what del.icio.us has to say about itself

Discovery Exercise - lite

1. Take a look around Del.icio.us using the account created for this exercise: GCC23Things. Many of the sites we've explored on our trek so far are bookmarked here.
   
2. Explore the clickable stuff on this page! Click on the pinkish "saved by # of people" link - then look at the right for common tags used to label this site. Do any of the other tags lead you to good stuff to share? Blog about it!
   
3. Back on our account page, look at the gray box to the right: explore different display options and take a look at bundles. Bundles take a step toward taxonomy - do you think this is a good feature or not?
   
4. Feeling just a little bold? Log in to our account (learn2.0) to add tags or new bookmarks.
   

Discovery Exercise - commit

1. Create a del.icio.us account. You might consider this tutorial (text-based, self-paced) for getting started (from the Center for the Advancement of Teaching at Xavier University)
2. Import bookmarks from your browser and add more tags.
3. From your account list, click on the pinkish "saved by # of people" link - follow some of the common tags used to label sites you value. Do any of the other tags lead you to good stuff you bookmark and tag yourself? What potential does del.icio.us hold for you as a discovery tool (for finding more sites of interest to you)? Blog about it!

#11: Collective collections

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This Thing is all about sharing collections - or taking a peak at or a cue from others' collections that include titles along similar interests. And the first site even shares our thing for capitalized Things!

LibraryThing features that community element that distinguishes so many Web 2.0 tools. It is a social space where people share what's on their bookshelves (virtually - we're referring to titles, not physical book swapping/lending. There are other sites that do that, though, and LibraryThing has attempted to partner with 'em ... but we're getting off track here). LibraryThing book recommendations come from your browsing collections of others and/or from searching The Suggester (which draws from the collective wisdom/collections of others, and well, an algorithm or two and the Z39.50 protocol).

Take the tour or just jump to the very short introduction to LibraryThing. Registering is easy (no long form with lots of info to fill out), and each user can catalog up to 200 titles for free (fees apply after that - but $25 for life sounds like a bargain, if not amusing, as a lifetime online could be just as fleeting as enduring). "Cataloging" your titles is as easy as typing some title words, an author's name, or the ISBN - LibraryThing works with open access library records, Amazon, and the Library of Congress to provide complete records for your titles (and cover images!). Amazing! You can see the Library of Congress Subject Headings and call numbers assigned to the title - and/or Dewey Decimal number, lest we forget that other classification scheme. But you don't have to rely on those stuffy old library subject headings - you can tag titles with your terms!

You can view your titles in list form (in various table formats) or as a bookshelf (bookstore style: cover facing out, showing off those cover art images from Amazon). You can join a group of fellow readers. You can share book reviews. Okay, I'm going on and on (it's all so neat-o, though!).

Now, before I divulge too much to dampen interest in exploring LibraryThing for yourself, I have to point out The UnSuggester. This turns around Amazon's "Customers who bought this item also bought" idea and gives you the bottom of the barrel. You can consider this either the worst book recommendations you'll ever receive or one of the best ways to expand your horizons, widen your world, and consider an opposite (or absurdly mismatched) point of view for a short while (or for just a laughable passing moment, if you don't take up the suggestion).

There is all this and more! Go explore more LibraryThingies!

Reader though I am, books aren't the only collections we hold dear.

There is always music to stir our passions, evoke memories, put a spring in a step. Is it any wonder that there are social sites providing opportunities for us to share our music collections, too?

Here are a few music sites with social elements:

• Last.fm - It strikes me that this one is the closest to what LibraryThing is like - and even partners with Amazon, as LT does, for those who want to make purchases. Tags and "audioscrobbling" help users find and share titles they like.
  
• Pandora Radio - Self-billed "music discovery service" that is based on the Music Genome Project, an amazing, ambitious, and intriguing undertaking (explained in an NPR audio link here [6:32]). Not much visible social interaction beyond sharing "stations;" community is low-key here (if you'll pardon my pun!), but users can connect with other listeners.
  
• iLike.com - This works with iTunes, but iTunes is not necessary. Looks to be trying to appeal to younger listeners (but maybe that's just me?). Recommendations based on algorithm; no tagging feature.

But how can "they" (any of these sites) do that, you may ask? There are various forms of legalese posted, and protections against (former) Napster-like file sharing are in place for the most part.

Discovery Exercise:

1. Create an account at LibraryThing or at one of the music sites above.
2. Find a recommendation that pleases or surprises you.
3. Blog about the recommendation. Does the collective wisdom win you over with something new? Something vaguely familiar? Something you forgot you were interested in? Tell us about it!