Tagging is an open and informal method of categorizing that allows users to associate keywords with online content (web pages, pictures, blog posts, etc.). Unlike library subject cataloging, which follows a strict set of guidelines (i.e., Library of Congress subject headings), tagging is completely unstructured and free-form, allowing users to create connections between data anyway they want.
In the past few weeks, we’ve already explored a few sites – Flicker and LibraryThing to name two – that allow users to take advantage of tagging.
This week we want to also take at popular social bookmarking site called Del.icio.us (typed in as http://del.icio.us/).
Del.icio.us is a social bookmarking manager which allows you to bookmark a web page and add tags to categorize your bookmarks. Many users find that the real power of Del.icio.us is in its social network aspect, which allows you to see how other users have tagged similar links and also discover other websites that may be of interest to you. You can think of it as peering into another user's filing cabinet. With this powerful bookmarking tool each user's filing cabinet helps to build an expansive knowledge network.
For this discovery exercise, you are asked to take a look at Del.icio.us and learn about this popular bookmarking tool.
Discovery Resource:
Discovery Exercises:
1. Take a look around Del.icio.us using the sppllearning account that was created for this exercise.
Note: In this account you will find lots of resources that have been highlighted or used throughout the course of the Learning 2.0 program.
2. Explore the site options and try clicking on a bookmark that has also been bookmarked by a lot of other users. Look for comments they added about the bookmark or the tags that they used to categorize it.
3. Create a blog post about your experience and thoughts about this tool. Can you see the potential of this tool for research assistance? Or just as an easy way to create bookmarks that can be accessed from anywhere?
OPTIONAL: If you’re up to the challenge, create a Del.icio.us account for yourself and discover how this useful bookmarking tool can replace your traditional browser bookmark list.
You might even want to explore network badges and tag rolls. To see what a tag roll looks like, in the right sidebar of this blog, under "my del.icio.us tags".
Note: If you do setup a Del.icio.us account, you may not be able to install the del.icio.us buttons in a shared computer's toolbar. On PCs that have the toolbars locked down, you can use the posting page.
Coming up next: Tag! You're it!
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