Tagging & bookmarking

Tagging is an open and informal method of categorizing that allows users to associate keywords with online content (webpages, pictures & posts). Unlike traditional forms of information organisation, such as taxonomy tables, subject indexes or thesaurus, which follows a strict set of guidelines, tagging is completely unstructured and freeform, allowing users to create connections between data in any way they want.

Ever tried sorting out your photo album? Then you will understand why tagging is so helpful on websites like Flickr and Photobucket, that allows users to take advantage of tagging to create an association between photos that are uploaded to the site.

A simple definition would be to say that tags are keywords, category names, or metadata.

In essence, a tag is simply a freely chosen set of textual keywords. However, because tags are not created by information specialists, they do not at present follow any ubiquitous formal guidelines. This means that items can be categorised with any word that defines a relationship between the online resource and a concept in the user’s mind. Any number of words might be chosen, some of which are obvious representations, others making less sense outside the tag author’s context.

Two well-known examples of folksonomy systems, actually come from services owned by Yahoo – del.icio.us™ and flickr™! and have become key tools for educators the world over. Tagging to Help Teachers will give you the ‘heads up’ on this new system of organisation.

SOCIAL BOOKMARKING

What we are really talking about is known as Social Bookmarking. Seven Things You Should Know About Social Bookmarking paper from Educause explains it all.

Better still, take a peek at this excellent explanation of the power of social bookmarking.

Social Bookmarking in Plain English

Every teacher/educator should consider becoming a power Del.icio.us user. Del.icio.us can be used as a place to store bookmarks, share bookmarks, and discover web sites, blogs, downloads, and more, that would otherwise largely go unnoticed.

Many users find that real power of Del.icio.us is in the social networking 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 users’ filing cabinet, but with this powerful bookmarking tool each user’s filing cabinet helps to build an expansive knowledge network.

Don’t wait any longer. Use this great Delicious “How to” Handout and begin!

Introduction to Del.ici.ous

Getting started with Delicious

TAGGING SMARTS

Read some of these links to see what else is possible and how you can integrate social bookmarking into your professional work with other teachers and with your students.

The Tagging Toolbox: 30+ Tagging Tools
Become a del.icio.us Power User
Using Del.icio.us in Education
The Brave New World of Social Bookmarking
Del.icio.us Guide for Educators: Part 1 Tools & Tagging
Del.icio.us Guide for Educators: Part 2 The Network and Attention
Newbies Guide to Flickr.