Folksonomies

But First: Metadata What is it?

Metadata It is data about data. It is information about information.

Metadata:

Structured information about documents, books, articles, photographs, web pages, etc.

This data is designed for specific functions usually to facilitate some organization and access of information.

Traditional Metadata

Dewey Decimal

Library of Congress

Traditional metadata is high quality but costly and it

doesn’t scale well.

Author Created Metadata

For example I might create an xml document that contains

data about my CD collection:

<mycds>

<cd>

<artist>Bob Dylan</artist>

<title>Blonde on Blonde</title>

</cd>

<cd>

<artist>Funkadelic</artist>

<title>Maggot Brain</title>

</cd>

</mycds>

Author Created Metadata

Dublin Core

XML

RDF

Has better scalability but suffers from the same problems

As traditional metadata: users are disconnected from the

process.

User Created Metadata(Folksonomies)‏

Del.icio.us

Folksonomies This term is attributed to Information Architect Thomas Vander Wal. It is the combination of two words. Folk: Of, occurring in, or originating among the common people: folk culture. Taxonomy: A division into ordered groups or categories.

Weaknesses

Ambiguity:

There is no synonym control so multiple words may

be used to describe the same thing.

The same word may be used for multiple meanings.

For instance the ant maybe used to describe:

The insect.

Actor Network Theory in the domain of sociology.

A java programming language tool.

Strengths

Browsing

Del.icio.us is an exploratory tool that supports browsing.

User centered

Directly reflects the vocabulary of its users.

Desire lines

Supports the creation of emergent “paths”.

Namespace

Has a flat name space/non-hierarchal categorization.

Examples (from Clay Shirky)‏

Dewey, 200: Religion 210 Natural theology 220 Bible 230 Christian theology 240 Christian moral & devotional theology 250 Christian orders & local church 260 Christian social theology 270 Christian church history 280 Christian sects & denominations 290 Other religions Dewey Decimal Religions of the World

Library of Congress World History D: History (general)‏ DA: Great Britain DB: Austria DC: France DD: Germany DE: Mediterranean DF: Greece DG: Italy DH: Low Countries DJ: Netherlands DK: Former Soviet Union DL: Scandinavia DP: Iberian Peninsula DQ: Switzerland DR: Balkan Peninsula DS: Asia DT: Africa DU: Oceania DX: Gypsies

What is being optimized?

When do traditional cataloging systems work well?