Social Bookmarking in Libraries: Simply del.icio.us

Social Bookmarking in Libraries: Simply del.icio.us Presented by: Carol Cooke May 1, 2008 1:00 - 4:15 pm 6th Floor, Dr. John Archer Library, University of Regina

Objectives
Discover what social bookmarking is
Learn how to use social bookmarking software (del.icio.us)
Discuss use of social bookmarking in libraries
To practice using this technology
Social Bookmarking in Plain English by Commoncraft - 3:25 min. video ( YouTube version )

What is Social Bookmarking?
Definition: "Social bookmarking is the practice of saving bookmarks to a public Web site and "tagging" them with keywords." ( 7 things you should know about Social Bookmarking )
History: "The concept of shared online bookmarks dates back to April 1996 with the launch of itList.com ... Founded in late 2003, del.icio.us pioneered tagging and coined the term "social bookmarking"." ( Wikipedia : Social Bookmarking ) "Joshua Schachter ... created del.icio.us in 2003 as a hobby - a way to index and share Web pages with friends. Schachter's early efforts became so popular and grew so rapidly that del.icio.us, Inc. became a company in 2005." ("A 'del.icio.us' way to use bookmarks" by Thomas Pack. InformationToday April 2007 pg 36)

Advantages
Access your bookmarks from any computer with an Internet connection
Share your bookmarks publicly or not
Find individuals who share your interests; build a community of expertise
Research topics you are interested in and find new sites

Disadvantages
Lacks authority control - no standard set of keywords/tags/controlled vocabulary
Singular vs. plural
Spelling errors
Tags with more than one meaning (e.g. "bow" could mean ribbon, tie, prow of a ship, violin bow)
Limitations with interface (e.g. sorting, downloading)
Susceptible to corruption and collusion (spammers have started bookmarking a web page over and over again) ( Wikipedia : Social Bookmarking )

Social bookmarking software
del.icio.us
Simpy
Furl
Spurl
Connotea
CiteULike
Diigo
to name a few ( more in del.icio.us )

How to use del.icio.us
Logging in and moving about
Posting bookmarks
Posting made easy
Importing bookmarks
Organizing bookmarks
Sharing bookmarks
Subscriptions
Searching del.icio.us
Nifty bits

Logging in and moving about del.icio.us
Go to del.icio.us
Login to the software (upper right)
Menu
Your bookmarks
Your network
Subscriptions
Links for you
Post
settings
logout
help (truly helpful)

Posting bookmarks
Click "post"
Type in the URL (e.g. http://google.com)
Click "Save" button.
Type in a description (this is the title of your bookmark)
Type in notes regarding the site (optional)
Type in appropriate tags.
Decide to share or not share
Click "Save" button.
Anatomy of a post.

Posting made easy
Best way to post is to install the del.icio.us
buttons in your browser
Installing Del.icio.us buttons
No admin access on work computer?
have tech support do it for you
Otherwise try this
log in to del.icio.us
add these bookmarklets to your browser
in IE right-mouse click over the link and add to your Favorites - Links folder
in Firefox - drag the links to the bookmarks toolbar

Importing bookmarks
Go to del.icio.us
Login to the software (upper right)
Click "Settings"
Click "Import/Upload"
Follow the on screen instructions for your browser.
Note: all uploaded bookmarks are automatically marked "do not share" by default

Organizing your bookmarks
Tags
"Tags are one-word descriptors that you can assign to your bookmarks on del.icio.us to help you organize and remember them. Tags are a little bit like keywords, but they're chosen by you, and they do not form a hierarchy. You can assign as many tags to a bookmark as you like and rename or delete the tags later." ( What are tags ?)
Video on categorizing information "Information R/evolution" 5:28min
Adding tags
popular tags
recommended tags - combination of popular tags and tags you have used before
your network

Viewing tags
Tag options - Located at the bottom of your tag list this area describes the different display options available to you.
Tag displays
Lists - list of the tags you have assigned to your bookmarks
Tag cloud - "The size of the words in the tag cloud reflects the number of items that carry that tag". ("Tagging & Social Bookmarking" in Library Technology Reports Sept-Oct 2007. pg. 58)
Sort tags alphabetically (alpha) or by frequency (freq)
Remove the tags which have only a few links (use minimum 1,2,5)

Organizing and Editing Tags
Available from the tag options menu:
Tag bundling - you can bundle your tags to gather together items on a similar theme.
Editing tags
Deleting tags

Sharing bookmarks - Generally
Sharing a bookmark with the world
Sharing a bookmark with a particular person
"When you save new bookmarks, you can also share them directly with people in your network by clicking on their username (under your network) or by typing in the tag for:username. That user (or users) will receive the sent bookmark on their links for you page." ( del.icio.us: your network )

Sharing bookmarks - Your network
What is your network?
"Your network connects you to other del.icio.us users... It is a people-aggregator, collecting your favorite users' latest bookmarks in one place for you to view and enjoy." ( del.icio.us: your network )
Look at who has bookmarked the sites you have (e.g. BISON link )
Review that persons links
Add them to your network (e.g. cacemlis)
Who are your fans?
"Your fans is your reverse network: a list of people who have added you to their network." ( del.icio.us: your network )

Sharing bookmarks - Privacy
Privacy issues are huge on the Internet and del.icio.us attempts to take this into account for its users.
Check the "do not share" check box to make your bookmark invisible to all but yourself.
"Your network is visible to other users by default. If you do not want others to see to whom you are connected, you can make your network private by following the network settings link on your network page." ( del.icio.us: your network )

Subscriptions
You can also subscribe to a tag or tag combination in order to keep up to date with links and people.
To subscribe:
Click on "Subscriptions"
In the right-hand area labeled "your subs" click "edit".
Subscribe to the tag: Chocolate
Subscribe to the user: cacemlis
OR subscribe to both combined.

Searching del.icio.us
URLs within del.icio.us follow a set of rules to make it easier to navigate:
Every user has his or her own page for bookmarks: del.icio.us/ cacemlis
Every tag has its own page: del.icio.us/tag/politics
You can view bookmarks by user and tag: del.icio.us/ angelacw /del.icio.us/libraries
View bookmarks tagged both libraries and health (this is called an intersection or tag combination): del.icio.us/tag/ medical+libraries
View popular bookmarks for a certain tag: del.icio.us/popular/recipes
Searching hints

Nifty Bits
Linking to your bookmarks
del.icio.us feeds another RSS feed source for you
Desktop shortcut for del.icio.us (" Top 10 Ways to Use del.icio.us " LifeHack.org)
Interesting third party (geeky) tools
check your bookmarks for dead links!
Creative ways to use del.icio.us
Create a wish list. (e.g. wishlist)
Develop an online cookbook.

What are libraries using social bookmarking for?
To collect and share sites for best practice
Create and maintain dynamic web pages/subject guides
Marketing/Promotion
Tag articles and web sites for specific classes

Collect and share sites for best practice
Resource sharing of a different kind.
Reference Services
Menasha Public Library bookmarks on del.icio.us Example of a well thought out folksonomy
Cataloguing Services
University of Georgia Library, cataloguing resources on del.icio.us . Note use of diacritics in tags.

Create and maintain dynamic web pages/subject guides
Use social bookmarking software to create and maintain dynamic web pages/subject guides with no understanding of HTML required. This is "to replace or supplement traditional subject guides and pathfinders." (" Tags help make libraries del.icio.us " by Melissa L. Rethlefsen)
Examples:
Health Links – Vancouver Public Library
example of a subject guide built with del.icio.us
Kid Zone - Holdrege Area Public Library
example of use of a tag cloud
Delicious IC | Information Center (IC), Stanford University
use of a tag cloud in an academic environment
New and Trial Databases, Health Sciences Libraries, University of Manitoba
example of a dynamically generated web page using del.icio.us rss feeds

Marketing/Promotion
invite their clients to contribute to the library's bookmarks by making recommendations to the library account
NRCan Library - Ottawa (Earth Sciences) - What's New soliciting del.icio.us input from clients
tag the library web site in del.icio.us to make it easier to find specific pages for the user community

Tag articles and web sites for specific classes
Educational materials links for seminar support
Examples:
Michael Stephens bookmarks for an LIS class
My bookmarks for this workshop
North Metro Technical College Librarian bookmarks on del.icio.us Note tagging for different classes

What other possibilities can you think of?
Collaboration
on projects using special tags (e.g. chla2009)
with clients (e.g. toolkits)
Improving workflow
accessing your bookmarks anywhere any time
sharing with colleagues

How to - Embed a tag cloud on your web page
Log in to del.icio.us
Settings
Under Blogging click "tag roll".
Adjust settings to suit your needs.
Copy the code.
Open your web page editor.
Click where you want the code to appear.
Paste the code.
Save and publish your page .

How to - Create a dynamically generated web page/subject guide
Folksonomy, folksonomy, folksonomy.
Log in to del.icio.us
Settings
Under Blogging click “link roll".
Adjust settings to suit your needs.
Copy the code.
Open your web page editor.
Click where you want the code to appear.
Paste the code.
Save and publish your page.

More Reading
7 Things You Should Know About Social Bookmarking – Educause
The Brave New World of Social Bookmarking: Everything you always wanted to know but were too afraid to ask by Amanda Etches-Johnson in Feliciter.
"A 'del.icio.us' way to use bookmarks" by Thomas Pack. InformationToday April 2007 pg 36
How Del.icio.us Helps Libraries and Academia
Simple, but Useful Things to do with Del.icio.us
Swiss Army Librarian » Library Subject Guides using del.icio.us :: Brian Herzog
"Tagging & Social Bookmarking" in Library Technology Reports Sept-Oct 2007. pg. 58
Tags Help Make Libraries Del.icio.us - by Melissa L. Rethlefsen 9/15/2007 - Library Journal
Top 10 Ways to Use del.icio.us - lifehack.org
Joseph, Paul (2008) It's del.icio.us: Pushing Links to Create Dynamic Web Pages . Presentation.
Wikipedia : Social Bookmarking

Final Words
Investigate.
Use.
Collaborate.
Talk.
Thank you!

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Social Bookmarking in Libraries: Simply del.icio.us

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Social Bookmarking in Libraries: Simply del.icio.us Presentation Transcript