Tags: They're Not Just for Prices Anymore Gary S. Atwood March 25, 2007

Welcome! Gary Atwood Reference Librarian, Springfield College Former “Dixie” Things to Note Please ask questions! No projector – you run the show

Gary Atwood

Reference Librarian, Springfield College

Former “Dixie”

Things to Note

Please ask questions!

No projector – you run the show

What is a Tag? Tag: a descriptive label (keyword, term, phrase) that is attached to something (web site, picture, sound, etc.) so that it can be found later

Where Do We Use Tags? Del.icio.us (Ma.gnolia, Furl, etc.) – web sites Flickr – photos Technorati – blogs Last.fm – Internet radio stations CiteULike/Connotea – academic articles See a huge list at 3Spots: http://3spots.blogspot.com/2006/01/all-social-that-can-bookmark.html

Del.icio.us (Ma.gnolia, Furl, etc.) – web sites

Flickr – photos

Technorati – blogs

Last.fm – Internet radio stations

CiteULike/Connotea – academic articles

See a huge list at 3Spots:

http://3spots.blogspot.com/2006/01/all-social-that-can-bookmark.html

Who Is Tagging? Pew Internet and American Life Survey 28% of internet users have tagged or categorized content online such as photos, news stories, or blog posts On a typical day online, 7% of internet users say that they tag or categorize online content Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project: Tagging - http:// www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Tagging.pdf

Pew Internet and American Life Survey

28% of internet users have tagged or categorized content online such as photos, news stories, or blog posts

On a typical day online, 7% of internet users say that they tag or categorize online content

Who Is Tagging? – Cont. Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project: Tagging - http:// www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Tagging.pdf

Why Does This Matter? Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project: Tagging - http:// www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Tagging.pdf “ The act of tagging is likely to be embraced by a more mainstream population in the future because many organizations are making it easier to tag internet content.”

Tagging – Nuts & Bolts Go to http://del.icio.us Click on Register link Follow instructions to create an account Write down your username and password! See “How to Tag a Web Site” handout for instructions on using Del.icio.us

Go to http://del.icio.us

Click on Register link

Follow instructions to create an account

Write down your username and password!

See “How to Tag a Web Site” handout for instructions on using Del.icio.us

OK, that’s neat, but what’s the big deal?

Bookmarks - Limitations Limited Flexibility Limited Descriptive Information Limited Mobility

Limited Flexibility

Limited Descriptive Information

Limited Mobility

Bookmarks – Limitations Bookmarks, “have become 'information closets' that hold a jumble of sites people never seem to return to. Only hyper-organized users sort sites into folders, clean out dead links or click on inscrutable addresses to figure out why they were bookmarked in the first place.” Source: Laura Gordon-Murnane, “Social Bookmarking, Folksonomies, and Web 2.0 Tools,” Searcher , 14 (6), 2006.

Tagging to the Rescue! Very flexible Enhanced descriptive information Very mobile Mashups

Very flexible

Enhanced descriptive information

Very mobile

Mashups

But Wait, There’s More … You can share your tags with other members You can also see their tags Explore by author Explore by tag This allows everyone to find resources that they were not aware of

You can share your tags with other members

You can also see their tags

Explore by author

Explore by tag

This allows everyone to find resources that they were not aware of

Social Bookmarking “… is the practice of saving bookmarks to a public Web site and ‘tagging’ them with keywords.” Source: Educause, “7 Things You Should Know About…Social Bookmarking” http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7001.pdf

Additional Advantages Most social bookmarking sites have the ability to rank pages based on popularity Tags can be ranked also Tag clouds

Most social bookmarking sites have the ability to rank pages based on popularity

Tags can be ranked also

Tag clouds

A Searching We Will Go… Toggle back to Del.icio.us Type something into the search box Check your results (Did you get any?) Other users and their tags Related tags

Toggle back to Del.icio.us

Type something into the search box

Check your results (Did you get any?)

Other users and their tags

Related tags

Taggers Take On Google Some social bookmarking advocates claim that tagging will enhance traditional search engines Some even argue that it will actually replace search engines

Some social bookmarking advocates claim that tagging will enhance traditional search engines

Some even argue that it will actually replace search engines

How Search Engines Work (the very condensed version) Looks for your keywords in the index Pulls out the pages that match your query Ranks those pages based on: Where keywords show up How often they show up Who’s linking to the site Etc.

Looks for your keywords in the index

Pulls out the pages that match your query

Ranks those pages based on:

Where keywords show up

How often they show up

Who’s linking to the site

Etc.

Kryptonite for Search Engines “ No matter how many pages they index or how quickly they bring back results, they can’t put those words into context. They can find a specific word, but they can’t tell what it means.” Source: Heather Green, “Picking Up Where Search Leaves Off,” Business Week , (3928), April 11, 2005

Tagging to the Rescue, Pt. 2 Taggers have looked at the site so the tags reflect the content (supposedly) Good web sites get tagged by more people (again, supposedly) Ex. Digg.com You can see what the group thinks is important (which some find important)

Taggers have looked at the site so the tags reflect the content (supposedly)

Good web sites get tagged by more people (again, supposedly)

Ex. Digg.com

You can see what the group thinks is important (which some find important)

Hey, don’t we do that already?

Cataloging - Weaknesses Slow to adapt Terms reflect the needs of the creators Best for finding known items High maintenance costs Fairly inflexible Source: Laura Gordon-Murnane, “Social Bookmarking, Folksonomies, and Web 2.0 Tools,” Searcher , 14 (6), 2006.

Slow to adapt

Terms reflect the needs of the creators

Best for finding known items

High maintenance costs

Fairly inflexible

Folksonomy Source: Laura Gordon-Murnane, “Social Bookmarking, Folksonomies, and Web 2.0 Tools,” Searcher , 14 (6), 2006. “… a naturally created classification system which arises as a results of user based tagging.”

Folksonomy - Strengths Can respond very quickly to new concepts Lend themselves to exploration Are self-moderating and inclusive Reflect the thinking of the users Less expensive to maintain Foster community among different groups Source: Laura Gordon-Murnane, “Social Bookmarking, Folksonomies, and Web 2.0 Tools,” Searcher , 14 (6), 2006.

Can respond very quickly to new concepts

Lend themselves to exploration

Are self-moderating and inclusive

Reflect the thinking of the users

Less expensive to maintain

Foster community among different groups

Folksonomy – Group Exercise You are going to tag something Come up with 3-5 tags There are no right or wrong tags Don’t hold back - Be creative!

You are going to tag something

Come up with 3-5 tags

There are no right or wrong tags

Don’t hold back - Be creative!

Folksonomy – Weaknesses No standard keywords No standardized structure Tags can have multiple meanings Keywords can have similar meanings No hierarchical relationships Tags can be “cliquish”

No standard keywords

No standardized structure

Tags can have multiple meanings

Keywords can have similar meanings

No hierarchical relationships

Tags can be “cliquish”

Weaknesses Cont. Limited by input requirements Usually no spell check mechanism Tag spam “… misleading tags that are generated in order to increase the visibility of some resources or simply to confuse the user.” Starting to be a big problem Source: George Koutrika, “Combating Spam in Tagging Systems,” http://www.resourceshelf.com/2007/02/21/new-research-paper-combating-spam-in-tagging-systems/

Limited by input requirements

Usually no spell check mechanism

Tag spam

“… misleading tags that are generated in order to increase the visibility of some resources or simply to confuse the user.”

Starting to be a big problem

So which one should we use?

A Middle Way Stop thinking “either-or” Start thinking “and” Tags should be “supplements to formal classification systems, not wholesale replacements.” Walt Crawford, “Folksonomy and Dichotomy,” Cites & Insights: Crawford at Large , http://cites.boisestate.edu/v6i4a.htm

Stop thinking “either-or”

Start thinking “and”

Tags should be “supplements to formal classification systems, not wholesale replacements.”

Is Anyone Doing It? Flickr has some “ suggested ” tags that offer some general guidelines Designate “trusted taggers” whose tags are given greater weight than those of other users Source: George Koutrika, “Combating Spam in Tagging Systems,” http://www.resourceshelf.com/2007/02/21/new-research-paper-combating-spam-in-tagging-systems/

Flickr has some “ suggested ” tags that offer some general guidelines

Designate “trusted taggers” whose tags are given greater weight than those of other users

What About in Libraries? University of California Libraries Bibliographic Services Task Force University of Pennsylvania PennTags Plymouth State University Lamson Library OPAC

University of California Libraries

Bibliographic Services Task Force

University of Pennsylvania

PennTags

Plymouth State University

Lamson Library OPAC

Wrap Up Tags are labels that can be applied to just about anything on the Internet A significant % of people are tagging and it is going to grow over time Tags allow you to find your stuff as well as other people’s stuff Tagging will have an impact on how we search – we just don’t know how much yet

Tags are labels that can be applied to just about anything on the Internet

A significant % of people are tagging and it is going to grow over time

Tags allow you to find your stuff as well as other people’s stuff

Tagging will have an impact on how we search – we just don’t know how much yet

Thanks for coming! Any Questions?