This document discusses folksonomies, which are classification systems created by users tagging online items. It notes that while tags may be imprecise, ambiguous, or personalized, evidence shows tagging vocabularies converge over time. The author studies tag distributions and finds single-use tags do not dominate. The document considers how to foster better tagging through educating users and improving systems, but recognizes that limiting tags risks losing valuable metadata and the diversity inherent in folksonomies. It concludes the best approach is remaining open-minded and retaining as much user-generated metadata as possible.

1. Folksonomies: Tidying up Tags? Marieke Guy and Emma Tonkin D-Lib Magazine, January 2006 http://www.dlib.org/dlib/january06/guy/01guy.html Max Miller LIS 4010 10/18/2011

2. What is a folksonomy? “ A folksonomy is a type of distributed classification system. It is usually created by a group of individuals, typically the resource users. Users add tags to online items, such as images, videos, bookmarks and text. These tags are then shared and sometimes refined.”

3. What is a folksonomy? They are not a replacement for formal categorization systems -This is feature, not a flaw There are risks inherent in “tidying up” tags.

5. Ambiguous

6. Overly personalized

14. Improving systems to allow “better” tags to be added

16. Introduce structure within tags – get rid of single word tags

17. Tag bundles: “tagging” tags to incorporate into formal systems?

21. Strength of folksonomic approach is often described as its openness – everyone can tag according to their view

22. Putting it all together Tagging gets better with scale. With a multiplicity of points of view the question isn't "Is everyone tagging any given link 'correctly'", but rather "Is anyone tagging it the way I do?" As long as at least one other person tags something the way you would, you'll find it – using a thesaurus to force everyone's tags into tighter synchrony would actually worsen the noise you'll get with your signal. If there is no shelf, then even imagining that there is one right way to organise things is an error -Clay Shirky

25. Suggest a mixed approach to tagging: instead of discouraging single-use tags, why not complement with agreed on keywords?

28. Answer for now “The answer is to remain open minded and look at solutions that retain as much as possible of the metadata submitted, bearing in mind that metadata can be mined in all sorts of ways.”

30. Do you agree with the conclusion that we should retain as much of the metadata submitted as possible, even if it's not useful now, and there's no guarantee it will be in the future?