Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Thing 13

Tagging

Does tagging belong in the library? Does it replace or complement subject headings? Should we encourage or discourage the practice?

The only experience I've had with tagging is through Facebook. You can tag your friends in pictures so that when someone scrolls over it, they know who that person is. I'm not so sure that tagging belongs in libraries, however. I think it might make things confusing to have all sorts of labels by many different people. It is hard to tell unless it's been done, though. Students might like the idea and it could create a better way for them to share things, but I don't think it could ever replace subject headings. I think we should encourage it for personal use and see what direction it goes. If tagging becomes all the rage, then maybe we can slowly bring it into the library.

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