SOCIAL TAGGING

This week our topic is "social tagging". We read a very interesting article by Hesham Allam that was published in the Dalhousie Journal of Interdisciplinary Management. My knowledge of social tagging was extremely limited before reading this article. His article was very interesting and makes a few great points for a new social tagger such as myself.

I particularly like the point he makes, that anyone can perform social tagging, by freely attaching keywords to the content of a Webpage. I am still a bit hesitant in this social networking world, so that point puts me at ease.Although, at the same time, I can completely understand why social tagging can be a bit ambiguous because there are no set guidelines. Social presence is a great motivator for social tagging and I can see how this can give an individual more freedom to express themselves through communication and ease of retrieval.

Social tagging is a great concept, and I have been looking at sites where this is done. I have become familiar with flickr, which I think is a great website to share info. I will be doing my book review via a flickr presentation. Our next assignment will be to look at additional social tagging cites and I will post on that next.

I will end this post by tagging this with the appropriate tags.

Networked Librarian

After viewing the "Networked Librarian" presentation by Lee Rainie from the Pew Research Center, I have to admit I am still a bit amazed at this world of social networking and how it pertains to libraries. The first so called new word he mentioned was---"Tweckling". I have to say this is new to me, but now I can totally realize how someone even in cyberspace can be heckled. I guess even when twetting we are not safe from what other people think and will say or twett immediately. We are always connected~!


He mentioned a huge statistic that really catches my attention every time it is mentioned. The fastest growing age group of social media contenders are the 50 -65 year olds. I have to admit I fit into that category, so I guess I am a statistic! That just amazes me.


Some of the other statistics were also amazing and at the same time a bit disheartening. The fact that 48 percent of some groups of people still lack the skills and ability to use a computer is just so sad.


I think the most important concept I gained from this presentation was that libraries must always educate,-- educate their patrons!!! This is a vital concern for everyone especially librarians in the every changing information world.


This presentation was very well done and really opened up these 50 something year old eyes into the world of social media.