[Web4lib] Lists versus Tags design idiom

Tim Spalding tim at librarything.com
Mon Mar 24 14:13:01 EDT 2008


I think that qualifies as a library site. Maybe either you or he meant
the opposite?

I think it's an open question whether in-library tagging can be made
to work. I don't see PennTags as proving that at all. Most of the
benefits of tagging require and all of the problems are much reduced
by pure scale, and PennTags has never achieved that. I wonder if
lists—less powerful but more readily understood by many—might be
better.

Roy, how have lists on WorldCat gone? I haven't seen much mention of
them since they debuted.

David, How do you see Del.icio.us? That seems like search, save and
tag to me. It's not all on one contained service, of course.

Tim

On Mon, Mar 24, 2008 at 1:39 PM, Roy Tennant <tennantr at oclc.org> wrote:
> Sure thing, PennTags:
>
>  http://tags.library.upenn.edu/
>
>  Roy
>
>
>
>
>  On 3/24/08 10:15 AM, "Walker, David" <dwalker at calstate.edu> wrote:
>
>  > Hey All,
>  >
>  > I have a metasearch application [1] with a 'save record' feature.  Right now,
>  > I'm working on giving our users a mechanism to organize those saved records.
>  >
>  > I'm leaning towards using a tagging idiom in the interface [2], but have some
>  > lingering doubts. I've noticed, for example, that tagging is most often
>  > implemented for sites in which the user *generates* the content (e.g., blogs,
>  > flickr).  While sites that allow you to search and save records usually employ
>  > a list metaphor (e.g., amazon [3], istockphoto).
>  >
>  > Anyone have a good example of a (non-library) site that allows you to search
>  > and save things, and then *tag* them?
>  >
>  > --Dave
>  >
>  > [1] http://xerxes.calstate.edu <http://xerxes.calstate.edu>
>  > [2] mock-up: http://walkertr.csusm.edu/download/saved-records.jpg
>  > <http://walkertr.csusm.edu/download/saved-records.jpg>
>  > [3] Amazon apparently has a tagging mechanism, too, but it's rather (to me)
>  > obscurely implemented.
>  >
>  > -------------------
>  > David Walker
>  > Library Web Services Manager
>  > California State University
>  > http://xerxes.calstate.edu <http://xerxes.calstate.edu>
>  >
>  >
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