Tagging 101

During our cataloging course when we were learning the ins and outs of the Dewey Decimal System, we noted the difficulty in finding all the references for a certain topic if the topic spanned more than one Dewey classification (dogs as mammals, dogs as pets, dogs as workers, etc.). Add to that, any esoteric reference (It's a dog-eat-dog world, It's raining cats and dogs . . .) and the problem is compounded exponentially.

Currently, in my technology discussion group, we are discussing whether Library Thing will replace Dewey. At first blush I felt the question was comparing apples to oranges. I still think they serve different purposes, but after viewing Tagging 101, I very clearly see that tagging ANYTHING (books, videos, photos) makes the ability to retrieve it much more likely.

I see tremendous applications for our kids trying to piece together research on everything from dogs to Minnesota: to the extent that they can "browse" the connections others have made to their topic, not only will they get a birds-eye-view of content, but also insight into different ways to connect their content to other topics.

Corita Kent (one of my soul mentors) said that creativity comes from unexpected pairing: thoughts, pictures, words, ideas, events. Well, tagging takes one person's expected association on a topic and pairs it with other people's associations, many of which will be unexpected. It's a lot to ponder.