We started off this unit
looking at how social media has affected how libraries catalogue. One of the
ways it has affected cataloguing is that Edmonton Public Library and Vancouver
Public Library among others allow collective tagging or folksonomies on items
in the catalogue. The common way to do this is through the softwear
Bibliocommons. Folksonomies are a good thing because it allows the patrons to
have a say on items they like or dislike in the library. This is also why
folksonomies are a bad thing, the library who uses it, would need to have
someone who goes through periodically, or a program, and checks items for
appropriateness and language. (Bibliocommons does this for libraries that use
their service). One of the ways that folksonomies have an advantage over say
Library of Congress subject headings is that the common populace does not know
LOC nor do all LOC headings make sense to Average Joe. For the library
community Kropp says this about Bibliocommons:
Bibliocommons is the best library automation company
we’ve ever worked with, a great partner. Implementation was smooth, support is
responsive and lines of communication are always open. BiblioCommons has made
our catalog an online "go-to" destination throughout our communities.
The return on investment is ongoing. Definitely some of the best money we ever
spent! http://www.bibliocommons.com/
It is usually easy to tell
if I library is using Bibliocommons because the Biblicommons logo will be right
beside the library name in the address bar. Even though the VPL uses this software
the logo doesn’t show up right now, I wonder why?
Advantage of LOCSH: On topic, specific, supplied
by one person and regulated.
Disadvantage of LOCSH: Not as current, one
person’s opinion, and more needless repetition.
Advantage of Folksonomies: Easier to find similar
tags due to layman’s terms than LOCSH which looks convoluted and repeats itself
unnecessarily. Bibliocommons groups same wordings together.
Disadvantage of
Folksonomies:
Only in widely read books, seems to be more common in fiction than non-fiction.
Really popular books seem (Harry Potter) attracts too many folksonomies and can
lead to irrelevant tags (Nazi Occult) and can lead to confusion. Similar
wordings (magic and magical) could be grouped together but are not at this time.
Some really interesting points were made! Is there any way to adopt the folksonomies system of cataloging with some sort of moderation attached? Perhaps only tags approved by the library staff will actually get added to the catalog? To me that kind of defeats the purpose of the folksonomies system.
ReplyDeleteRose another great blog post. You have a great understanding of this subject. You chatted about what folksonomies and tagging are, which is great. Like that you put the pros and cons for them. I never realized how much time it would take, or get a person in to go through and check the tags.
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