Educational Technology Resources and Tips

ADVANTAGES OF TAGGING AND FOLKSONOMY

Tagging takes away the decision-making process of choosing the right category and risk the possibility of ending in a poorly defined sub-category.  Tagging allows you to include associated concepts without wondering whether you have categorized the item in the correct folder or not. Applying structured taxonomies is frustrating because some items do not fit comfortably into any category. This lack of fit could happen if the concept or product is so new that no terms describing the topic have been added to the taxonomy yet. In comparison, folksonomies are nimble and flexible. They can change quickly. You can add new terms at will, and there is no need to jump through several hoops to get new terms added or approved.  

            By using folksonomies, you can discover new and more current digital content due to its ability to be updated immediately.  Folksonomies can also be organized so you can explore the “long tail interests” – the less frequently used keywords that people choose that can help users focus their searches and applications.

      Tag clouds and folksonomies automatically help create communities as users with similar interests gravitate toward similar, searchable word tags. Tagged content increases the amount of usable retrievals by providing more than one place you can look for information on the same topic.

Best of all, tag clouds and folksonomy are mobile and can be accessed from anywhere with an Internet connection. Educators, students, and parents can continue their research regardless of their location.

            Folksonomies lend themselves to exploration as well as being self-moderating and inclusive. They are less expensive to maintain than a traditional taxonomy and everyone can contribute to its development.

CHALLENGES WITH TAGGING AND FOLKSONOMY

            While the advantages of using tagging, tag clouds, and folksonomy far out-weigh the disadvantages, it is important to be aware of some common problems typical of using these Web 2.0 tools. One of the most common problems is the misspelling of tags within the tag cosmos. The result is that it leaves orphaned content that has little benefit to the group at large.

Another issue is deciding what the content being tagged is actually about. Everyone has different perceptions of what she is reading. Individual tags may tend to be disjointed, irrelevant, and often very messy. They lack precision and there is no ability to control synonyms or related terms. Tag clouds and folksonomies contain many variants such as plural, singular, spelling errors, and typos. Different social software tools take different approaches to tags composed of multiple words resulting in even more variations.

Folksonomies lack hierarchy. The flat-system folksonomies lack parent-child relationships, categories, and subcategories. This lack of hierarchy can directly influence searching and search results. Without hierarchy or synonym control, a search of a specific term will only yield results on that term and not provide the full body of related terms that might be relevant to the user’s information needs and goals. Folksonomy does not include “See” and “See Also” guidelines that librarians are familiar with in traditional taxonomy cataloging.

Tags with more than one meaning and can lead the searcher into an undesired area. Personalized tags are clear to a handful of people, but are not universally understood. Some may argue that metadata systems already exist and a less structured system is not necessary.

            As educators, we need to be aware of the concerns of using some Web 2.0 tools

with our students. Safety is one of the biggest concerns, but with good firewall protection, acceptable use policies, and preliminary training on using these tools, students would most likely not encounter inappropriate situations. If certain information is intended to be private, precautions should be taken to include only certain users a tag cloud, folksonomy, or social network.