What are some of the weaknesses of tagging for making content more findable?
While tagging content in order to make it more findable does seem like a good idea, especially with the advent of and overarching Facebook photograph "tags" mindset, there are some problems that can turn up when tagging is not monitored. One of the main weaknesses of tagging is that of jargon and word choice, in that there are so many different words that could be used to describe one single item. For example, if someone finds an article on the usefulness of social networking tools in libraries and tags it under "Facebook," someone who searches for "social networking tools" may not find it. Similarly, instead of using a too-specific tag, an overly general tag could also result in missed search results. Because there are so many possible word choices for items, it is possible to not be able to find what you are looking for or only find a limited amount of search results.
Another weakness of tagging is that individuals could mis-tag items either through misidentification or in an attempt to attract attention. While malicious tagging could be easily monitored by an active community, quite like malicious editing of open-wikis, misidentification could cause more problems as it would require more time to identify that it is indeed incorrect and to correctly identify it.
Word choice is definitely an issue in social tagging. Since it is a collaborative effort for the most part, every one might have a different way/wording for a tag which might make some things harder to find or more obscure.
ReplyDeleteFindability is a concept I was introduced to during my first semester of library school, and definitely a very interesting and complex one.
As we become a more global society your point about "misidentification" rings very true. Various cultures use similar words with different connotations, and tagging with these misconceptions of meaning could cause issues. Good points!
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