Tagging on Del.iciou.us is a powerful collaborative tool. As with most applications, it can be used for something serious or not so serious. For fun I looked at "How To Shave Like Your Grandpa, the Art of Manliness" which describes how to shave with a razor and foam. There's a great collection of comments. Some people must have a lot of free time!
My favorite comment is one which no one should have dared post after, a real show-stopper: "Sorry but theres nothing manly about a safety razor, shaving isnt supposed to be a safe activity, comback once you’ve used a straight razor and we’ll talk." As far as I'm concerned, 'nuff said!
This method sure gets around the controled vocabulary of the Library of Congress Subject Headings. LOC for the masses! However, without controled vocabulary, you must assume that everyone will use similar words for similar meaning. With the English language in particular, this may not always be true. You must wade through the posts that make you think, "No, that isn't what I meant."
Ultimately, even though the uncontrolled vocabulary can create meaning and interpretation problems, it becomes a useful tool for research because tagging opens up resources that might never otherwise be available, and allows you to stumble upon ideas that would never otherwise be found.
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