Friday, May 31, 2013

Assignment 4-Web 2.0: Social Bookmarking

Web 2.0: Social Bookmarking
Valarie Anthony
MLIS 7505 Applied Tech Library Practice
Background
Web 2.0 is a term first coined by Tim O’Reilly in a conference brainstorming session between O’Reilly and MediaLive International. According to O’Reilly, Web 2.0 is “the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform” (Harinarayana & Raju, 2010).  A simpler definition of Web 2.0 is “a space that allows anyone to create and share information online – a space for collaboration, conversation, and interaction; a space that is highly dynamic, flexible, and adaptable” (Harinarayana & Raju, 2010). Web 2.0 includes web based services such as social networking sites, wikis, blogs, social bookmarking, photo, and video sharing sites. The creation of Web 2.0 has caused libraries to change.
Social bookmarking tools allow users to store, manage, search, organize, and share their bookmarks online and access them from anywhere (Barnes, 2011, p. 180). It is an easy and sometimes free way for libraries to bring peer-reviewed web-based resources to their users. It allows libraries to work with items that are widely available on the Internet and helps collect sources of information for users including websites and in some cases a library’s cataloged records and database resources.
Green (2010) states that forms of social bookmarking have been around since 1996. Delicious.com was the first web-based tool to use the term “social bookmarking”, defined as a “service that allows users to tag, save, manage and share web pages from a centralized source (p. 4).” Social bookmarking allows users to store their bookmarks or favorites online where they can be accessed from any computer. It also allows people to create and assign tags, or descriptive terms to each item they bookmark to help organize and remember the item. These tags are used instead of the hierarchical folders found in browser windows. Social bookmarking sites also allow users to share their bookmarks and see what other people are bookmarking (Green, 2010).
Social Bookmarking Sites
Vandenbroek (2013) discusses seven social bookmarking sites in her article: Later This, Delicious, SQWORL!, Jog the Web, LiveBinders, Diigo, and QR Codes. Later This bookmark sites that you stumble upon while working for later research. It is used primarily for personal use or for student book/website recommendations. Delicious allows you to bookmark and group websites for easy retrieval later. It lets the user see what others are bookmarking and create PLNs (personal learning networks). SQWORL! is a visual way to bookmark similar websites that shows a snip of the website instead of just text. It allows the user to see others who bookmarked sites like yours. Jog the Web is a site used to create collections of bookmarks on specific topics and add text. Collection includes jogs in foreign languages. LiveBinders lets users create a collection of resources that resembles an actual binder. Tabs are the main categories and subtabs are the links or details of that topic. The user can easily add text, media, links, and images. Diigo is a social bookmarking tool that allows grouping by tag as well as highlighting in multiple colors and taking notes on a notepad. The education version allows students the same access. Annotations are visible from any computer as long as the user is logged into that website. QR Codes are 2-D barcodes that link to a website, text, contact information, etc. In order to use, a person needs a QR code reader. There are many different types of QR code creators and readers to choose from and they range in difficulty (Vandenbroek, 2013).
Advantages and Disadvantages
According to Vandenbroek (2013), the most powerful part of social bookmarking is the social aspect (p. 54). On social bookmarking sites, creating collaborative learning networks is easy. They can be either personal or professional. You have the ability of networking with people who share the same interests or careers as you. Some of the social bookmarking tools allow for adding additional content, like text, videos, images, or annotations. These easily customizable tools make sharing with others a snap (Vandenbroek, 2013, p. 54). Another advantage of social bookmarking sites is that they are easily accessible. Social bookmarking sites are not restricted to one computer, you can access them anywhere there is access to the internet.
There are some disadvantages to social bookmarking. According to EDUCAUSE (2005), by definition, social bookmarking is done by amateurs. There is no oversight as to how resources are organized and tagged. This can lead to inconsistent or otherwise poor use of tags. For example, if a user saves a bookmark for a site with information about greyhounds but only tags the site with the term “greyhound” and not also with “dogs” or perhaps “dog racing,” that resource might never be found by someone looking for information about breeds of dogs. Social bookmarking reflects the values of the community of users, there is a risk of presenting a twisted view of the value of any particular topic. For example, users might assign disapproving tags to certain resources. In addition, social bookmarking means storing data in yet another location that you have to maintain and update (EDUCAUSE, 2005).
Use in Libraries
Green (2010) states that Libraries use Delicious.com more than any other social bookmarking site. In a February 2008 survey conducted by the Association of Research Libraries, 34 libraries out of 64 respondents (53%) said they used a bookmarking or tagging site. Of these research libraries, the majority (22 or 61%) said they used Delicious (Green, 2010, p. 5).
            Some libraries use social bookmarking sites such as Delicious, to create resource guides, book lists, and answer guides to specific reference questions. Many academic librarians use social bookmarking sites in their academic classes to create annotated bibliographies and subject guides on certain topics. LIBR 1101 Foundations of Information Literacy taught at Georgia Southwestern State University taught by the Reference Librarian uses Delicious to compile a list of important resources for her students. In the article, “Tagging and Social Bookmarking”, the writers discuss how the Missouri River Regional Library uses Delicious to create a Reference links page. The tool allows the librarians to add or edit from any Web computer. The display page is dynamically updated with each change. Another library that uses Delicious is the Nashville Public Library. NPL's "Teen Web" includes a Delicious feed to display other recommended teen web sites (“Tagging and Social Bookmarking”, p.59-60). I have personally used Jog the Web to create a guide on resources concerning Jimmy Carter to assist students with their research needs.
Conclusion
            Social bookmarking opens the door to new ways of organizing information and categorizing resources. These sites are incredibly useful tools for collaboration and information sharing. Academic and public libraries use social bookmarking sites in an abundance of ways to help their patrons. Many libraries are using social networking sites to share useful websites with their patrons. Many libraries are also incorporating social tagging into their library catalogs.  I believe in the future more libraries will utilize this Web 2.0 tool.

References
Barnes, L. (2011). Social bookmarking sites: A Review. Collaborative Librarianship3(3),
            180-182.
EDUCAUSE. (2005). 7 Things you should know about social bookmarking. EDUCAUSE
            Learning Initiative, 1-2.
Green, C. (2010). Tag! You're it! Experiencing Delicious.com at your library--Introduction to
            social bookmarking. Kentucky Libraries74(1), 4-8.
Harinarayana, N. & Raju, N. (2010). Web 2.0 features in university library web sites. The
            Electronic Library, 28(1), 68-88.
Tagging & Social Bookmarking. (2007). Library Technology Reports43(5), 58-61.

Vandenbroek, A. (2013). Social bookmarking highlights. Library Media Connection31(6), 54.

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