« Increased funding to support Civil War reading and discussion series | Main | Watts Program in the History and Culture of the Book »
Computers in Libraries, Washington DC
By admin | March 27, 2011
Day 3
I’ve been fascinated with the idea of tagging within the library catalog since I took my cataloging class in library school- in fact, so fascinated that I wrote my final research paper on it. At first I was deeply suspicious, but found that tags can be a wonderful compliment to Library of Congress subject headings and actually encourage catalog use. You may be wondering, how can users’ tags encourage use in the catalog? Wouldn’t that duplicate our cataloging? Shouldn’t only catalogers be able to add to records? Or worse, you may be thinking that it may make cataloging extinct!
It may be helpful to consider where tagging is most useful. We live in an age of the keyword mentality, which is great for Google-ing, but not so great in a catalog. When users do not find what they are looking for, they often give up. The first step in solving this problem is finding what your users actually search for. Most catalogs allow an administrator to look at the user searches. If your users are consistently looking for something one way, and the Library of Congress happens to catalog it a completely different way, this is where a tag could lead to ease of use. A cataloger from the University of Georgia Law School, Suzanne Graham, has actually added a field to her library’s records, a 655 field. This field is internal, and strictly used for additional search terms. Putting the tagged term in a record also allows for reversibility, should current terminology ever change or if the Library of Congress heading changes.
The other side of the tagging spectrum is user tagging. This is done completely by a user within your catalog. These tags are visible and search-able by other users. Some catalogs even offer a “search by tags” option. Gretchen Caserotti, Children’s Librarian at Darien Public Library in Connecticut, has been using these tools for her summer reading program with fantastic results. She encourages her readers to create a signature tag, such as “juliassummerreading,” which allows the kids to not only keep track of what they are reading and have read, but also allows others to see who has read a particular book. If a book is on the list of many, the chances are good that it is a popular book that kids of the same age will enjoy. In Gretchen’s experience, kids get excited about creating something that will live in the library catalog, and encourages catalog use as well as familiarity with searching strategies.
Tagging was designed for ease and efficiency. Like many new technologies, it is important to remember that tagging is used to enhance and not replace. Users will have a difficult time finding what they need if a record is incomplete, whether tagged or not.
I really learned a lot at this conference, and I was sorry that it only lasted three days, as there is certainly enough to talk about for at least three months! If you are interested in this year’s conference, you can find summaries, reactions, and some streaming sessions through LibConf.com.
Topics: 21st Century Skills in Libraries, Future of Libraries, Technology | Comments Off on Computers in Libraries, Washington DC
Comments are closed.