1. Tagging the Academic LibraryExploring student awareness use and perceptions at Anglia Ruskin University Jo Harcus jo.harcus@anglia.ac.uk
2. What is social tagging? Social bookmarking: online version of favourites Social tagging: multiple keywords instead of single hierarchical folders to organise bookmarks Social benefits are a byproduct of personal information management
9. Key findings Familiarity and use Usage largely confined to popular websites Facebook, Twitter and YouTube Used daily for personal rather than work or study purposes Used to manage own resources, communicate and share links with known others rather than to actively collaborate and network with other users Lack of familiarity biggest barrier to uptake rather than concerns too difficult or time consuming to use
10. Key findings LSE Subject Guide Favoured for facilitating access to authoritative, subject-specific resources thereby saving users time and effort Preferred to Google: ‘It’s like finding the handsome prince without having to kiss all the toads’ Signposting or spoon feeding?
11. Key findings PennTags and the Franklin Catalog Unhelpful and unreliable, like Amazon, Google and Wikipedia Barriers to contribution: time and effort fear of criticism/ridicule from other users others gaining from contributions without contributing themselves fear of accusations of collusion and plagiarism Resistant to mixing subjective user contributions with authoritative content in the library catalogue
12. Conclusions Concentrate on developing applications which focus on facilitating access to quality online resources rather than user participation and collaboration User education to promote benefits, rationalise concerns and manage expectations Findings are not generalisable to all student populations
