The Job of Organizing

Organizing books and materials used to be in the domain of professionally trained catalogers and indexers. Now, through Web 2.0, it is in the hands of everyday "folk." What are the implications of this trend for librarians? Also, for additional food for thought, go to your Delicious site and examine your list of tags. In your opinion, are these tags more or less helpful than traditional subject headings?

Before the creation of the internet, library catalogs existed to help users locate published resources in the library.  With advances in technology, we are no longer limited to searching for information in books.  We now have access to a seemingly unlimited number of electronic resources.  This has changed they way we look for information.  Instead of going to a library catalog to locate a resource, we can now go to a search engine such as Google to aid in our search.  Google has many advantages over a traditional library catalog, including relevancy ranking and spell checking.  When searching for a book, we can now go to websites such as Amazon,com to find more information and read reviews about the book.  I think these changes have made it easier for people to search for and find information.  While it is important for librarians to have a system for cataloging and organizing information, they have a responsibility to adapt the current system and make it more relevant and usable.

I think that tags on a Delicious site are almost more helpful than traditional subject headings.  Delicious tags allow materials to be labeled in more than one category.  Traditional subject headings force materials into one specific label.  The ability to assign more than one label to resources will make them easier to find in the future.  While some of the tags will only make sense to the individual who assigned them, many will also be helpful for others who are looking for resources on a topic.    I think it is a beneficial thing for everyone to be able to take part in organizing.  When everyday people are able to participate in organizing, it allows them to organize materials in a way that makes sense to them.  Some of the libraries methods for cataloging can be confusing for people who do not have a background in cataloging.  The methods other people come up with for tagging and organizing might make more sense to people without a library background and allow them to find materials more easily.  The downside to this is that each person will have their own way of tagging and organizing.  With traditional cataloging methods, there is a standard system for organizing materials that is universal.  There is also the possibility that things can be mislabeled.