Subjecting the catalog to tagging
| Pages | 30-41 |
| Date | 06 March 2009 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/07378830910942892 |
| Published date | 06 March 2009 |
| Author | Luiz H. Mendes,Jennie Quiñonez‐Skinner,Danielle Skaggs |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
THEME ARTICLE
Subjecting the catalog to tagging
Luiz H. Mendes, Jennie Quin
˜onez-Skinner and Danielle Skaggs
California State University, Northridge, California, USA
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the implementation of LibraryThing for Libraries
(LTFL) in an academic library and analysis of usage of LTFL data and their potential for resource
discovery in the catalog.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews the literature on social tagging and
incorporation of third-party user-generated metadata into the library catalog. It provides an
assessment based on the analysis of total absolute usage figures and frequency of use of LTFL data.
Findings – Based on the data available, usage of LTFL data in the catalog is low, but several
possible contributing factors are identified.
Originality/value – The paper contributes to the literature on the implementation of LTFL in an
academic library and provides usage statistics on LTFL data. It also provides directions for future
research about tagging in the catalog.
Keywords Online catalogues,Tagging, Subject heading lists, Libraries
Paper type Technical paper
1. Introduction
There have been a number of developments and implementations in the use of Web 2.0
technologies to facilitate resource “discovery and delivery” as well as information
organization. One implementation is the incorporation of LibraryThing tags –
LibraryThing for Libraries (LTFL) – into the library catalog. As a cataloging
application, Librar yThing provides three features: tag clo uds (user-generated
subjects), links to other editions and translations of a work (FRBR-like links to
related works), and recommendations to similar books. Tags (tag clouds) in the catalog
certainly provide an additional option for “resource discovery” for users through
browsing the tags, but they also create a bridge from the users’ vernacular to the
controlled vocabularies, enhance the existing metadata in bibliographic records, as
well as establish relationships to related works. The focus of this article is to presen t an
implementation of LibraryThing for Libraries in the catalog and an assessment and
analysis of tagging the catalog.
2. Libraries, Web 2.0, the catalog: an overview
The development of social software tools brought a revolution in thought to libraries.
The library catalog, or online public access catalogs (OPACs) entered center stage in
the debate – both the future of the catalog and cataloging have generated heated
discussions within the profession. The development of Web 2.0 applications, especially
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0737-8831.htm
The authors would like to thank Eric Willis, Library Systems Administrator, for providing the
usage statistics analyzed in the article.
LHT
27,1
30
Received 15 October 2008
Revised 10 November 2008
Accepted 21 November 2008
Library Hi Tech
Vol. 27 No. 1, 2009
pp. 30-41
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0737-8831
DOI 10.1108/07378830910942892
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