Well this was not a difficult task but has got me thinking about how information is indexed and retrieved in Web 2.0. I started off quite happily after deciding that each of my blog posts needed a "23 Things" tag. But then I as I started to add "Tweeting", "Blogging" etc. etc. I started to worry about going it alone and making up my own tags. When asked to assign subject headings I look for rules, a system, an agreed standard. Surely someone somewhere should have had committee meetings about this!
I had a look at the Ann Arbor District Library catalogue http://www.aadl.org/catalog as suggested by Emma C for Thing 8 and started to realise that tagging is not all about cataloguers but about information users building up their own set of categories to make information more accessible. For library catalogues these user-generated tags can sit alongside the subject headings assigned by "official" cataloguers. So if it helps the library user to find what they need then that makes me feel better.
When I think beyond library catalogues and about the mass of tags being assigned to all the "unofficial" web 2.0 information out there I do still worry about whether people will be able to find the information they are looking for. How do I know how to construct my search when I dont know which tags have been used? How do I advise students on searching? For now I will continue to work on my own tags for the 23 Things. Searching for blog posts from other Cam 23 Thing ers using their tags will be an interesting exercise.
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