Social Bookmarking in Libraries: Simply del.icio.us

http://del.icio.us/cacemlis/simplydelicious

Social Bookmarking in Libraries: Simply del.icio.us

Presented by: Carol Cooke

May 1, 20081:00 - 4:15 pm

6th Floor, Dr. John Archer Library,University of Regina


Objectives

□Discover what social bookmarking is □Learn how to use social bookmarking

software (del.icio.us) □Discuss use of social bookmarking in

libraries □To practice using this technology

Social Bookmarking in Plain English by Commoncraft - 3:25 min. video (YouTube version)


What is Social Bookmarking?

□ Definition:

"Social bookmarking is the practice of saving bookmarks to a public Web site and "tagging" them with keywords." (7 things you should know about Social Bookmarking)

□ History:

"The concept of shared online bookmarks dates back to April 1996 with the launch of itList.com ... Founded in late 2003, del.icio.us pioneered tagging and coined the term "social bookmarking"." (Wikipedia: Social Bookmarking)

"Joshua Schachter ... created del.icio.us in 2003 as a hobby - a way to index and share Web pages with friends. Schachter's early efforts became so popular and grew so rapidly that del.icio.us, Inc. became a company in 2005." ("A 'del.icio.us' way to use bookmarks" by Thomas Pack. InformationToday April 2007 pg 36)


Advantages

□Access your bookmarks from any computer with an Internet connection

□Share your bookmarks publicly or not

□Find individuals who share your interests; build a community of expertise

□Research topics you are interested in and find new sites


Disadvantages

□ Lacks authority control - no standard set of keywords/tags/controlled vocabulary □ Singular vs. plural □ Spelling errors □ Tags with more than one meaning (e.g. "bow" could

mean ribbon, tie, prow of a ship, violin bow)

□ Limitations with interface (e.g. sorting, downloading)

□ Susceptible to corruption and collusion (spammers have started bookmarking a web page over and over again) (Wikipedia: Social Bookmarking)


Social bookmarking software

□del.icio.us □Simpy □Furl □Spurl □Connotea □CiteULike □Diigo

to name a few (more in del.icio.us)


How to use del.icio.us

□Logging in and moving about □Posting bookmarks □Posting made easy □Importing bookmarks □Organizing bookmarks □Sharing bookmarks □Subscriptions □Searching del.icio.us □Nifty bits


Logging in and moving about del.icio.us

□Go to del.icio.us □Login to the software (upper right) □Menu

□Your bookmarks □Your network □Subscriptions □Links for you □Post

□settings □logout □help (truly helpful)


Posting bookmarks

□Click "post" □Type in the URL (e.g. http://google.com) □Click "Save" button. □Type in a description (this is the title of

your bookmark) □Type in notes regarding the site (optional) □Type in appropriate tags. □Decide to share or not share □Click "Save" button. □Anatomy of a post.


Posting made easy

Best way to post is to install the del.icio.us buttons in your browser

□ Installing Del.icio.us buttons □ No admin access on work computer?

□ have tech support do it for you

□ Otherwise try this□ log in to del.icio.us□ add these bookmarklets to your browser □ in IE right-mouse click over the link and add to your

Favorites - Links folder □ in Firefox - drag the links to the bookmarks toolbar


Importing bookmarks

□ Go to del.icio.us

□ Login to the software (upper right)

□ Click "Settings"

□ Click "Import/Upload"

□ Follow the on screen instructions for your browser.

Note: all uploaded bookmarks are automatically marked "do not share" by default


Organizing your bookmarks

Tags

"Tags are one-word descriptors that you can assign to your bookmarks on del.icio.us to help you organize and remember them. Tags are a little bit like keywords, but they're chosen by you, and they do not form a hierarchy. You can assign as many tags to a bookmark as you like and rename or delete the tags later." (What are tags?)

Video on categorizing information "Information R/evolution" 5:28min

Adding tags

□ popular tags □ recommended tags - combination of popular tags and tags you

have used before □ your network


Viewing tags

□ Tag options - Located at the bottom of your tag list this area describes the different display options available to you.

□ Tag displays □ Lists - list of the tags you have assigned to your

bookmarks □ Tag cloud - "The size of the words in the tag cloud

reflects the number of items that carry that tag". ("Tagging & Social Bookmarking" in Library Technology Reports Sept-Oct 2007. pg. 58)

□ Sort tags alphabetically (alpha) or by frequency (freq)

□ Remove the tags which have only a few links (use minimum 1,2,5)


Organizing and Editing Tags

Available from the tag options menu:

□ Tag bundling - you can bundle your tags to gather together items on a similar theme.

□ Editing tags

□ Deleting tags


Sharing bookmarks - Generally

□Sharing a bookmark with the world

□Sharing a bookmark with a particular person

□"When you save new bookmarks, you can also share them directly with people in your network by clicking on their username (under your network) or by typing in the tag for:username. That user (or users) will receive the sent bookmark on their links for you page." (del.icio.us: your network)


Sharing bookmarks - Your network

What is your network?

□ "Your network connects you to other del.icio.us users... It is a people-aggregator, collecting your favorite users' latest bookmarks in one place for you to view and enjoy." (del.icio.us: your network)

□ Look at who has bookmarked the sites you have (e.g. BISON link)

□ Review that persons links □ Add them to your network (e.g. cacemlis)

Who are your fans?

□ "Your fans is your reverse network: a list of people who have added you to their network." (del.icio.us: your network)


Sharing bookmarks - Privacy

Privacy issues are huge on the Internet and del.icio.us attempts to take this into account for its users.

□ Check the "do not share" check box to make your bookmark invisible to all but yourself.

□ "Your network is visible to other users by default. If you do not want others to see to whom you are connected, you can make your network private by following the network settings link on your network page." (del.icio.us: your network)


Subscriptions

You can also subscribe to a tag or tag combination in order to keep up to date with links and people.

To subscribe:

□ Click on "Subscriptions" □ In the right-hand area labeled "your subs" click

"edit". □ Subscribe to the tag: Chocolate □ Subscribe to the user: cacemlis □ OR subscribe to both combined.


Searching del.icio.us

URLs within del.icio.us follow a set of rules to make it easier to navigate:

□ Every user has his or her own page for bookmarks: del.icio.us/cacemlis

□ Every tag has its own page: del.icio.us/tag/politics

□ You can view bookmarks by user and tag: del.icio.us/angelacw/del.icio.us/libraries

□ View bookmarks tagged both libraries and health (this is called an intersection or tag combination): del.icio.us/tag/medical+libraries

□ View popular bookmarks for a certain tag: del.icio.us/popular/recipes

Searching hints


Nifty Bits

□ Linking to your bookmarks

□ del.icio.us feeds another RSS feed source for you

□ Desktop shortcut for del.icio.us ("Top 10 Ways to Use del.icio.us" LifeHack.org)

□ Interesting third party (geeky) tools □ check your bookmarks for dead links!

□ Creative ways to use del.icio.us □ Create a wish list. (e.g. wishlist) □ Develop an online cookbook.


What are libraries using social bookmarking for?

□To collect and share sites for best practice

□Create and maintain dynamic web pages/subject guides

□Marketing/Promotion

□Tag articles and web sites for specific classes


Collect and share sites for best practice

Resource sharing of a different kind.

□Reference Services □Menasha Public Library bookmarks on del.icio.u

s Example of a well thought out folksonomy

□Cataloguing Services □University of Georgia Library, cataloguing reso

urces on del.icio.us. Note use of diacritics in tags.


Create and maintain dynamic web pages/subject guides

Use social bookmarking software to create and maintain dynamic web pages/subject guides with no understanding of HTML required. This is "to replace or supplement traditional subject guides and pathfinders." ("Tags help make libraries del.icio.us" by Melissa L. Rethlefsen)

Examples:

□ Health Links – Vancouver Public Library□ example of a subject guide built with del.icio.us

□ Kid Zone - Holdrege Area Public Library □ example of use of a tag cloud

□ Delicious IC | Information Center (IC), Stanford University □ use of a tag cloud in an academic environment

□ New and Trial Databases, Health Sciences Libraries, University of Manitoba □ example of a dynamically generated web page using del.icio.us rss feeds


Marketing/Promotion

□invite their clients to contribute to the library's bookmarks by making recommendations to the library account

□NRCan Library - Ottawa (Earth Sciences) - What's New

soliciting del.icio.us input from clients

□tag the library web site in del.icio.us to make it easier to find specific pages for the user community


Tag articles and web sites for specific classes

Educational materials links for seminar support

Examples:

□Michael Stephens bookmarks for an LIS class

□My bookmarks for this workshop □North Metro Technical College Librarian bo

okmarks on del.icio.us Note tagging for different classes


What other possibilities can you think of?

Collaboration□on projects using special tags (e.g.

chla2009) □with clients (e.g. toolkits)

Improving workflow□accessing your bookmarks anywhere any

time □sharing with colleagues


How to - Embed a tag cloud on your web page

□Log in to del.icio.us □Settings □Under Blogging click "tag roll". □Adjust settings to suit your needs. □Copy the code. □Open your web page editor. □Click where you want the code to appear. □Paste the code. □Save and publish your page.


How to - Create a dynamically generated

web page/subject guide □Folksonomy, folksonomy, folksonomy. □Log in to del.icio.us □Settings □Under Blogging click “link roll". □Adjust settings to suit your needs. □Copy the code. □Open your web page editor. □Click where you want the code to appear. □Paste the code. □Save and publish your page.


More Reading

□ 7 Things You Should Know About Social Bookmarking – Educause□ The Brave New World of Social Bookmarking: Everything you always

wanted to know but were too afraid to ask by Amanda Etches-Johnson in Feliciter.

□ "A 'del.icio.us' way to use bookmarks" by Thomas Pack. InformationToday April 2007 pg 36

□ How Del.icio.us Helps Libraries and Academia□ Simple, but Useful Things to do with Del.icio.us □ Swiss Army Librarian » Library Subject Guides using del.icio.us :: Brian

Herzog □ "Tagging & Social Bookmarking" in Library Technology Reports Sept-Oct

2007. pg. 58 □ Tags Help Make Libraries Del.icio.us - by Melissa L. Rethlefsen 9/15/2007 -

Library Journal □ Top 10 Ways to Use del.icio.us - lifehack.org□ Joseph, Paul (2008) It's del.icio.us: Pushing Links to Create Dynamic Web

Pages. Presentation.□ Wikipedia: Social Bookmarking


Final Words

□Investigate.□Use.□Collaborate.□Talk.□Thank you!

Economy & Finance

Social Bookmarking in Libraries: Simply del.icio.us