Social Tagging Systems: An Overview of Structure and Functions

Abstract

Introduction: The development of Web 2 provides many opportunities for libraries and information centers which its main purpose was mainly to increase the participation and interaction of users. Social tagging is one of the Web2 tools which allow users to collaborate more with the library systems. In this article social tagging is discussed from the perspective of library resources. Methodology: The related literature covering library OPACs and Websites discussing social tagging was reviewed for gathering data. Findings: Social tagging is a process in which users label resources, such as images, web pages, or books. Many libraries nowadays provide social tagging through their OPACs which can be considered as a new search facility based on tags added to different resources. However, there are still some challenges such as lack of control, language difficulties, information overload and domination of personal interests and needs of users in tagging process. Using social tagging does not mean omitting the librarian’s role in the classification process, but it presents a new supervisory role for him through which the usability of library system can be improved.

Keywords

• tags
• social tagging
• folksonomy
• opac
• web2