Can Tagging Help Search?

Grok Headline matches for Can Tagging Help Search?

Tagging

Tagging 04/10/2005 09:53 PM

The idea of "tagging" content is suddenly everywhere. With Flickr and del.icio.us and Technorati embracing the concept of tags, suddenly it's getting some broad acceptance.

But what are "tags"? At the most basic level, they're just keywords — categorization without a master table of categories. Categorization that people can make up on the fly without having to "create" the tag in advance or fit it into some taxonomy. It's categorization from the bottom up, exactly like I theorized on here but never implemented.

What's the drawback? Mainly, that tags won't get standardized. I may tag my articles with "automotive" while you may tag them with "cars." Or that you may mispell a tag name once in a while and not notice it.

But this apparently doesn't matter so much to anyone. Tagging is the Next Big Thing, even though it's a technical step backwards from the button-downed, tightly normalized way of doing things.

I think it's refreshing. It's nice to let our a deep breath and just use something that works without having to make Poindexter the Perfect Programmer happy.

Jon Udell gave a great screencast about a month ago about del.icio.us and how he uses it. It's worth watching if you haven't grasped the significance of the tagging phenomenon. Towards the end, he gets into the "soft" topic of how languages are formed and how tagging is a way of essentially writing another language which isn't perfect but comes about though informal usage, negotiation, and acceptance. (This is technically called a Creole.)

For those more interested in the technical ramifications of all this, here's a page with links to resources on how to make SQL understand tag concepts, regardless of application.

Tagging meets RSS

Tagging meets RSS 03/17/2005 04:23 AM
Feedtagger - Tagging meets RSS. Rah!...

Tagging LIS Course Resources

Tagging LIS Course Resources 02/01/2005 10:09 PM

Subject Guides, the Folksonomic Way

“Del.icio.us, the bookmarking website with tags that I discussed on January 6, seems like the perfect tool for creating course-specific subject guides. Just agree on a tag, like the course number, and the subject librarian, professor, and students can build a subject guide cooperatively, on the fly.

I just tagged the two resources I identified for my Digital Libraries class with the course number. So they are now easily found by myself, and anyone else in the class, at del.icio.us/tag/sislt9409. ” [Wanderings of a Student Librarian]

Joy Weese Moll demonstrates another way in which librarians and librarians-to-be can take advantage of tagging and folksonomies! It will be interesting to see if her teacher or her fellow students begin contributing to the tag. Here’s hoping….

PDF tagging for the blind

PDF tagging for the blind 07/11/2004 08:11 PM
Online service aims to take the strain

Tagging and the Semantic Web

Tagging and the Semantic Web 04/11/2005 05:19 PM
Tagging Tagging, i.e. on-the-fly user generated keyword categorization looks like it is becoming the standard way to categorize weblog content,...

A Problem with Tagging

A Problem with Tagging 06/17/2005 03:45 PM

I wonder how long before the whole tagging phenomenon jumps the shark? I like it and everything, but have a sneaking suspicion that we're going to come full circle back to taxonomies.

We've talked about tax onomies before — these are the big parent-child tree structures that have traditionally defined information architecture. Tagging is a direct response to the complication and "monolithic-ness" of the taxonomy — instead of defining the entire tree, you just label the one leaf that you're working with.

But what happens when the tree starts creeping back?

For instance, one of the drawbacks with tagging is that people have different names for the different things. What I call "automotive," you might call "cars," so our entries don't appear under the same tag. Have this happen enough times, and it gets annoying.

How do we get around this? Well, let's create a thesaurus then. Let's tell the system that "cars" and "automotive" are more or less the same thing, so if someone searches for anything tagged "automotive," return anything tagged as "cars" as well. Awesome — now we're back in action, even though we have a bit of a top-down system to maintain. It's a small price to pay.

But what happens when someone wants to broaden their search beyond just a simple tag? Instead of just automotive-related items, I want to find anything to do with vehicles.

How do I back up from "automotive" to "vehicles"? Well, we need to tell the system that "cars" is a child of "vehicles." For that matter, there are more than just that in "vehicles." "Vehicles" is really a parent of "planes," "trains," and "boats" too. No problem, we just need to create a recursive table that tracks how tags are related to each other, like...a taxonomy of tags...

And, with that, we've come full circle back to the top-down taxonomy. Wow, that was quick.

I don't think this is so bad, because it still has some advantages. The editing interface for tags (a simple texbox) is much better than the mess we get with parent-child stuff (usually a huge list of checkboxes).

Additionally, tag-based organization can kind of define itself. Instead of sitting around thinking up a huge taxonomy before you get started, you can watch the tags that come rolling through the system and just organize them as they come in. ("Oh look, another tag for 'hydrofoils.' Maybe we can stick that under 'boats'..")

Finally, if you're really anal retentive, you can "normalize" the tags as they get applied. When an item gets submitted with "cars" and "howto" assigned, you can detect and change them to "automotive" and "turorial" if you like. Be sure to notify the user, however, so they know where to find the thing when they go looking for it (or just make sure the the thesaurus has the correct relationships defined).

Anyone have thoughts on this? Am I just trying to rain on the tagging parade?

Tagging in the Enterprise

Tagging in the Enterprise 03/23/2005 02:16 AM
One of the most popular sessions at PC Forum was the Roundtable on User-generated Metadata. Moderated by David Weinberger and Esther Dyson, it engaged the former audience in a conversation.  Good thing too, as many of the experts were in...

Tagging Frist

Tagging Frist 03/24/2005 10:06 AM
Michael Bassik at Personal Democracy Forum finds it distubring that Sen. Bill Frist was able to diagnosis Terri Schiavo on the basis of a video of her. So, Michael suggests that we upload photos to flickr of our medical conditions — "tennis elbow, acne, runny nose, hemorrhoids, or whatever ails you" — and tag them "Frist" so the good doctor can diagnose us as well....

Tagging Photos With GPS Coordinates

Tagging Photos With GPS Coordinates 09/17/2004 06:19 PM

.public ssid tagging

.public ssid tagging 12/12/2003 11:11 PM
iStumbler uses .public ssid's to identify open networks. I decided on this because it met the requirements of human and machine readablity.

PC Forum Roundtable on Tagging

PC Forum Roundtable on Tagging 03/25/2005 06:56 PM
Corante Mar 25 2005 11:14PM GMT

Tagging and WinFS in the Enterprise

Tagging and WinFS in the Enterprise 03/30/2005 09:00 PM

Tagging is useful at personal level for categorizing data of any size and type without the constrain of hierarchy.  While WinFS is more than this, adding tagging to traditional file system will deliver most of the benefits WinFS offers at the user experience level.

But IMHO the real power of tagging can be hatched only at the workgroup level.  This means introducing new ways (UI-wise) to expose and discover tags others use with the same level of ease as children learn new words.

Socialtext Did Not Invent Tagging

Socialtext Did Not Invent Tagging 02/05/2005 08:59 PM
Good article in the Guardian about Tagging.  Except this statement: But, extending an idea developed by SocialText for its wikis, del.icio.us also encourages users to "tag" bookmarks...This implies that Socialtext invented tagging, which is, uh, categorically false. Socialtext Categories share...

U.S. FDA to consider human RFID tagging

U.S. FDA to consider human RFID tagging 07/27/2004 09:38 PM
ZDNet Australia Jul 28 2004 1:40AM GMT

great web searching tool, free download,
cool search web, search the web, google
web search, web search engine

great web searching tool, free download,
cool search web, search the web, google
web search, web search engine 06/20/2004 03:27 AM
Re-Search is a new product that you can load it on your desktop. Of course it is totally free. Search the web became easy, fast and effectively! [PRWEB Jun 20, 2004]

Selfridges trials RFID tagging

Selfridges trials RFID tagging 12/17/2003 06:12 AM
vnunet.com Dec 17 2003 5:49AM ET

UK gov to moot electronic tagging of
dustbins

UK gov to moot electronic tagging of
dustbins 08/10/2004 08:24 AM
At least they don't whine about privacy and freedom...

IBM and Delta push RFID tagging

IBM and Delta push RFID tagging 07/02/2004 11:43 AM
Computer Weekly Jul 2 2004 3:45PM GMT

Sun shines on Scotland with hi-tech
tagging coup

Sun shines on Scotland with hi-tech
tagging coup 12/04/2003 10:49 AM
Scotsman Online Dec 4 2003 10:27AM ET

IBM, Delta Airlines add more buzz to
RFID tagging

IBM, Delta Airlines add more buzz to
RFID tagging 07/01/2004 02:04 PM
Adding to the growing buzz surrounding RFID (radio frequency identification) tagging technology, IBM Corp. on Thursday officially opened its RFID Testing and Solution Center in La Gaude, France, while in a separate move, Delta Air Lines Inc. said it is planning to invest $15 million to $25 million on the technology.

TransGaming Tagging Downloads to Combat
Piracy

TransGaming Tagging Downloads to Combat
Piracy 08/16/2004 12:57 AM

Outbreak of RFID tagging at medical
facilities

Outbreak of RFID tagging at medical
facilities 07/27/2004 04:26 AM
New York and Mexico City affected

Wal-Mart tagging fuels RFID market

Wal-Mart tagging fuels RFID market 12/24/2004 12:40 PM
ZDNet Dec 23 2004 12:09AM GMT

Pentagon Boosts High-Tech Tagging

Pentagon Boosts High-Tech Tagging 12/18/2003 01:02 AM
Washington Post Dec 18 2003 0:11AM ET

Blunkett's satellite tagging: the tripe
behind the hype

Blunkett's satellite tagging: the tripe
behind the hype 09/02/2004 01:39 PM
Home Office redefines statistical invalidity

de.lirio.us - Social Bookmarking,
Tagging, Blogging & Notes

de.lirio.us - Social Bookmarking,
Tagging, Blogging & Notes 04/07/2005 05:48 AM
de.lirio.us - Social Bookmarking, Tagging, Blogging & Notes
http://de.lirio.us/

A combination of the social bookmarking, tagging & blogging phenomenons in one little package. Post website addresses you find interesting, tag then with keywords like "spain", "dog", "ipod", "posters", etc as appropriate. You can also includes a brief description, and longer detailed notes (these can also be blog posts). How's this different from other social bookmark sites? Well, for one they are including the highly useful notes feature. When you post, there is a nice long "body" section to the form. Also, the entire site is open source. See the buttons at the bottom of their page. You can hack the code in it's entirety. New and cool features are literally at -your- fingertips. Well, and your keyboard. This has been added to Social Informatics Subject Tracer™ Information Blog.

peterme.com: Mob indexing? Folk
categorization? Social tagging?

peterme.com: Mob indexing? Folk
categorization? Social tagging? 01/04/2005 09:18 AM
peterme.com: Mob indexing? Folk categorization? Social tagging? .. Peterme .. HT

peterme.com/archives/000444.html
track this site | 3 links

Go Digital How mobiles can save lives,
the row over radio tagging and art from
a cameraphone

Go Digital How mobiles can save lives,
the row over radio tagging and art from
a cameraphone 04/19/2004 10:59 AM
BBC Apr 19 2004 3:45PM GMT

Go Digital 1500 GMT / 1600 BST How
mobiles can save lives and the row over
radio tagging

Go Digital 1500 GMT / 1600 BST How
mobiles can save lives and the row over
radio tagging 04/19/2004 05:50 AM
BBC Apr 19 2004 9:40AM GMT

Feedster Powers RSS and Blog Search
Results for Eurekster - News Search
Expands the Scope of Search Engine
Powered by Social Networking Technology

Feedster Powers RSS and Blog Search
Results for Eurekster - News Search
Expands the Scope of Search Engine
Powered by Social Networking Technology 09/16/2004 03:28 AM
Feedster, Inc., the first company to utilize RSS feeds and weblog content to enhance broad web search, today announced that it will power RSS and blog search results for Eurekster, the first and only Internet search engine powered by social networking technology. By integrating Feedster’s news search technology and RSS feeds, Eurekster now provides its users and subscribers with an expanded search solution containing new sources of information and data beyond traditional Web search. [PRWEB Sep 16, 2004]

Sharing Ideas Just Got Easier: Blogging,
Keyword Tagging, File Sharing, Social
Networking … And That’s Just For
Starters!

Sharing Ideas Just Got Easier: Blogging,
Keyword Tagging, File Sharing, Social
Networking … And That’s Just For
Starters! 03/23/2005 04:46 AM
Launched this month, Apcala is a web system that allows you to share photographs, audio, video, documents and personalised profiles with friends, family, other Apcala users and the Internet at large. It’s advertising free and free to use. [PRWEB Mar 23, 2005]

C-Search Announces the Release of
C-Search and C-Search for Domino.Doc
R1.1 – Search Multiple Domino Databases
across Multiple Servers Simultaneously

C-Search Announces the Release of
C-Search and C-Search for Domino.Doc
R1.1 – Search Multiple Domino Databases
across Multiple Servers Simultaneously 04/16/2005 01:58 AM
C-Search today announced the release of C-Search and C-Search for Domino.Doc R1.1. - C-Search brings for the first time web crawling techniques to the Domino domain allowing organizations to build a fast and lightweight index of quality materials. Unlike web crawlers however, C-Search has built in design and location awareness to ensure users are presented with meaningful results and to guarantee that users are always routed to the nearest instance of information from the search results. [PRWEB Apr 16, 2005]

Search Engine Offers Web Search and Site
Search

Search Engine Offers Web Search and Site
Search 12/29/2003 09:44 AM
Where do they come up with these search engine names? Is there some kind of law that says the odder and more onomatopoeic the name, the greater chance of the search engine's success? Perhaps so. At any rate, let's talk...

Krak to Deploy FAST Enterprise Search
Platform for Internet and Intranet
Search

Krak to Deploy FAST Enterprise Search
Platform for Internet and Intranet
Search 06/01/2004 05:29 AM
Biz.yahoo.com - Tue Jun 1, 09:17 am GMT

Perl Web Search Engineer for a leading
B2B Internet company within the
sponsored search business

Perl Web Search Engineer for a leading
B2B Internet company within the
sponsored search business 09/03/2004 02:45 PM
- United Kingdom, London (2004-09-03)

Search Engine Watch's Chris Sherman
Shares Views on Search Industry

Search Engine Watch's Chris Sherman
Shares Views on Search Industry 07/15/2004 07:10 PM
Source: Search Engine Lowdown - Today, we feature the responses from Search Engine Watch's assistant editor and "nice-guy" of search, Chris Sherman....

Under Ice Search Uses Multiple
Micro-ROVs - VideoRays Used in Unique
Shallow-water Search

Under Ice Search Uses Multiple
Micro-ROVs - VideoRays Used in Unique
Shallow-water Search 03/14/2005 05:06 PM
VideoRay announced today at Underwater Intervention the details of an unprecedented search using multiple VideoRay micro-ROVs in extreme conditions. [PRWEB Feb 15, 2005]

New Search Engine Provides Narrowed
Search Capabilities Emphasizing The New
European Union (EU)

New Search Engine Provides Narrowed
Search Capabilities Emphasizing The New
European Union (EU) 07/14/2004 03:38 AM
Ezilon.com Makes Searching Europe Quick and Easy for Individuals and Companies Around the World. [PRWEB Jul 14, 2004]

Search Engine Marketing Seminar in
Hawaii: Why Search is Necessary for
Hawaiian Businesses

Search Engine Marketing Seminar in
Hawaii: Why Search is Necessary for
Hawaiian Businesses 09/26/2004 03:20 AM
Grant Crowell, CEO of Grantastic Designs.com, will be speaking on "An Intro to Search Engine Marketing," at the University of Hawaii's College of Business in Honolulu, Sept. 30th. Special focus be given on how search impacts Hawaii, along with how local business, organizations and entreprenuers can achieve financial success with a carefully-planed search marketing strategy [PRWEB Sep 26, 2004]
Grok Description matches for Can Tagging Help Search?
GrokA matches for Can Tagging Help Search?

Can Tagging Help Search?

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