Activity 2 – Social Bookmarking
Reflections
I an am avid user of social bookmarking programs. Social bookmarking programs allow users to save links to web content for future reference without being tied to a particular computer or browser, while also encouraging users to index information using folksonomy tags, essentially classifying web pages according to user-derived keywords. There are plenty of options available for users interested in bookmarking and tagging web content, but the two that I prefer to use are Delicious and Google Bookmarks.
I generally use Google Bookmarks for personal bookmarks, as this service is linked to my Chrome browser (which automatically saves my bookmarks through my Google Apps account). However, a few semesters ago, I began to use Delicious to bookmark sites related to LIS, coursework, and technology. This greatly reduced my need to sift through countless bookmarks, while the tag display and notes options allowed me to quickly access pertinent links when referring previously accessed information. I find this to be a very efficient option for students and individuals who frequently conduct online research, as well as those who use multiple computers throughout the day and want to have access to their bookmarks.
My personal Delicious account and bookmarks can be found here: http://www.delicious.com/emperatrix
Using social bookmarking for information literacy instruction
Social bookmarking tools provide a great opportunity for librarians, subject specialists, and instructors to identify and promote websites that have been reviewed for currency, relevance, and scholarship. Pertinent web pages can be identified and organized according to subject-based tags derived from course syllabi and assignments (words that will be familiar to students and, therefore, facilitate access to information), so that students and instructors will have a database of valid web sources for use in class.
marginalia and such 