So this week we're diving a little deeper into how social networking sites impact librarians. Our job is to find information and social networking sites have redefined how information is classified and how we search for it. Instead of working within structured systems like the Dewey Decimal System, anyone and everyone is able to attach any tag they want to photos, bookmarks, blog posts, etc. While there's a certain freedom in these folksonomies it makes our job considerably harder.
A good example of a social networking site that goes crazy with the personal tagging is del.icio.us which allows its users to share their favorite bookmarks. As anyone can see from my del.icio.us page, I'm a huge fan of this site. I discovered del.icio.us about two years ago when I was taking a class on Information Sources in Science and Technology and I had to participate in a group presentation on reference sources for mechanical engineers (here's a tip for current students in library school: learn to say 'no' when you have an overbearing partner who insists on choosing a boring topic). When we started we kept e-mailing each other links to different websites we could use for our bibliography. Naturally, I began to cringe when I opened my e-mail to see the subject line: "Just one more thing..." several times a day. I told my partner about this great site, called del.icio.us, where we could easily share bookmarks without using e-mail. This site is essential for any reference librarian. You can easily access your bookmarks from any computer and classify them according to various subjects. I have tags for science, arts and humanities, ready reference, etc. Another great feature is the ability to type little notes to make it easy for me to remember why I saved the bookmark in the first place.
In the end, social networking sites like del.icio.us make it easier for us to not only find information but connect to people who have similar interests. These people then connect us to information that we may not have been able to find on our own (or even through a well-intentioned librarian). Serendipity is truly the key that makes this all work and we need to learn to maneuver within this less-structured system.
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