Richardson Chapter 6 (The Social Web)
Here is where the definition of "Folksonomy" comes into the scene. With tools like del.icio.us, wikipedia, flickr and other similar tools, you can add to the social definition and understanding of any topic as well as learn what others have said or done with any topic. Post you comments to the chapter and experiences to this idea as it relates to education or your situation in this section.
posted by Terry @ 2:10 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Chapter 6: The Social Web: Learning Together
Jennifer Spellman
I read this morning that 81% of Americans start their research on the Internet and only 1% at the library. And I say, why not? when there are social bookmarking services like Furl, del.icio.us, and Jots. These three tools are discussed in Chapter 6 and as I read it I had a few thoughts and questions
Overall, these new tools are provided to create connections as opposed to create content (Richardson 90). Obviously if there are already 10 billion pages on the web and more being added daily, we need something to help us sift through all that information. Hence, the arrival of Furl and del.icio.us. I find the function of adding personal tags useful. This helps organize information…and organize it the way your little brain thinks, and not be forced to rely on someone else’s way of organizing. I understand that this tool helps us learn not only where our research comes from but also how to retrieve it. What I find a bit disturbing is the fact that I can track what other people are researching and basically ride on someone else’s coattails. Yes, I know it’s clichéd, but that’s what it is. Why do research myself when I can sit back and be notified when someone else has done the work for me? Perhaps I’m looking at this the wrong way. Instead of being appalled that people can be lazy and use someone else to get their own work done, I should look at it as a way for people to assist others to think outside the box (darn, another cliché, sorry). I know if I did research on a certain topic and my friend did the same thing, we would find different information, source, etc… I guess these tools allow people of different minds to share what they’ve found and rely on each other. I’m just stuck in my Puritan work ethic mode that my parents and grandparents have brainwashed me with. But once again, I am astounded at the creativity of this new Read/Write Web.
Something else that I’m a little leery of is the fact that people used to rely on librarians to categorize and sort information for their patrons, however, with these new tools “millions of amateurs with no real training in classification” are organizing and sorting information for the masses (92). Is this a good thing? I know I mentioned in the paragraph above that people organize things differently, but I’m not sure I want millions of amateurs in control. But wait…I just thought of something. Perhaps these amateurs have it in their best interest to do it for themselves and for the rest of the population. I know the way librarians categorize things sometimes baffle me (taken a look at the Sears Subject Headings book lately?) So why not have Average Joe help Average Jane find what she’s looking for? My only question then is: where does that leave us (the librarians)?
Oh, did I mention that I found that statistic in the first paragraph on a blog whose RSS feed I subscribe to through a social web tool called Bloglines? Would that be considered irony…or just plain proof?
Scratch that....it's not 81% it's 84%. Either way, that's a lot of people choosing to use the Internet first before a library.
I too look to the internet so much Jen! I have a library full of books and sometimes I'd rather just sit down in front of my computer and start "Googleing". I had an issue with my new dog the other night, the vet was closed, the ER vet charges a fortune and my dog friends weren't answering the phone, so i got on-line (wireless laptotp) and with my curled up pooch on my lap, I found a chatroom for dog owners, I quickly got a username and typed in my situation and within minutes 3 people has responed with advice more me and my dog! Talk about collaboration! - to make a long story short - my dog is fine...I wanted to share that story with ya'll since i know you'd appriciate it!
Here's what wikipedia says about folksonomy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folksonomy
and here's what Richardson says:
"...working with your communtiy of researchers, new tagging systems..."page 92.
I can understand the effectiveness of this. People often don't think like Mr. Dewey Decimal - although his system makes sense to me - the people might want to organize their information in a different way - and that's ok! I'm a big believer of keeping all thinks on the web - for easy access at all times and anyplace. I use several computers regularly in my life and want to be able to access them my stuff at anytime. This also has the same feeling as keeping one's school docs on the school network drive. I usually keep things like school photos on the network so that kids can acess them at anytime for their presentations, etc. This works well for school projects because only people at school can get to them (safer that way and a little easier for me to put them there). Flickr would be a great place for families to post photos - especially if the memebers were geographically spread out.
I started a social bookmark site last summer and we used it very successfully all last year. The teachers and students found it very handy. I found it to speed up certain lessons - especilly when the site was part of the lesson - not finding the site. 30 Elementary students can take forever to get to a site if they all have to individually type in the URLs.
My site is:
http://www.ikeepbookmarks.com/browse.asp?account=112325&clientWidth=0
It's organized by subjects (I or teachers made them up) and in the folders there are links and comments about the sites. Kids don't usually go surfing for information because there isn't time for it! they go to the sites we've bookmarked for them and they can go surfing from there. This brings up the whole issue of 'how do you teach students to assess a website?' but that's for another day/lesson(s).
You can even search within our site or search any ikeepbookmark site.
This sounds similar to Richardson's favorite furl.net but without the snapshot of the front page.
I would fully recomment that LMTs and computer lab workers start one of these commutity bookmark site today, if you haven't already. Just set it up and then train your teachers to add to it. That way you're not stuck being the web-master (again!)
Be aware though, anything web-based has it's frustrations though - if the site goes down, for example, you have to have an alternate plan. Anything computer-ish can be frustrating! (We already know this!)
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