Tagging, folksonomy, distributed classification, ethnoclassification—however it is labelled, the concept of users creating and aggregating their own metadata is gaining ground on the internet. This literature review briefly defines the topic at hand, looking at current implementations and summarizing key advantages and disadvantages of distributed classification systems with reference to prominent folksonomy commentators. After considering whether distributed classification can replace expert catalogers entirely, it concludes that distributed classification can make an important contribution to digital information organisation, but that it may need to be integrated with more traditional organisation tools to overcome its current weaknesses.
This paper reviews research into social tagging and
folksonomy (as reflected in about 180 sources published
through December 2007). Methods of researching the
contribution of social tagging and folksonomy are described,
and outstanding research questions are presented. This is a
new area of research, where theoretical perspectives and
relevant research methods are only now being defined. This
paper provides a framework for the study of folksonomy,
tagging and social tagging systems. Three broad approaches
are identified, focusing first, on the folksonomy itself (and the
role of user tags in indexing and retrieval); secondly, on
tagging (and the behaviour of users); and thirdly, on the
nature of social tagging systems (as socio-technical frameworks).