Week 4

I thought starting an account with Del.icio.us was an interesting experience, never really heard of it before this challenge. I think by using the site you can access a world of information through their search engine, and through other people's accounts. It was easy to set up, but I had to try several different computers at work, before one allowed me to install Del.icio.us buttons on the toolbar that made it easier to bookmark and post items on my account. I think by using this site you can find out what other people are interested in. Also you can see what tags they use to identify a site, I found that people had lots of tags on their account, I guess it is something that can be addictive once you get into. What I found most interesting was how many people bookmarked other sites such as Yahoo. In a span of 5 minutes thousands of other people bookmarked Yahoo to their account. I guess that's to be expected with a popular site like Yahoo. On the other hand only 27 people bookmarked the National Park Service website. Don't know what that reveals if anything. One thing I'd like to share is when seeing what other people had as tags through their del.icio.us account I found an interesting site. The person had a tag listed as NYC, it had this site there: http://www.thecentralparkboathouse.com/sections/home.htm This might have been something I could have found through some other means, but by exploring del.icio.us. I was able to come across this site. As far as how the library could use social bookmarking, and tags. I think it would be interesting to open up accounts realating to a particular subject, a staff member could open a del.icio.us account and type in subjects related to travel or sports, and see what other people have bookmarked on their accounts. There are always hidden gems somewhere to be found on the net. It could be something the library can use to help people with research assignments, who need more than just books or articles. I think it could help people better their research skills.