Lucky 13!

Okay, I'm not sure why it's lucky...but it is indisputably 13. And it is Del. icio.us.

I like the idea of remotely accessible bookmarks. I have a substantial number of bookmarks spread out over, like, five or six different computers, and many a time have I opened my favorites only to exclaim, "Damn! That's on the Struthers computer!" or something of that ilk. This has happened so often that occasionally I find myself memorizing the search terms that yielded a particular site so I can re-search for it (as in, "O.K., I typed these search terms in Vivisimo and the site I want is the seventh one down..."). But no more! So, that's a deucedly convenient tool, right there.

The idea of user-chosen tags is intriguing. If nothing else, they give the user a sense of control over web info, as opposed to being forced to use categories chosen by a random site administrator or portal site or whatever. The situation here is kind of analogous to, uh, patron reaction to the Dewey system (or LOC, for that matter). While the Dewey system is great for the minute cataloging necessary in a library, it is in reality useful only to librarians, not patrons. So, of course, we put Dewey numbers on the ends of our stacks; might as well have notes in bloody Klingon for all the good they do patrons. Wouldn't it make much more sense to have verbal desciptions on the ends of stacks? Like in bookstores? Accessibility is the key here, especially if the library wishes to remain relevant in the coming decades. We exist for the public, not the other way around. Then again, perhaps libraries use cataloging numbers simply to force people to have to ask us questions...

As to the utility of Del.icio.us (what's with that name, by the way?) as a search tool, I have mixed feelings. I have to assume that the search engine on the site searches only tags (rather than tags and site text), which seems to me to limit it's use, since the only text you have to go on are tags randomly ascribed by users. This is not to say that you can't turn up some good stuff that other people have already found, but in strict research terms I would prefer my search tool to be able to search the entire text of a document rather than terms that may or may not be the best ones for describing site content. And, personally, I like doing the work of digging stuff up and finding just the right search terms to deliver the goods. I have to dig it- how else can one be a fearless L-Space navigator? Sheesh.