alenka Šauperl: social tagging and subject headings

Social tagging and subject headings

dr. Alenka ŠauperlDepartment of Library and Information Science and Book

Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana

Social tagging

+● Spontaneous, quick, simple● Democratic ● Personalized● Private and/or public● Worldwide access● Connecting people● Ideal for marketing explorations● Concepts: rich, contemporary, different

— ● Diverse specificity

– Nordic/scandinavian● Uncontrolled terms:

– Synonyms● Radovat se, veselit se

– Homonyms● koleno● bank, bow, shot

– Singular & plural– No semantic relations

● BT, NT, RT– New words

● Dominant topics● Dominant language

Ann Arbor Distr.Libr.

Principles underlying subject heading languages 1/5

● 11 principles to control terminology:● Uniform heading principle

– One heading for one topic– Functional requirements for subject authority data

made into a movie – books made into movies

Principles underlying subject heading languages 2/5

● Naming principle– One form of name

● Variant spellings: Čajkovskij (VIAF)● Pseudonyms: Eleanor Hibbert (1 September

1906 – 18 January 1993): Jean Plaidy, Victoria Holt, Philippa Carr, Eleanor Burford, Elbur Ford, Kathleen Kellow, Anne Percival, Ellalice Tate

● Synonymy principle– Student -- pupil

● Homonymy principle– Bank (river, money)

Principles underlying subject heading languages 3/5

● Semantic principle– Guidance through the semantic structure– BT, NT, RT, USE / UF (UNESCO, LCSH)

● Predictability of representations– Syntax principle

● Černý kašel – černá, kašel ● sůl – kámen / sůl - moře

– Consistency principle● Czech literature, Slovenian belle-lettres● Czech literature, Czech drama, Czech

architecture, Czech photography, Czech cooking

Principles underlying subject heading languages 4/5

● Literary warrant principle– Concepts from publications in library collections

● User principle– Audience oriented vocabulary

UDC and social tags

● Could subject heading languages be used to help people work on their own social tags?

– Are terms used as tags in folksonomies included in the UDC?

– Which facets of the UDC match characteristics of documents of information objects that are tagged in folksonomies?

Our sampleTags for soundtrack The Little Mermaid in Amazon.com (N=471)

Most popular tags in 43 things.com (N=198)

A selection of most popular tags in Del.icio.us.com (N=197)

Tags for the book The Little Mermaid in LibraryThing.com(N=173)

Topic 34% (programming) Name 16% (Ariel) Genre 11% (historical novel) Form 9% (movie) Evaluation 9% (oh brother) Not clear 5% (3844) Audience 2% (family movie) Series/Collection 2% (golden

book) Related work 2% (Titanic) Plan/Action 2% (tbr) Time 2% (Christmas_2005)

Attributes expressed in tags

Ownership - no name 1% (my dvds)

Gift 1% (Abby present) Place 1% (small town) Carrier 1% (DVD) Award 1% (Oscar 4 best pic) Occasion 0,5% (Mother’s day) Experience 0,16%

(enamorated as kid) Edition 0,16% (1st ed.) Accessibility 0,16% (free)

TOTAL 100% = 1039

Attributes in library catalogs

IN UDC IN UNIMARC NOT IN CATALOG RECORDTopic Series Evaluation Name Related work AwardGenre Carrier Plan / actionForm Edition Ownership Audience Accessibility GiftPlace Audience OccasionTime ExperienceCarrier

Names16% of tags

7585

96 92 84

2515

4 8 16

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Amazon Library Thing 43 Things Delicious TOTAL

NAMESOTHER CATEGORIES

Artist 38%Author 20%

Trade name 22%Title of work 17%

Unknown 16%

Literary character 9%Biographical 3%

Owner 3%167 = 100%

Naming principle!

People create tags, but don't understand subject headings?

● Drabenstott, Simcox & Fenton, 1999 and Čuden, 2002

– About half of participants understood the correct meaning of subject heading strings

● Classification--Books--Library science

● Correct meaning?

Josip Plecnik : an architect of Prague Castle

● Plecnik, Joze, -- 1872-1957 -- Exhibitions.● Prazsky hrad (Prague, Czech Republic) -- Exhibitions.● Architecture, Modern -- 20th century -- Czech Republic --

Bohemia -- Exhibitions.● Plecnik, Joze, -- 1872-1957 -- Influence.● Architects -- Czech Republic.

Subject heading string

Categories of answers1.Same language – correct2.Different language – correct : Modern architecture

3.Read in one concept – correct or incorrect: Prague architecture; national relations

4.Read in more than one concept – correct or incorrect5.Different syntax – correct or incorrect6.Combination7.Left out one concept – incorrect8.Left out more than one concept – incorrect: Plečnik --

Architecture

ResultsCategory Correct (%) Incorrect (%)Same language 36 /Different language 10 /Read in 1 concept 2 0,2Read in >1 concept 0 0,6Different syntax 0 2,5Combination 0 13Left out 1 concept / 19Left our >1 concept / 14No answer / 2,7Total 446=48% 482=52%

Principles underlying subject heading languages 5/5

● Subject indexing policy principle – If you create a subject heading list , you have to

give instructions for indexers● Specific heading principle

Josip Plecnik : an architect of Prague Castle– Prazsky hrad (Prague, Czech Republic) -- Exhibitions.

● Castles – Czech Republic - Exhibitions– Plecnik, Joze, -- 1872-1957 -- Influence.

● Slovenian architects -- Influence

The missing principle● Provide nagivation possibilities

– Principles 1-9– Visualization, e.g.

● Queens Library● LCSH

Many thanks to my hosts and audience!

My lecture is part of the bilateral research projectRepresentation and evaluation of scientific work

Sponsored by the governments of theCzech Republic

andThe Republic of Slovenia

Sources● Čuden, R. 2002. Razumevanje predmetnih oznak pri

študentih bibliotekarstva. Knjižnica, 46(4). Available: http://revija-knjiznica.zbds-zveza.si/Izvodi/K0204/cuden.pdf

● Lopes, M.I. And Beall, J. (Eds.). 1999. Principles underlying subject heading languages. München : Saur.

● Spiteri, L. 2007. The structure and form of folksonomy tags: the road to the public catalogue. Webology, 4, article no. 41. Available: http://www.webology.ir/2007/v4n2/a41.html

● Šauperl, A. 2010. UDC and folksonomies. Knowledge Organization, 37(4). Available: http://www.ergon-verlag.de/isko_ko/downloads/ko37_2010_4_g.pdf