Here are my initial observations on Social Bookmarking, Would love to hear your comments in order to facilitate the discussion element that is required for this week..
The most common element of all of the social bookmarking forums that I have explored is that they all require the user to establish accounts, should they wish to actively use the service. Whilst some of them will give access to the content without the need to sign in, none of them will allow active use from a more anonymous standpoint, in the same way that Wikipedia does.
Websites:
Delicious and Faviki primarily reference websites. Faviki seeks a unified tagging language ie it attempts to direct the user to predefined sets of tag references such as those defined by Wikipedia. Delicious makes allowances for a more democratic and personal means of tagging definition. Delicious summarises popular themes and gives immediate options to the user to set up RSS feeds for sites tagged under a particular theme. Both sites present options for similar tags. Delicious will also allow for a freetyped tag search, suggesting that the most popular tags are presented at the front end of the interface, but that there are several other tags in it’s cloud. Delicious in particular is useful as a first port of call for referencing popular themes. Delicious gives access to the content without the need for a login, whereas a login is required should you wish to view the Faviki resources.
Diigo provides the user with a few more options, such as sticky note and highlighting annotations. Options are given to the user to set up private networks, or to view public communities. You can also be recommended to other users on the basis of an analysis of the subject matter that you tag. You have to have a login to view this resource. I liked this service (and therefore signed up to it) because it presents versatility for data migration between it and other social bookmarking sites as well as from your local computer. The sticky notes and highlighting add ons give a means of access to components that are of particular interest within the referenced websites.
Academic/ Databases
CiteULike is a bibliography manager and sets up tag clouds for academic articles. It directs users to databases, and therefore implies a level of access in terms of reaching the content that is referenced. It provides short abstracts on articles and presents related tags to the article. It will also give references to other articles from tag related CiteULike users. It is a useful medium for bringing academics together and establishing relationships. You can view the tagged resources without needing to be logged in.
Cataloguing:
LibraryThing and GuruLib are both cataloguing tools. Whilst LibraryThing focuses solely on books, GuruLib is also open to games, movies and music. It directs users to each other or to institutions and events. Both have discussion and review forums. Both sites will allow access to content without having to sign in. Both sites are almost magazine like in the way that the user can be introduced to new content through related interests, articles and forums. Certainly a useful medium for bringing people of similar tastes together, and for directing people to institutions that may be of interest.
I have used delicious for several years now and am a big fan. I haven't used all of the features it offers, but I like the simplicity and ease of use, it's simple to navigate and the appearance is pleasing. I like the public nature of it, which gives you the ability to search everyone elses stuff freely - excellent for finding websites/articles similar to what you are currently working on.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to start using the collaborative/sharing functions, as I haven't really interacted with these previously and I know I'll get a lot more out of this tool if I do. Today I have also subscribed to an RSS feed for the tag web 2.0 - probably too broad and I'll be getting so much content I won't know what to do with it, however all in the name of participation, so I'll see what happens.
I also have a Library Thing account, again, set up when I did my last round of study. Haven't done much more than put my books into my library, so going back there to explore and connect with like minded readers is some more homework to report on.
Using one of the applications for gathering and managing references for academic purposes makes sense of course, and having the site create the citations for you is a feature to be very happy about!
I set up a Zotero account several days ago to facilitate reference collection in our group project for InfoProv1. I have saved a few links into my library and the group library, had a bit of a poke around but need to investigate further to appreciate the full functionality.
I am also keen to investigate CiteUlike as it seems to be a little different to Zotero, and I'd like to compare two like applications for similarities/differences and make a more informed evaluation.
So many tools, so little time....
Certainly the Delicious interface seems to be the starting point from whence you commence the journey of information finding. Popular themes are tied together and presented there. From this point you can splay out into more specialised forms of information reference points, such as other social bookmarking sites, academic sites, databases and so forth.
ReplyDeleteDelicious itself seems to be very American in its content: much of the tagged matter certainly is focussed there.
As I use Diigo more and more I notice the hidden pull towards paying them for the service: ie if you want to cache more than 20 websites then you need to pay. If you don't want advertising then you need to pay. Obviously sites such as these need to survive in the commercial realm; it is worthwhile to note though the almost Reader's Digest approach towards sucking the consumer in..
I agree with you Martin on the American focus re. Delicious, but I'll still be using it for the time being as my initial point for both collecting my references and looking around at and linking to others.
ReplyDeleteI'm keen to investigate CiteUlike further for a more academic focus, I can see myself using both.
I have started a Zotero account also, as a means of gathering references for a group project in InfoProv1, but I'll be choosing between that and CiteUlike once that project is done as it's just overkill to have both.
Interesting point you made about how the user needs to create an account in order to utilise the service..
ReplyDeleteI guess its beneficial to have that so one can easily save and access resources etc!
Im enjoying delving more into Delicious. I cannot believe I had not used it before this class...
I think that I will be starting up a Cite you like account for the info prov assignment as well, from your review it sounds like a good idea. I am not such a fan of Delicious, and it is to do with the public nature of the content. Perhaps I am in just a cinical mood but what is delicious using with all that information? I just have concerns about data mining and selling my information on to target advertising. I don't know if this would still be the case with Cite U like, but it still may be useful for the group project.
ReplyDelete