Trashy tags: problematic tags in LibraryThing

Thomas, Marliese; Caudle, Dana M.; Schmitz, Cecilia M.

doi:10.1108/03074801011044098

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…We obtained evidence on direct overlapping between social tags and subject terms, and through more elaborate measures such as the Jaccard index and Spearman correlation coefficient, we further quantified the connection. Although many studies used LibraryThing data [11, 18, 20, 21], we could only establish a direct comparison to Lu et al’s study [11]. Using Lu et al’s results, which were obtained based on the overlap between all social tags obtained from LibraryThing and LCSH terms in generic domains, we could see that the overall overlap between social tags and subject terms in the information science domain in our study is higher than that in the generic domains (8.22% vs. 2.2%).…”

Section: Results Analyses and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the topic of the ‘messiness’ of social tags, Thomas et al [18] collected tags from LibraryThing and studied the usefulness of the tags for general searches in library catalogues. Their results showed that social tags suffer from a certain degree of messiness and inconsistency, and that more than a third of this messiness is in the form of tag variations followed by tags containing non-alphabetic characters.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Comparing social tags with subject headings on annotating books: A study comparing the information science domain in English and Chinese

Qiu

et al. 2012

Journal of Information Science

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The literature often views the emergence of social tagging as a potential alternative method to controlled vocabulary for organizing and indexing large-scale information resources. In this paper, we present an in-depth examination of the relationship between social tagging and controlled vocabulary-based indexing and organization in two unique contexts: the information science domain and when comparing data gathered from both English and Chinese sources. Our results show that the information science domain has more overlap between social tags and controlled vocabulary-based subject terms. This is reflected in the higher percentage of overlapping terms between tags and subject terms, as well as in the strong similarity (measured by Jaccard’s coefficient) in frequently used keywords among tags and subject terms. However, social tags in the information science domain still possess limitations in terms of uncontrolled terms, where inconsistencies and noisy usages exist. Our results also show that language difference does have an impact on social tagging. The numbers of Chinese tags overall and per book are less than those of English tags. The most frequently used English tags are single-word terms, which are different from multi-word controlled vocabulary terms. In comparison, the character difference between the most frequently used Chinese tags and Chinese subject terms is just one character (3 vs 4). However, English and Chinese users do share many similar behaviours when they tag books in the information science domain. Many of the most frequently used tags are shared between the two languages and the patterns of overlap between topical tags and subject terms are also similar between the two languages. Overall, despite the application limitations for social tagging in cataloguing and indexing, we believe that tagging has the potential to become a complementary resource for expanding and enriching controlled vocabulary systems. With the help of future technology to regulate and promote features related to controlled vocabulary in social tags, a hybrid cataloguing and indexing system that integrates social tags with controlled vocabulary would greatly improve people’s organizational and access capabilities within information resources.

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Section: Results Analyses and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing social tags with subject headings on annotating books: A study comparing the information science domain in English and Chinese

Qiu

et al. 2012

Journal of Information Science

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“…Thomas, Caudle, and Schmitz also analyzed the tags assigned by users in LibraryThing. 119 They found that "tag variations [are] the most prominent hindrance to search and retrieval," variations referring specifically to, "tags which were the same except for tense, symbols, spelling, and capitalization . .…”

Section: Uncontrolled Headingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cresting toward the Sea Change

Gardner

2012

Library Resources &Amp; Technical Services

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“…In comparison, academic research often focuses on user indexing practices as they compare to library catalogues and controlled vocabularies (Bates and Rowley, 2011;Lu et al, 2010), interface design (Chang, 2009), or problems inherent to the lack of standards social indexing practices might exhibit (Thomas et al, 2010). Kathuria (2011) looked at the social tagging of books in LibraryThing pertaining to Asian women.…”

Section: Social Cataloguing Platforms and Library Cataloguesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Social tagging is usually defined in opposition to standardized ontologies and taxonomies, as it is "the process by which many users add metadata in the form of keywords to shared content" (Golder and Huberman, 2006, p. 198). Problems with social tagging abound, with users tagging content in often idiosyncratic ways without giving much consideration to existing best practices, obtained from years of research in library and information science (e.g., Bates and Rowley, 2011;Gerolimos, 2013;Moulaison, 2008; Thomas et al, 2010). Social tagging has also been criticized for several additional reasons: synonymy (multiple terms for the same concept) (Merholz, 2004), being susceptible to 'gaming' (Kroski, 2005), lacking hierarchy (Smith, 2004;Kroski, 2005), and for being 'narrow' (when most of the tagging is done by a limited number of users, usually through permissions settings, with owner-only tagging being the narrowest option) (Vander Wal, 2005;Peters, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Illusions of a “Bond”: tagging cultural products across online platforms

Desrochers

Laplante

Martin

et al. 2016

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Structured Abstract PurposeMost studies pertaining to social tagging focus on one platform or platform type, thus limiting the scope of their findings. This study explores social tagging practices across four platforms in relation to cultural products associated with the book Casino Royale, by Ian Fleming. Design/methodology/approachA layered and nested case study approach was used to analyze data from four online platforms: Goodreads, Last.fm, WordPress, and public library social discovery platforms. The top-level case study focuses on the book Casino Royale, by Ian Fleming, and its derivative products. The analysis of tagging practices in each of the four online platforms is nested within the top-level case study. 'Casino Royale' was conceptualized as a cultural product (the book), its derived products (e.g., movies, theme songs), as well as a keyword in blogs. A qualitative, inductive, and context-specific approach was chosen to identify commonalities in tagging practices across platforms whilst taking into account the uniqueness of each platform. 2 FindingsThe four platforms comprise different communities of users, each platform with its own cultural norms and tagging practices. Traditional access points in the library catalogues focused on the subject, location, and fictitious characters of the book. User-generated content across the four platforms emphasized historical events and periods related to the book, and highlighted more subjective access points, such as recommendations, tone, mood, reaction, and reading experience. Revealing shifts occur in the tags between the original book and its cultural derivatives: Goodreads and library catalogues focus almost exclusively on the book, while Last.fm and WordPress make additional cross-references to a wider range of different cultural products, including books, movies, and music. The analyses also yield apparent similarities in certain platforms, such as recurring terms, phrasing and composite or multifaceted tags, as well as a strong presence of genre-related terms for the book and music. Originality/valueThe layered and nested case study approach presents a more comprehensive theoretical viewpoint and methodological framework by which to explore the study of user-generated metadata pertaining to a range of related cultural products across a variety of online platforms.

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Trashy tags: problematic tags in LibraryThing

Cited by 10 publications

References 17 publications

Comparing social tags with subject headings on annotating books: A study comparing the information science domain in English and Chinese

Comparing social tags with subject headings on annotating books: A study comparing the information science domain in English and Chinese

Cresting toward the Sea Change

Illusions of a “Bond”: tagging cultural products across online platforms

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