Del.icio.us?? well. maybe ...

Good morning, all...
I have set up an account on del.icio.us - - and didn't find it hard except are the buttons on the register screen the same as the extensions referred to in the course notes as optional? I hope so because I didn't include them. Achieving a link proved impossible, particularly when the CTC manager couldn't do it either - maybe you have to have a few items bookmarked?
I wasn't sure whether I was supposed to actually bookmark something .. maybe if I get time... I think that social bookmarking such as del.icio.us offers could be a great resource for libraries and their clients. As the "Social Bookmarking in Plain English" video says adding to a Favourites list soon makes that so large as to be unusable whereas the grouping/bundling of the tags is a logical and easy way of managing links to multiple sites.
The fact that the bookmarks are public means that a del.icio.us account becomes an online virtual-world equivalent to the old subject card catalogue. Library members can access a range of sites which come with the library's implicit recommendation as a reliable site sorted according to broad subject labels.
In a regional/joint library situation different libraries/individuals could be assigned to different subject areas so that the burden of setting up what is akin to a subject index was shared. Or maybe something like the old Subject Specialization Scheme but instead of collecting and managing books in a subject area libraries collect and 'manage' sites in a subject area, making access to them available through social bookmarking. I guess even now smaller libraries can 'piggyback' on the published tags of larger libraries e.g. the Sutherland Shire Libraries tag cloud.
There is also the marketing aspect of using something like del.icio.us as far as the YA sector is concerned. It is attuned to how they think and operate.
Lists v. tag clouds. The tag cloud is more attractive somehow, even if the list is more precise with its numerical basis. I will immediately be labelled as sexist but I wondered whether there was a relationship with the masculine/feminine thought style thing - analytical v. creative ..... recognising that these are thought styles rather than gender specific..... (does that get me off the hook???)
I found a really good article on Libraries and del.icio.us setting out some of the advtantages of social bookmarking and tagging - http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA476.403.html - (if I was really on top of this course this would be showing up as a link!!!)and it suggested three key things:
A. improves accessibility of library materials. (Although you would need to define library materials as including entry points to online information). Using the tags as links one could do all one's research from one's own home computer. As well having publicly-defined tags means that local terminology can be incorporated, terms that have been used in locally-set assignments, also terms from other languages. The drawback of using publicly-generated tags is the same as with wikis - potential vandalism and substandard as opposed to nonstandard terms - but when they are entered with sincerity they would make searching much more efficient,easy and welcoming, particularly for the educationally-challenged and minority groups. A compromise would be to have both - tags that broadly conform with the Library of Congress subject headings and would be entered by the library, tags that are judged by library staff to be of local relevance and tags generated by users.
Library staff can use del.icio.us to add links to items of particular local relevance and resources for local students' assignment topics.
B. introduces patrons to new tools. Not so sure about this one, but it means patrons can use the new tools they already enjoy in a library context. And this is going to help maintain the relevance of libraries as an information source. Otherwise libraries may fall out of the information loop for many people.
C. makes creating subject guides easier for staff. Looking at what other people have bookmarked facilitates the task. No-one can find even a percentage of the useful sites in a subject area but sharing discoveries is to the benefit of all, libray staff as well as users. Bookmarking and 'bundling' also provides reference staff with a set of useful sites they can turn to immediately just as they would have looked to the index of an encyclopedia set in an earlier age. I have heard of librarians who had card indexes of good sites but with the number of sites ballooning exponentially this is no longer a viable option. For example the cited National Library of Australia AskNow Librarians example. It is likely that users will also advise of sites they have found useful that can be incorporated after checking to the benefit of all.
P.S. I have taken advice and the link is article ... I hope!!