Thing #13 Tagging/Discovering Del.icio.us

I enjoyed discovering del.icio.us. I also explored Furl and Mag.nolia, but del.icio.us was by far my favorite. It was really easy to register for an account and import bookmarks from my IE7 browser. I watched the Del.icio.us tutorial, but really got just as much out of the teacher tube tutorial on the Library2Play site and it wasn't as long.

The discovery exercise for this "Thing" asks several questions...

1. Can I see the potential of del.icio.us and social bookmarking for research assistance? My answer is both yes and no. Yes, on a professional level. Social bookmarking is a great way of sharing information with my colleagues and helping me research information I may need for a lesson or a unit. No (or rather, 'not so much') on a student level within my lab. Students have a tendency to get bogged down in the plethora in Internet information. While I can see many students utilizing this tool effectively for independent research, I think it would be difficult (although not impossible) to keep them on task in the classroom.

2. How can libraries or classroom teachers take advantage of social bookmarking sites? I think that one of the best applications would be for us to share information. All too often we as teachers tend toward isolation...this may not happen as often with larger departments, but I know that those of us who teach Career and Technology Education courses find that we may be the only teacher on campus who teaches Business Law, Business Management, Marketing, or Accounting. Having access to other teachers' expertise would be incredibly beneficial.

Now that I have an account on Del.icio.us, I will most definitely research for others from whom I can glean scholarly advice.