Thing 10: Social bookmarking and tagging

Hmmm... this is very strange as I definitely signed up to the Bodleian Philosophy Library's network. Now I've logged in again and Delicious is telling me that I have no people in my network! Bizarre! Maybe I didn't follow the instructions correctly... I don't know. I'll try again - with another library!

I was quite disappointed to discover that my favourite libraries aren't signed up to Delicious. As an ex-social scientist (well, anthropologist, if we want to split hairs), the obvious choice would have been to head to the Social Sciences Library. I recently saw a picture of the inside of the Oxford Union's Library - marvellous! - and now have a strong desire to visit, but they're not signed up either. Out of the remaining libraries on the directory list, I've opted for Nuffield College Library, who specialise in the social sciences...

... and what a surprise! They have loads of bookmarks on issues and organisations I'm familiar with and (e.g. Fabian Society) and for those I'm not, the tags offer me a quick and easy way to filter through and select those bookmarks that have the most relevance to my interests. Brilliant!

Thing 9: Social Bookmarking and Tagging - Delicious!

I've already got a Delicious account, but it's personal and I don't particularly want to share it with my work colleagues. I've created a new "work-friendly" account and added the requisite five sites and tagged them accordingly (including OX23). I hadn't installed the "bookmarklet" (good word!) during my first attempt at using Delicious, but I've done it now. Genius idea! I can now bookmark everything in sight!

I really enjoyed having a snout about on other people's bookmarks. I'm sorry for not remembering exactly who I tagged what off, but whoever introduced me to the wonders of BookMooch deserves a medal. It's an online book exchange system - brilliant! I also tagged Bookhugger, an online literary magazine which I'd never heard of before, so I'm looking forward to exploring that. Finally, I couldn't resist adding PassiveAggressiveNotes.com, which I found highly amusing.

For me, shared online spaces are one of the joys of t'interweb. I love being able to gain a little insight (accurate or not!) into other people based on what they've chosen to bookmark. I'm also a huge fan of lists, so being able to see what other people think is worth checking out is interesting and inspiring. Like most people, I'm often moving around on different computers - partner's, friends, parents, work - so having a single place where I can check all my fave sites gets a big thumbs up from me.

I found the picture above (good, eh?) on Flickr, which was uploaded by Florry One. Delicious!