Innovation Roadmap: User Tagging at SLCPL
Web 2.0 is all about hyperlinks. Folksonomies and user tagging systems introduce this concept into our libraries and combat the typically hierarchical classification schemas. For the Innovation Roadmap assignment, I propose that my workplace (Salt Lake City Public Library) add patron tagging to its catalog.
Check out this Canva presentation I made to learn more!
INFO 287_Innovation Strategy & Roadmap_2026 Jul_IS by Ina Samuel
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4 Comments
Laura Skorczeski
Great presentation, @inasamuel! Lots of good info to unpack here—I didn’t know about folksonomies, and now I’m definitely intrigued.
Jen Fredrick
Hi @inasamuel, thank you so much for sharing this innovation roadmap on User Tagging. I have not heard of the term folksonomy before, so I found the whole idea of it intriguing. As someone who admittedly still struggles with the idea of controlled vocabulary and works at a library with an absolutely horrendous, non-user-friendly catalog, I would love it if my library would incorporate something like this.
Anita Chen
Hey @inasamuel, I love the idea of integrating folksonomies into library catalogs! My local library (sccld.org) also uses community tags, but so few people use it that I’ve never found the tags to be particularly useful, despite using folksonomies regularly in other contexts. I suppose success would depend on the number of users, so that seems like where the marketing would come in! Considering the objective and action brief though, I do wonder if shifting the messaging from organization to discovery/connections would help better promote the initiative?
Ina Samuel
@anitayjc Hi Anita,
Thank you for sharing your perspective on folksonomies! I have never worked or interacted with a library that has had one before outside of LibraryThing. While researching for this assignment, I found some libraries had integrated LibraryThing tags into their catalogs, which I think are more extensive than the ones offered by BiblioCommons (the platform it looks like SCCLD uses). I would think something like that may be more usable but I don’t know! It would be fun to compare the different folksonomy strategies that are out there for public libraries (there are tons in the archive world).
I especially appreciate your suggestion on changing the marketing language. What you proposed sounds so much better!!