LC / Flickr once more

A fantastic posting by Jeanne Kramer-Smyth (found via librarian.net) talks about the benefits of tagging:

“Does the tag ‘women at work’ tell you more than the LOC subject heading ‘Women–Employment’? Maybe, maybe not – but if you view all the images tagged ‘women at work’ across Flickr, now you can see these women from the 1940s at work beside photos such as three vendors and Bozo village life. Now this is something different. This is knitting threads from the ivory tower of libraries and archives into the communal tapestry that is Flickr. Not only might the addition of the ‘women at work’ tag make these images more accessible to the average person looking for Library of Congress photos – but it also puts these photos in the everyday path of many more people. It brings us firmly back to Flickr’s goal stated above of giving more people a “taste of the hidden treasures in the huge Library of Congress collection”.”

Her comment reminds me of the discussion on tagging we had in my cataloging class. Some people were against tags because they’re not controlled. Isn’t that’s the point of tagging? Controlled subject headings already exist. Why would we want to create a parallel system – not to mention more work, planning and updating two systems? Admittedly, there are tags that aren’t very good. There are also subject headings that aren’t very good. Both systems have their imperfections. But if by combining the strengths of both we can create better access, I’m all for it. Like Jeanne says:

“Yes, all the tags won’t be perfect. Yes, there will be seven different ways of tagging for World War II. But when all is said and done, more people will find more photos. More eyes will see the treasures that once were only available to those who could get inside temperature and humidity controlled vaults. And more people will have the opportunity to learn a tiny bit more about why cultural institutions like the Library of Congress are great!”

Edit: Added a link.