Peter Merholz spent some time and space to discuss the benefits of free and open tagging while also pointing to its backdraws as well. I especially like his allusion to architecturing and gardening. Cases and research will be necessary to figure out how to deal with open tagging and for instance corporate necessities.
adaptive path » metadata for the masses : “Bringing Order to ChaosThe potential benefits of free tagging should encourage practitioners to address such shortcomings. In looking for a real-world analog, I thought of the foot-worn paths that appear in a landscape over time. Called ‘desire lines,’ these trails demonstrate how a landscape’s users choose to move, which is often not on the paved paths. A smart landscape designer will let wanderers create paths through use, and then pave the emerging walkways, ensuring optimal utility.
Ethnoclassification systems can similarly ‘emerge.’ Once you have a preliminary system in place, you can use the most common tags to develop a controlled vocabulary that truly speaks the users’ language.”
(Via adaptive path.)
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