Thing #13

After watching all of the tutorials and exploring Del.icio.us, I think social bookmarking is a great way to find information about a certain topic all in one place. Instead of using a search engine and making my way through thousands of websites, I can use a social bookmarking site and see the sites that other people find useful. It is almost like having someone else do the work for me. :) Just by typing in one of my favorite hobbies - scrapbooking - I was able to find several useful web sites that sold products that I need and great ideas for layouts.

I think social bookmarking sites can be used either as a research assistance or just as a place to store your bookmarks. I think it depends on the person who is using it and what their needs are. Like the Del.icio.us tutorial (http://www.ottergroup.com/learning2.0/?p=14) said, it is a great tool for building a shared reading list, finding information for research, and just to share great web sites.

There are many ways a library could take advantage of using a social bookmarking site. For example, if a class is doing research on endangered animals then the librarian could tag several web sites and then have the students access those sites through the social bookmarking site. Students could also see and use the most popular sites with that tag.