Bookmarking in the web 1.0 world used to be a very private matter. Not as much by choice but as by design. Web 2.0 is ushering in a new era of bookmarking called, social bookmarking. The basic idea is that you surf the web, and when you come across something of interest, you bookmark and tag it to your account. Then others can watch your account (or have an RSS Feed) and see what you are researching. There are many social bookmarking marking sites out there including:
Blinklist
Blogmarks
Del.icio.us**
Diigo
Furl**
Ma.gnolia
Among many others.
I personally use Del.icio.us for all my social bookmarking. The usefulness of such tools are only just starting to be understood. Currently, students and advisors can instantly be updated on my most recent research about social networking sites like Facebook by clicking here. Or to take it a step further they can use an RSS Feed of my account and receive the information directly on their desktop like an email program.
At Swift Kick we also use Del.icio.us to mark information for each other. For example, as I am researching about non-profits, I can tag a website for a specific member of Swift Kick such as Emma. Then she will see that I tag a website for her to view. Or we use a thing called keytags.
Keytags are tags that have no meaning to anyone outside Swift Kick. It’s like a little secret SK Language. For example, if I find a page that lays out step-by-step on how to become a non-profit I would bookmark and tag it as usual, but then I also add an extra Keytag like ‘SKNP’ which stands for ‘Swift Kick Non-Profit.’ This way we can keep a running record of our collective research for a specific topic.
Another example is ‘SKMSFBL’ (Swift Kick Myspace Facebook Lecture). This Keytag is used for any findings related to our Myspace Facebook Lecture.
You can create an unlimited number of tags and keytags. Here is what my tag cloud looks like.
Researching and staying current is easier than ever with social bookmarking sites. You are tapping into the collective knowledge base of millions of people instead of relying on your own ability to find information. So if you are not yet social bookmarking, then create an account with Del.icio.us and start tagging. Or you can just check out mine by clicking here.
