In library-land the ability to enter the mind of a cataloguer and be at one with the universe used to be an essential skill. To the uninitiated where the most noble order of L.S.S might put an item and why could often be a mystery. But there was logic to it. A science even. Thanks be to you, St Melvin of the Blessed Dewey. Armed with a system constructed according to a series of precisely understood relationships, it was possible regardless of how expert you were in a field to end up on the same page as someone else way more informed about the subject. I'm not sure that this is entirely the case with Del.icio.us or other social bookmarking sites where there are in fact no agreed terms, no prefered headings, no rules, no guidance, no accepted way of looking at a thing or an idea or a belief about the world. Seems to me if access to what you want to find out about is contingent upon loose, informal arbitrary associations then hooking into the widest possibilites of what might really be out there is likely to be limited by the myopia of personal perception. In this sense irrespective of where the search begins the subject no matter what it is, will always be the subjective.
Hardly Del.icio.us or good for the promotion of a balanced approach to information nutition and health.
1 comment:
Be careful we're not throwing the baby out with the bathwater? That would really be jumping from the frying pan into the fire! Now where would Dewey put that? I say Yum Yum to that - now bring on the goodies from that delicious-looking spread!
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