Tagging, folksonomy, distributed classification, ethnoclassification—however it is labelled, the concept of users creating and aggregating their own metadata is gaining ground on the internet. This literature review briefly defines the topic at hand, looking at current implementations and summarizing key advantages and disadvantages of distributed classification systems with reference to prominent folksonomy commentators. After considering whether distributed classification can replace expert catalogers entirely, it concludes that distributed classification can make an important contribution to digital information organisation, but that it may need to be integrated with more traditional organisation tools to overcome its current weaknesses.
M. Zorica, S. Spiranec, and K. Zauder. The Future of Information Sciences : INFuture2007 - Digital Information and Heritage, page 193-202. Department of information sciences, Faculty of humanities and social sciences, Department of information sciences, Faculty of humanities and social sciences, (2007)
A. Hotho, R. Jaschke, C. Schmitz, and G. Stumme. Proceedings of the Conceptual Structures Tool Interoperability Workshop at the 14th International Conference on Conceptual Structures, Aalborg, Denmark, Aalborg University Press, (July 2006)
K. Zauder, J. Lazic, and M. Zorica. Information Technology Interfaces, 2007. ITI 2007. 29th International Conference on, page 437--442. (25-28 June 2007)