Laws of the Jungle

1. On p. 88 Weinberger writes that order often hides more than it reveals, which may be yet another reason why people prefer the search engine over the library catalog. What experiences have you had in which you discover something of interest through Google or a library OPAC while looking for something else?

What first comes to mind is my fascination with Wikipedia.  In a print encyclopedia, one simply searches alphabetically for what is needed, finds the desired information, puts the book back on the shelf and goes about one's business.  Ah, but Wikipedia articles are chock-full of links!  I find myself starting out in one topic, and like ET following a trail of Reese's Pieces, I jump from one link to the next, consuming large quantities of interesting information.


2. What do you think of Weinberger's statement on page 89 in the first full paragraph about how the way we organize information limits our vision and gives more power to those who control the organization of information than to those who create it?

I must say, Weinberger has really helped me see the "third order of order."  As a former cataloger, I have always had a problem with the sheer randomness and magnitude of the online universe.  Weinberger has shown me that the organization requirements needed for the first and second orders of order sort of dissipate in the digital world.  That's not to say that organization isn't needed.  It means that we can choose to organize information in many ways, and at the same time.  There is no need to choose a single shelf location or classification number.  Choose as many as are required to fully categorize the work!  Put the full power of search and retrieval in the hands of the information seeker by providing as many access points as are relevant.  I have a good example of this from my own experience.  Many many years ago, there was quite a bit of contention surrounding a children's book called "Heather has two mommies."  First published in 1989, ALA ranked it as one of the most frequently challenged books in the 1990s.  Many libraries made the decision to shelve this book in the adult non-fiction section, in order to avoid having children find it on the shelves while browsing.  This served the dual purpose of keeping the book out of children's hands, but also making it freely available, should anyone ask for it.  This "organization" effectively removed this book from its chosen audience.


3. From your experience of working with Flickr or another web based photo archive for your second assignment, do you agree with Weinberger's statement "that the bigger the mess the more accurate is Flickr's analysis (p. 95)?



Yes, I do agree with Weinberger.  The more tags that are available for analysis, the better Flickr can parse the results.  Much like restaurant reviews, when many are available, the information is more useful because the sheer volume of opinions carries weight.  When there is only a single review, it's unlikely that the restaurant seeker will place much faith in it.  Last weekend, I was searching for pictures of cherry blossom murals.  My expectant daughter wants to paint one on the nursery wall for my soon-to-be granddaughter.  Amazingly, the more specific search string that I entered, the better my results.  I was amazed at the quantity of pictures in my category, but also at the accuracy of the search results.  


4. Check out the PennTags project that Weinberger refers to in this chapter at: http://tags.library.upenn.edu/.  Explore and comment on its usefulness as a search tool for a library collection.

I must admit, I wouldn't have considered myself a fan of tagging before I started reading Weinberger's book.  However, I believe that Weinberger has persuaded me that in the universe of everything miscellaneous, tagging works, and works well, for some things.  It wouldn't be my first technique for information seeking, but when used as PennTags are used, I can see many advantages.  It seems great for student collaboration, or gathering resources for a paper or project.  Because the information seeker controls the vocabulary, rather than the information organizer (cataloger), it offers the user the ability to organize the information in a way that is personally meaningful.  I love that you can browse all of the tags that have been used, as well as projects that have been assembled by other users.  The fact that you can set up an RSS feed for your tags is also very useful and a great time saver for students.  I found it interesting that in the tagging tips, they recommended using a controlled vocabulary:  "This tip goes along with being simple and consistent. If you're tagging something cinema, don't also tag it movies. Picking one term will cut down on effort and confusion."  Even in the miscellaneous universe of tagging, consistency is a good thing.