PennTags

So I was doing some research on this whole subject of tagging the library OPAC and I came across this posting at Shifted Librarian. It seems that there already is a tagging project going on at Penn. The project is called PennTags If you look at a sample record from their catalog you can see a link on the bottom called "Add to PennTags." Interestingly enough if you hit the link you are prompted for your Penn Library ID and password, so obviously you must be connected to the school somehow to add to it.

I still think that once more of these projects are underway it would be invaluable to aggregate them somehow and make them available to all library catalog users. This would be a great way to make the process truly social.

Update 5/25/2006...

I have been looking at the PennTags page and I really just find it confusing. There is a tag cloud on the top which gives you a view of the popular tags created, and then a very, very long list of random information. Doesn't seem like a very user-friendly space.

I think these tags should be more closely linked to the catalog. The designers seem to have been working under the assumption that people will want to tag library records in a selfish manner. While I am not privy to the successes of this project, I can't think of a good reason to tag a catalog record? With all the different citation services, like RefWorks, that organize bibliographic materials for you, why would someone need to go back to an OPAC record? Anyone?