The Collaborative Knowledge Organization System

This chapter discusses folksonomies as a novel way of indexing documents and locating information based on user generated keywords. Folksonomies are considered from the point of view of knowledge organization and representation in the context of user collaboration within the Web 2.0 environments. Folksonomies provide multiple benefits which make them a useful indexing method in various contexts; however, they also have a number of shortcomings that may hamper precise or exhaustive document retrieval. The position maintained is that folksonomies are a valuable addition to the traditional spectrum of knowledge organization methods since they facilitate user input, stimulate active language use and timeliness, create opportunities for processing large data sets, and allow new ways of social navigation within document collections. Applications of folksonomies as well as recommendations for effective information indexing and retrieval are discussed.