I think incorporating LibraryThing for Libraries in the catalogue would solve some of those very personal tagging issues. People are often tagging their own items for their own consumption, so may well have the idiosyncratic tags you are after.

I know the experience at Darien library once they added tagging was the way that *librarians* used it to tag the collection. They became major users. There is a nice example of a teacher who phoned wanting items on a particular topic in the next couple of hours. A team of staff each tagged about 10 items with the same tag relevant to the search and there was an instant collection tailored exactly to that request.

Ah well, its nice to dream.

It’s a bit of a problem isn’t it… Just thinking outside the square here:

- How about retrofitting our controlled access chutes with technology that requires patrons to tag each item they return or else the chute won’t open? (Yes, I’m being stupid ‘cos it’s a Friday!)

It would be nice however to offer something to patrons whose preference/strength is in spatial intelligence (the “big red book” people) rather than the linguistic intelligence crowd that we cater to exclusively at the moment in our discovery tools. Perhaps using the information in the 300 tag in combination with bookjacket images might offer scope for innovative solutions, eg. a catalogue search based on lifesize 3d images of items? (okay, put that down to post-Avatar daydreaming…)