Tagging

Tagging. New name for a technique I learned in library school 29 years ago in my classification class. Bert Boyce, one of my favorite professors, gave us a project that measured relevance against inclusivity. (This, btw, was back when you had to create computer programs by typing commands on punch cards.)

Ever since, I have valued relevance over inclusivity. When working with a patron, it seems better to retrieve a few highly relevant hits than to bring back page after page of peripheral results. Yet, over the years, most of the visiting licensed database trainers have seemed to think that we are going to be more impressed with high numbers than with relevance.

It will be interesting to see how AquaBrowser handles this.