Have you ever wondered what those cute little hearts in the library’s catalog could do for you?  Did you notice that some catalog records are tagged? Favorites and tags can be used in different ways to organize books into lists for personal use or to share them with students and colleagues.  Here is a short overview of the functionality of these catalog features.

Tags are public, which means that everybody can see them in the online catalog. The creator of a tag does not control its use in the catalog. Others may add the same tag to other records. Take a look at the his8204 tag. Anybody can add the his8204 tag to a similar or a totally unrelated title. Records with the same tag can be retrieved with a tag search, one of the search options in the catalog. Simply type h into the search box. The new search prediction feature of the online catalog will list all existing tags with an initial h, among them his8204. Tags are a social bookmarking feature and are generally used for classification purposes. Each tag represents a piece of metadata contributed by the community. I used the his8204 tag to create a list of selected ancient sources in translation. Tags are great for students collaborating on a project. Just remember that you have no editorial control over the use of a tag. This also means that the community can contribute to your list and expand it.

Use the Favorites feature if you would like to retain editorial control over your lists. You can still share your lists with students and colleagues. Just remember that only public lists can be shared. Simply copy the URL of a list and post it online or distribute it via email. Ready to create a list? Click on Add to Favorites in the record of your first title. You will be prompted to log into your catalog account. You can choose to add titles to a new or to an already existing list. Lists can be edited and records can be enriched with personal notes and tags. Here are some examples:
Academic Writing
American Political History
Contemporary Popular Music

It is easy to create new lists and add tags in the online catalog. Give it a try. To access existing lists in your personal catalog account, simply click on My Account in the top right hand corner of the library’s Web site and log into Catalog Favorites, Tags & Lists.

Feel free to contact us with any questions or comments that you may have.