[TagCommons-WG] Pragmatic implementation of cross-application tag aggregators

[Kingsley Idehen]

Steven G. Harms wrote:
> Greetings all,
>
> I've been thinking about tagging in the enterprise.  This is no mere academic
> feat, I'm trying to think about how to apply this within my enterprise.  Based
> on the current latest blog post ( 3/2/2007 ), I'd say I'm approaching the
> question from a pragmatic point-of-view.
>
> Tagging, by in large, seems to be a tool whereby an enterprising enterprise
> software maker can add a feature to a flagship groupware product and add a
> "New:  With tagging!" sticker and try to make that a compelling implementation
> case.  Solutions of this variety would be the Microsoft amalgamation (
> Sharepoint + AD + Exchange ) or Lotus' Notes-based offering.
>
> Alternatively, I've seen tagging solutions implemented on an app-by-app basis.
> Typically these products seem to be that a start up produces a "vertical"
> solution ( photo organizing, forums, blogging engine ) and then says adds the
> "New: With tagging!".
>
> Yet what I want, and I think a great many people on the list would want, would
> be:
>
>   1.  To have the cross-vertical functionality
>
>       THAT IS:  Tags reside in a central source.  When going to the "enter
>       tags here" interface, the central source is prefetched so that tags are
>       effectively suggested with bias to what has been entered before (
>       discouraging folksonomic atom divergence ).  Similarly, new entries are
>       added to the central repository.
>
>   2.  Interface for tag addition is vendor neutral. 
>
>       THAT IS:  I am not locked into an Enterprise software suite just to get
>       centralized tagging.
>
>   3.  A tag is not an atomic object, it is a phrase with associated metadata
>       that should be enumerated by a standards-attentive body for maximal
>       cross-functional capability.
>   
Stephen,

Please read my blog post about our ODS Platform and Tagging at:
http://www.openlinksw.com/dataspace/kidehen@openlinksw.com/weblog/kidehen@openlinksw.com%27s%20BLOG%20%5B127%5D/1315

In a nutshell, we use MOAT (Meaning of a Tag), SKOS, and SCOT support to 
achieve this.

All Tagged Data is in a RDF based Linked Data Space.
> Here's a naive set of use cases.
>
> Use Case 1:  View
>
> User goes to a vertical ( say, ``forums'' ) and reads a post.  Post at the
> bottom has a series of tags.  These tags are common to a single tag
> repository.  
>
>
> Use Case 2:  Tag Exploration
>
> User goes to a vertical ( say, ``forums'' ) and reads a post.  Post at the
> bottom has a series of tags.  These tags are common to a single tag
> repository.   She notices the 'tagging' tag and clicks on it.  This transfers
> her back to the tagging application which shows other instances where
> 'tagging' was applied to a resource.
>
>
> Use Case 3:  Tag Exploration
>
> User goes to a vertical ( say, ``forums'' ) and creates a post.  User reaches
> the tagging input interface ( say, ``textbox'' ) and keys the letters 'zeb', the
> interface autosuggests 'zebra'.
>
> Use Case 4:  Web Developer
>
> Web developer writes a new UI interface for another application that desires
> to be integrated into the common tagging solution.  The developer finds a common
> template which can be used to interface with the tag repository.  The
> developer pasts the HTML partial and Javascript reference and thus makes the
> page 'tag-savvy'.
>
> These are, admittedly, naive first stabs at the problem.
>
> Questions:
>
> 1.  Are there non-groupware locked centralized tagging solutions
>
> 2. Are my use cases passe, andicative of poor understanding of the problem?
>
> 3.  Has anyone done a real-world implementation of cross-vertical tagging that
> didn't involve an amalgamated groupware solution?
>
> 4.  Where's the WG's thinking on this, at present?
>   

Yes, but point 3 is a little difficult to understand :-)

Links:

1. http://linkeddata.org
2. 
http://esw.w3.org/topic/SweoIG/TaskForces/CommunityProjects/LinkingOpenData



-- 


Regards,

Kingsley Idehen	      Weblog: http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen
President & CEO 
OpenLink Software     Web: http://www.openlinksw.com