Linking folksonomy to Library of Congress subject headings: an exploratory study

摘要

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the linking of a folksonomy (user vocabulary) andrnLCSH (controlled vocabulary) on the basis of word matching, for the potential use of LCSH in bringing orderrnto folksonomies.rnDesign/methodology/approach - A selected sample of a folksonomy from a popular collaborativerntagging system, Delicious, was word-matched with LCSH. LCSH was transformed into a tree structurerncalled an LCSH tree for the matching. A close examination was conducted on the characteristics ofrnfolksonomies, the overlap of folksonomies with LCSH, and the distribution of folksonomies over the LCSHrntree.rnFindings - The experimental results showed that the total proportion of tags being matched with LCrnsubject headings constituted approximately two-thirds of all tags involved, with an additional 10 percent ofrnthe remaining tags having potential matches. A number of barriers for the linking as well as two areas inrnneed of improving the matching are identified and described. Three important tag distribution patterns overrnthe LCSH tree were identified and supported: skewedness, multifacet, and Zipfian-pattern.rnResearch limitations/implications - The results of the study can be adopted for the development ofrninnovative methods of mapping between folksonomy and LCSH, which directly contributes to effectivernaccess and retrieval of tagged web resources and to the integration of multiple information repositoriesrnbased on the two vocabularies.rnPractical implications - The linking of controlled vocabularies can be applicable to enhancerninformation retrieval capability within collaborative tagging systems as well as across various taggingrnsystem information depositories and bibliographic databases.rnOriginality/value - This is among frontier works that examines the potential of linking a folksonomy,rnextracted from a collaborative tagging system, to an authority-maintained subject heading system. Itrnprovides exploratory data to support further advanced mapping methods for linking the two vocabularies.