Tagging

In addition to allowing access to information, tags allow the authors who use obscure post titles (chapter titles) to determine what in the world they were trying to discuss. Like cataloging, I also love tags for written communication and added them liberally to my blog posts. Like subject headings, it remains to be seen if the descriptive words efficiently aid searching.

Tags for pictures are more problematic to me, since personally all pictures seem obscure, mysterious and inately subjective. I'll put up with the author's title, but don't want much more information. Pretty subjective opinion, and somewhat closed minded, since it precludes learning the history, period, or style of the piece.

And Delicious. It's a good filing (and retrieval) system; versatile. It may also be a pretty good way to research, or share research or reference. And portable! one of the best parts of the web. The "best tags" seems more akin to searching popular magazines than professional journals. That is, current popular trends. So, I would think would be used as an first step in researching.