Patron Video Tutorial on Tagging

by Kelly McElligott on Jan 25, 2019

What is Tagging?

Libraries go to great lengths to catalog their items - as this will describe and classify each item! In addition to their own cataloging, libraries want patrons to tag these items! When a patron tags an item with a subject or term, this also classifies and describes the item. A book may be about a specific subject which the librarian cataloged it under, however, a patron could read the book and also want to tag it with another term/subject. This term or subject will be attached to the record for others to search with and possibly find more material than with a general subject search.

How to Tag

For patrons to tag items in their library catalog, they must log into their account. After the patron has logged in, they can search for an item in the catalog to tag. Tags can be a single word, multiple words or even EMOJIS!

Tagging can be done from the brief result page or the full detail page of the item. See images below for more details:

Once a tag has been submitted, this may need to be moderated by the librarian. However, any tags that the patron has submitted can be found under "Your Tags" from the Patron's Account page. Here each tag will be listed and the book that it was tagged to.

Tag Cloud

The tag cloud can be found usually under the search bar on the top part of the page. This link will allow any patron to see and access any tags that anyone has submitted (and if needed approved). So for example if a patron needed a good book for their next month's book club, the tag "Book Club" might help them find the right choice!

For more Patron Tutorials- click here!