There are, no doubt, many people reading this blog who still save their bookmarks (or links to their favourite websites) inside their browser. If you’re one of them, then this series of posts is for you.
Social bookmarking sites, such as del.icio.us and mag.nolia, are designed to allow you to store and share bookmarks on the web, instead of inside your browser. This has several advantages:
- First, you can get to your bookmarks from anywhere in the world, no matter whether you’re at home, at work, in a library, or on a friend’s computer.
- Second, you can share your bookmarks publicly, so your friends, colleagues, and even people you don’t know (more on this later) can view them for reference, amusement, collaboration, or anything else. (Note that you can also mark them as private - only viewable by you - if you like.)
- Third, you can describe them with any words (tags) that make sense to you. For example, you might want to save your bookmark to the Amazon online bookstore with words such as books, CDs, DVDs, wishlist, reviews etc, in fact anything, as long as they have a meaning for you. Metaphorically, it’s like having a pair of socks in more than one drawer.
If this appeals, then your first step is to set up an account on one of the social bookmarking sites mentioned above. Most people I know, and work with, use del.icio.us (soon to be renamed delicious without the stops - see an earlier post), so start there if you like. It’s by far the most popular and you can add me and other IB colleagues to your network (just type in sivadeel at the appropriate prompt) and see what we have to share.
Make sure you set up the Tag browser button - you’ll be prompted to do this - and away you go.
Good luck and watch for Part 2 coming soon. Your journey has just begun.
