This week, we learned about the differences between using natural language and controlled vocabulary in searching. I loved learning the concept of pearling, which is when you search with a natural language term, then mine the hits for controlled vocabulary (like I did with "code cracking" and "cryptology" in the last entry, for instance). Use this new controlled vocabulary for a new search, and then with those hits, mine for controlled vocabulary. Continue this cycle until you find what you need.
This led me to think about folksonomies (also known collaborative tagging, social classification social indexing or social tagging, according to Wikipedia), which definitely blur the line between controlled vocabularies and natural language. One of my favorite sites, librarything.com, is a website where you catalog your own books. I started using it over a year ago to keep track of the books I read. After I read a book, I tag it, so that the next time a child comes to the library asking me for books on elephants, I can go to my list of tags to see what books I tagged "elephant." I have even further blurred the lines between controlled vocabulary and natural language by making my own controlled vocabulary out of my natural language! It's easy for me to find what I want because it's in the term that is most natural to me- the terms are one and the same.
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