Tagging may be the illegitimate child of subject headings. It works like a subject heading, but since anyone can do it and it's not declared "official" by a body such as the Library of Congress, it remains unrecognized as a member of most library catalog families. I think tagging could be something very useful for customers who are browsing the catalog. For instance, in a MARC record for a romance with elements of fantasy, one might see subject headings like "Fantasy fiction", "love stories", and "magic". However, the 520 field might mention such things as "shape-shifters" or "sylphs". If these words were tagged, it could take customers to records for other books involving shape-shifters, sylphs, and the like. On the other hand, word association is often relative, so I can see where someone might click on a tagged word and get results she doesn't think are associated in anyway with the tagged word.
I have used tagging on Facebook for pictures and notes and I think it is mostly a useful tool. sometimes, it is confusing, though, if someone tags a picture of someone's kid with the parent's name or just tags a picture because he wants a certain person to see it (even though the tagged person is not actually IN the picture.) I also find it helpful when reading articles and come across a term I would like to know more about. With one click, I can access such information.
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