The purpose of this study was to survey southern New Jersey public librarians' attitudes towards the feasibility of including user-generated tagging in the public library online public access catalog (OPAC). The research questions of the thesis concerned the advantages and disadvantages of user-generated tagging, the co-existence of user-generated tagging and controlled subject headings, the future of user-generated tagging, and what the librarians thought about user-generated tagging in the OPAC.
The methodology of the study was applied research. Nineteen southern New Jersey public librarians completed an attitudinal survey on user-generated tagging. Responses were tallied and placed into a spreadsheet and graphic representations for analysis.
A finding of the study was that \"good-enough,\" in reference to user-generated tagging, was not acceptable to the majority of the southern New Jersey public librarians. None of the librarians had user-generated tagging in their OPACs, and a significant finding of the thesis was that a majority of the librarians chose advantage in response to the survey statement user-generated tagging and controlled subject headings can co-exist.
","abstract_html":"<p>The purpose of this study was to survey southern New Jersey public librarians' attitudes towards the feasibility of including user-generated tagging in the public library online public access catalog (OPAC). The research questions of the thesis concerned the advantages and disadvantages of user-generated tagging, the co-existence of user-generated tagging and controlled subject headings, the future of user-generated tagging, and what the librarians thought about user-generated tagging in the OPAC.</p> <p>The methodology of the study was applied research. Nineteen southern New Jersey public librarians completed an attitudinal survey on user-generated tagging. Responses were tallied and placed into a spreadsheet and graphic representations for analysis.</p> <p>A finding of the study was that "good-enough," in reference to user-generated tagging, was not acceptable to the majority of the southern New Jersey public librarians. None of the librarians had user-generated tagging in their OPACs, and a significant finding of the thesis was that a majority of the librarians chose advantage in response to the survey statement user-generated tagging and controlled subject headings can co-exist.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["McDonald, Andrea C."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.A. in School and Public Librarianship","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Special Educational Services/Instruction","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Shontz, Marilyn"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2008,"date_issued":"2008-05-15T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2008-05-15T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:13:40Z","subjects":["Online library catalogs--New Jersey; Public librarians--New Jersey--Attitudes","Library and Information Science"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/737","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Shontz, Marilyn"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["McDonald, Andrea C."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-03-22T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Special Educational Services/Instruction"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.A. in School and Public Librarianship"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Online library catalogs--New Jersey; Public librarians--New Jersey--Attitudes","Library and Information Science"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/737"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The purpose of this study was to survey southern New Jersey public librarians' attitudes towards the feasibility of including user-generated tagging in the public library online public access catalog (OPAC). The research questions of the thesis concerned the advantages and disadvantages of user-generated tagging, the co-existence of user-generated tagging and controlled subject headings, the future of user-generated tagging, and what the librarians thought about user-generated tagging in the OPAC.
The methodology of the study was applied research. Nineteen southern New Jersey public librarians completed an attitudinal survey on user-generated tagging. Responses were tallied and placed into a spreadsheet and graphic representations for analysis.
A finding of the study was that \"good-enough,\" in reference to user-generated tagging, was not acceptable to the majority of the southern New Jersey public librarians. None of the librarians had user-generated tagging in their OPACs, and a significant finding of the thesis was that a majority of the librarians chose advantage in response to the survey statement user-generated tagging and controlled subject headings can co-exist.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["User-generated tagging and the public library online public access catalog"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Shontz, Marilyn"],"dc:creator":["McDonald, Andrea C."],"dc:date.available":["2016-03-22T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The purpose of this study was to survey southern New Jersey public librarians' attitudes towards the feasibility of including user-generated tagging in the public library online public access catalog (OPAC). The research questions of the thesis concerned the advantages and disadvantages of user-generated tagging, the co-existence of user-generated tagging and controlled subject headings, the future of user-generated tagging, and what the librarians thought about user-generated tagging in the OPAC.
The methodology of the study was applied research. Nineteen southern New Jersey public librarians completed an attitudinal survey on user-generated tagging. Responses were tallied and placed into a spreadsheet and graphic representations for analysis.
A finding of the study was that \"good-enough,\" in reference to user-generated tagging, was not acceptable to the majority of the southern New Jersey public librarians. None of the librarians had user-generated tagging in their OPACs, and a significant finding of the thesis was that a majority of the librarians chose advantage in response to the survey statement user-generated tagging and controlled subject headings can co-exist.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/737"],"dc:subject":["Online library catalogs--New Jersey; Public librarians--New Jersey--Attitudes","Library and Information Science"],"dc:title":["User-generated tagging and the public library online public access catalog"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Special Educational Services/Instruction"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.A. in School and Public Librarianship"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:13:40Z"}