Recently the Libraries launched a new digital collection on Howard Hughes that features a way for users to add their own annotations to individual items. Ok, that's cool, but what's the point?
There is an interesting article on the subject in a recent edition of D-Lib magazine that talks about how the web differs from traditional print content in that it encourages a new form of user interaction:
"Usually, we would no sooner invite user alteration of digital collection items than we would distribute crayons with illustrated children's books, but this is the way of the Web. It is rare to find an online article, blog or product review that does not now have a space for user ratings, comments or both. In this way, conversations spring up and ideas are exchanged, resulting in an added dimension of engagement with both the text and fellow readers."
In addition, the article gets into the meat of how to best design social annotation into a digital collection or web site, and notes several major factors that contribute to "decision-points" or the drive for users to actually motivate and make that comment in the first place.
- Display
- Ease of annotation
- Anonymity
- Control of content
- Harvesting annotation content
- Ease of retrieval
- Traffic and network effects
- Notification and sharing
And while completely open commenting may make some libraries nervous, by adding a "flag this comment" button to the website, users can actually self-moderate the comments.
The benefits to the content owner are great; tracking which items are most in demand, and helping to capture information on search terms that users are employing to find and mark content. Certainly high traffic sites are the best for this type of activity, and commenting may not be for every web site. But, as we continue to observe how digital content is changing the ways that users research and connect online, annotation is one interesting area to keep in mind.
