Machine+tags

= Machine Tags = toc Machine tags could be thought of as intermediate between the control of formal organization such as LOC subject headings and regular tagging. The name indicatesthat unlike regular tags, they are written in a syntax that allows them to be interpreted by computers. The format is similar to RDF and machine tags are also a type of triple tag. Triple tags all contain the namespace, predicate and value fields. The syntax for machine tags is namespace:predicate=value. Flickr named the format of the triple tags that they support “machine tags” when they announced support for them in 2007.

"Machine tags are … a mixed approach of classification between human tagging and machine-readable tags."

Typical human assigned tags are non-hierarchical keywords or terms assigned informally to a piece of information. Unlike formal controlled vocabularies, they are personal to the user and sometimes idiosyncratic. However they are meaningful and useful for organizing and sorting informally in a personal context. Tagging has become very popular anywhere people want to organize information without easily. However, the use of simple tags, particularly one word tags presents several difficulties that machine tags address.

Why machine tags?
Machine tags are used to pinpoint specific meaning. In particular machine tags can help differentiate between words that can have multiple meanings, they can make sense of what might seem like a random string of numbers such as an ISBN or a longitude.

Machine tags use syntax to define extra information. They allow differentiation between words such as orange with multiple meanings. While orange could refer to the fruit, the color or a UK internet service provider, when the tag is written in the form taxonomy:commonname=orange it becomes clear that this refers to an orange tree, because it is in the name space taxonomy which is used for the classification of living organisms. This tag would almost always be accompanied by the machine tag taxonomy:binomial=Citrus sinensis, making the meaning doubly clear.

Simple tagging is easy and user friendly and can be done by anyone. However it is subject to misinterpretation and confusion. Average computer users have no desire to become familiar with and use formal classification schemes for attaching information to files. Tagging is an easy solution to the problem and users can begin assigning terms which will make sense to them almost instantly.

In a large group of people with common goals there can be real advantages to having a more standardized tagging method, but again, few will want to take the time to learn a classification scheme such as the Library of Congress Subject Headings. Machine tags offer both specificity and a shorter learning curve, particularly since most groups will use a limited number of machine tags.


 * Differences between tags, machine tags and formal keywords
 * ~ Tags ||~ MachineTags ||~ KeywordAnnotations ||
 * < * Single word (usually)
 * Descriptive
 * User contributed (user generated)
 * Collaborative
 * Flat
 * Disorganized
 * Free-form strings ||< * Descriptive
 * User contributed (user generated)
 * Collaborative
 * Structured
 * Organized
 * Semi-automated
 * Link between tags and keyword annotations ||< * List of terms (tags) with predefined meaning
 * Structured
 * Organized
 * Part of the vocabulary (usually) ||

Early use of machine tags


Some of the earliest machine tags were used beginning in 2004 by a group of bloggers, called geobloggers comprised of people interested in maps who added location information to their image files in the form of geotags. The format they came to use was the syntax of machine tags. For instance a photograph might be tagged geo:lat=48.67714400 and geo:lon=16.49026000 indicating latitude and longitude, making the location of the photographed subject obvious, and searchable by computer. Because machine tags can be searched by any portion of the tag, a user on a photo sharing site such as Flickr could search for geo:lat=48.677* AND geo:long=16.490* and find taken in areas close to the photograph tagged as above. A number of interesting applications have arisen from the use of geotags.

Individuals and user groups on Flickr and Delicious began using triple tags as in 2004 and 2005. Flickr initially began by supporting geotags in triple tag format when it added its mapping feature and in 2007 began supporting all machine tag use. [|Flickr announced feature support] for machine tags in January of 2007.

Originally posted at 1:11PM, 24 January 2007 EST We are rolling out a new feature called "machine tags" that allows users to be more precise in how they tag, and how they search, their photos. Many of you may already be familiar with machine tags by another name (triple tags) or because you are already using them, informally, in your code (for example, "geo:long=123.456").

Uses of machine tags
Fine art project by the library of the Lewis and Clark College
 * [|AccessCeramics]**

Last.fm is a music recommendation service. The structure of the machine tags for this web site is: “lastfm:event=XXXX” Music lover photographers can find the machine tag for a specific event on the page of an upcoming event in the right hand bar under Photos. A search on Flickr for[| lastfm:event=*] will show all the most recent images tagged with the lastfm:event namespace and predicate.
 * LastFM Events**

The openlibrary.org project's goal is to build an open, editable library catalog with a web page for every book ever published. The [|openlibrary.org Flickr group] collects images that can be used on the website. The structure of the machine tags for this web site is: “openlibrary:id=OLxxxxxxxx” with the value being the openlibrary.org ID number for a particular book and edition.
 * openlibrary.org**

This social travel planning site allows users to add images to places by using machine tags. Each place on [|Dopplr] can be tagged with one of three specified machine tags: doppler:eat=* - for tagging places with good food that you would like to recommend / remember doppler:stay=* - for tagging places that you would like to recommend / remember as good examples for staying in doppler:visit=* - for tagging places that should be visited in some city As with LastFM and openlibrary.org, Dopplr specifies a *code number to use for each location.
 * Dopplr**

The Royal Observatory is administrator for the Flickr group [|Astronomy Photographer of the Year] They use “astrotags” generated by the Flickr astronomy group [|Astrometry] Astronomers started using machine tags soon after geotaggers. Astrotags can be automatically generated using an app listed below under Machine Tag Tools and Apps
 * The Royal Observatory at Greenwich**

The[| Encyclopedia of Life]is a website whose goal is to provide global access to knowledge about life of all kinds on Earth. The [|Encyclopedia of Life Images] media type="custom" key="11725806" align="right" Flickr group allows people to share images that can be used on the EOL website. Each photograph submitted must be machine tagged with at least taxonomy:binomial="* *" where the value is the genus and species within double quotes. This allows computer sorting of all images for expert identification confirmation.
 * Encyclopedia of Life**

Uses of machine tags by libraries
The[| Library of Congress image collection in the Flickr Commons] attaches two machine tags to each image loaded, the first of which link to a persistent locator URL.

Peter Brantley of the Digital Library Federation and Mark Dahl from the AccessCeramics project discuss [|how libraries can take advantage of the resources of Flickr] and machine tags in image libraries.

Using machine tags in searches on Flickr
Machine tags are searchable on any portions of the syntax, even using wild cards. So you can search on Flickr for taxonomy:binomial=* and Flickr will return all photo tagged with that first string. In this case you will wind up with the entire Encyclopedia of Life Flick collection and numerous other life science photography groups (140,707 results images as of December 11, 2011.)

Benefits of machine tags
Machine tags combine advantages of formal taxonomies and folksonomies. Conversely they also share some of the disadvantages. They can be used to connect resources from the different places on media type="custom" key="11726070" align="right" the web and make the finding of that information easier. They also allow amateurs to contribute significantly to projects such as the Encylopedia of Life or the maps of Haiti that provided some of the earliest accurate information on locations building damage, refugee camps, water and health care.

They can be used to make more precise queries, particularly when searching for images. This is especially true where communities specify machine tagging conventions. This is common within academic or scientific communities, although other examples are listed above.

Difficulties with using machine tags
Because they are written by human beings, machine tags can be subject to the same difficulties as regular tags. Misspellings, plurals, synonymy, incorrect use of a particular predicate in a namespace, disagreement on use of namespace and predicates are all common problems.

Human creation of machine tags is slow and painstaking. Because machine tags are assigned and written by human beings, they can suffer from the same problems to which regular tags are subject. Sites that specify a tag format result in less confusion by encouraging uniformity and usability. Best results seem to occur when an organized group uses a set of machine tags with agreed upon wording. Another method is to use input forms that use an application to convert information into machine tag syntax.. http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/74

Future uses of Machine Tagsmedia type="custom" key="11726736" align="right"
So far the entire history of machine tags is only about 7 years old. Many different and interesting uses have been found, and it’s obvious that many more can be imagined that will allow more interactivity between disparate information sources. They can certainly be used in other systems that use social bookmarking and tagging – a large portion of the web at this point. Additional apps for collecting and combining information seem almost limitless. The future for machine tags could be bright, or if problems listed above are not solved, or an alternate method that provides the same benefits gains favor, machine tags may have a very brief history of use.

Machine Tag Tools and Apps
[|Flickr Machine tag browser] [|Astrotagging Tool] and [|instructions] [|Flickr Machine Tag Challenge] Tagging the Flickr Commons [|snaptrip - dopplr] An app for tagging photos for the Dopplr site [|Theatricalia] Flickr app for tagging images for a theatre productions database