iStockPhoto provides an interesting way of mapping keywords or tags to the controlled vocabulary the site uses. This makes a lot of sense in a site that wants people to be able to browse for concepts, themes, and subject matter with a high degree of relevancy. Curiously, they refer to the keywords as tags on the review screen when the term "tag" isn't used on the site as of this writing.
Comments
01/29/08 @ 12:57
This is a genius way to help control the mess that is tags.
Combine this with tagging groups/linking (if I enter beach, Beach, playa, sandbar - then save as Beach), and make this optional (the tag you chose is very rare, but this very similar tag is very common - uncheck this (default checked) checkbox to keep your tag, otherwise it will be replaced), and you've got one powerful and consistent tagging system.
~ the quintessential random
01/29/08 @ 20:25
Yeah, this is one of the most sophisticated attempts I've seen at matching up freetags with taxonomy. In that case where I used "Ocean" above, it would be nice to have some messaging like "This is a synonym for preferred term 'sea'. People looking for 'ocean' will also see this term if we tag it 'sea'." Something like that but a bit less wordy.
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