Analysis of folksonomy definitions: in search of a synthesis

ABSTRACT This work aims to create an overview of the uses of the term folksonomy in the Literature of Information Science through the analysis of the enunciated concepts. It contributes with a step toward consolidation of the folksonomy concept taking into account definitions used by authors working with the theme and by the creator of this terminology, Thomas Vander Wal. The research’s nature is exploratory and bibliographical based on content analysis and literature review about folksonomy and collaborative representation of information. It points out that there is not a single, clear, well enunciated and rigorous definition about folksonomy. It concludes proposing the concept of Folksonomy as: the result of free labeling process (assignment of tags or keywords) performed by users through the use of terms from the natural language - dispensing the use of controlled vocabularies - in collaborative digital environments aiming to indexing shared information resources of any format (text, images, audio, video, etc.) for purposes of their representation and retrieval.