The reading of chapter four of Badke’s book Research Strategies, an eye opening account is given about metadata and the power of controlled vocabularies. Before reading this chapter I used to think that keyword search was the ultimate way in which one could search for information when researching for a paper. I was stunned to learn that it had many flaws which  contributes to why searching for information on a research topic was so difficult in the past. Instead of struggling through trial and error on using keywords in a database search engine, it is better to use controlled vocabularies or subject headings to find what you are looking for, because it encompasses every set of data related to what you are looking for. It would be nice if this powerful tool or way of searching could be implemented to the WWW because it would make life much easier. I may be too quick to judge because the increased use of the electronic tagging system known as folksonomy might just become the WWW’s “controlled vocabulary.” The only difference is that it won’t be controlled, as it is user created which is very cool.

On the other hand the reading  Graphs by MIT Students Show the Enormously Intrusive Nature of Metadata by Crockford revealed how simple pieces of metadata from an individual’s email activities can reveal a whole lot about who they are. This was where I realized that metadata could be used for so much more than just searching for information. Despite all the positives, metadata can be used for the bad just as much as the good. Truth is that any invention that wields power faces this same problem. Look at the internet for example, it hosts a wide variety of positive features that I can’t even begin to list, but of course there are those who would use it for various malpractices. Knowing this do we stop using the internet? No, we be the responsible people that we are and use it for good.