Del.icio.us and Hilarious Journal Articles

One of the most useful sites on the web is del.icio.us. (Yes, it's a pun; you type it in exactly like that.) In case you've not heard of it, del.icio.us is one of the best social bookmarking sites on the web. When you "bookmark" a web page in your browser, you're saving the link for future reference. Bookmarking a website on del.icio.us is similar, with a few major differences. First, other users can look at and subscribe to your bookmarks, and you can look at other users' bookmarks. You can also get a sense of the importance and popularity of a site by how many people have bookmarked it.

Second, you can apply "tags," which are labels, to each site. For example, you might bookmark the site healthline.com with the tags "health," "medicalinformation," "search," and "medicalblogs." You can then search or sort using tags. Bookmarks can be easily saved by using extensions for the firefox or internet explorer browsers.

Once you start using del.icio.us, it becomes your portable online filing system for the web. For health-related information in particular, del.icio.us can be used to tag and file away journal articles, health-related websites, news articles, and anything else you can think of that you might need for future reference.

Here's an example of how del.icio.us might be used. For the past two years, I've been collecting hilarious journal articles on del.icio.us, which I've then tagged with the label "hilariousjournalarticles." (Sometimes these articles are about conditions that are deadly serious, and my intention is not to make fun of anyone, but to show appreciation for humor in scientific writing, which is often dry.) Some recent articles have included:

• The untapped potential of virtual game worlds to shed light on real world epidemics
• Didgeridoo playing as a treatment for obstructive sleep apnea
• Differences between male physicians, surgeons, and film stars
• A randomized trial of placebo versus placebo

The full collection is here. Suggestions are welcome. Please email them to techmedicine@gmail.com.

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