Tags, Janet Murray, and the Tanakh

Though the Tagged Tanakh (TT) was conceived by JPS, the idea behind it was inspired by important people in academic, technological, and Jewish fields of study. Over the next few weeks I’m going to write a series of blog posts, each focusing on one of these individuals and how their work impacts the TT. My first subject is Dr. Janet Murray, a woman whose work has deep implications for the Tagged Tanakh.

Murray is an accomplished scholar in more than one field. She is internationally recognized for her work in game theory and interactive design. As the Director of the MA and PhD programs in Digital Media at Georgia Tech, Murray is also a member of their Experimental Game Lab (EGL). A prolific writer, Murray’s work is published in multiple languages, and in spring 2000, she was named to the Board of Trustees at the American Film Institute.

So, how does the work of Janet Murray impact the Tagged Tanakh? I read one of Murray’s articles, “Cyber-infrastructure as Cognitive Scaffolding: The Role of Genre Creation in Knowledge Making” in an attempt to understand the context of the Tagged Tanakh beyond Judaism and technology. Though confusing at times, Murray’s main point is that information is applicable to individuals based on how they categorize information. In other words, how we organize information conveys meaning. Tags are like post-its or labels that provide information about information (AKA metadata).

With tags, people can organize and group photos, videos, or any other form of data. By using ‘tags’ to define and organize the Tanakh, unconventional associations surface and anyone and everyone can find a way to connect to Judaism. As more people begin to populate the Tagged Tanakh, the network effect comes into play and the Tagged Tanakh’s value increases because more users create more tags, which creates more opportunities to interact with Torah. In this way, individuals eventually connect to each other via their tags and remarks.

Since the launch of the Tagged Tanakh in early 2010 some interesting tags have emerged. Some of my favorites include: JTW, environmentalism, and food.

I think that ‘tagging’ is an excellent process that creates an infinite number of access points to the Bible. Stay tuned as I continue to research and share with you the people who inspired the Tagged Tanakh!