#SocialBookmarking: An overview and primer for use in pharmacy education

BackgroundSocial bookmarking is a social media platform that has in recent years garnered interest as a potential tool in the higher education classroom. Social bookmarking is the process of saving online resources to a centralized location, labeling resources with specific keywords (tagging), and sharing them with other online users. The objective of this article is to provide an overview of social bookmarking, review its use in higher education, and provide a framework for use in pharmacy education.MethodsSearch methods included the databases Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), PubMed, Medline EBSCO, Google, and GoogleScholar. Keywords and tags searched included “social bookmarking,” “higher education,” “pharmacy education,” “health professions education,” “social media,” “collaborative annotation,” “Pinterest,” “Diigo,” and “Delicious.”ResultsSeveral articles were found describing the use of social bookmarking in higher education. Evaluations of these uses consisted primarily of student reaction to the use of this new online tool. Several resources available via the World Wide Web described the potential uses for social bookmarking in the classroom, including icebreaker activities, supplemental information related to lecture material, and advocacy.ConclusionSocial bookmarking is an online platform with the potential to engage students in classroom learning. Research is needed to determine if social bookmarking leads to improved learning in pharmacy education.