Tagging

"del.icio.us" is a place where you can store your bookmarks allowing you to collect favorite links, articles, etc. and access them from the web. Once your bookmarks are stored online they can be accessed from any pc with internet access.
It allows you to use "tags" (one-word descriptors that you can assign to your bookmarks) to organize your bookmarks.
It also allows you to share your bookmarks so your friends and co-workers can view them for reference, and you can view theirs as well. This would serve as a helpful tool for research since it allows you to share information back and forth with other users.