1.0/20071 Basic Information Organization: A Search for Common Concepts to Support Information Integration A Research Status Report Don Drumtra University of Texas School of Information 2007 March 23 © Donald W. Drumtra

1.0/20072 Proposed Research To identify the common principles and concepts and to develop the associated theory that underlies information professionals’ organizational activities and ontology development

1.0/20073 Scope Principles, Concepts, and theory Formal info organization structures Electronic and paper documents In paper or electronic file systems or databases

1.0/20074 Scope Activities of actual organizers Information professionals Records managers Content managers Archivists Special librarians Possible others

1.0/20075 Methodology Stage 1—Data gathering and analysis Stage 2—Data analysis and theory development Stage 3—Comparison with literature, writing Stage 4—Implications, presentation

1.0/20076 Original Timeline Stage 1: Feb 2006-July 2007 Stage 2: May 2007-July 2007 overlapping stage 1 Stage 3: August 2007-November 2007 Stage 4: January 2008 Defense: February 2008 Graduation: May 2008

1.0/20077 Status Companies Interviews Diversity Analysis Preliminary findings Timeline

1.0/ Companies LargeMediumSmall Paperwork completed 114 In progress1 Potential463

1.0/20079 Interviews 9 Interviews completed (13 hours) 42 min – 4 hours 19 min 36 potential identified 1 Interview in progress (Chicago) 45 min completed 9 transcriptions (1 in progress) 207 pages 5 minutes audio per hour transcription

1.0/ Analysis The Promise Comparative Analysis Code after each interview Compare codes (concepts) 2-1, 3-2-1, , etc. Numeric and alpha order Develop theory Falls out of concepts

1.0/ Analysis The Reality Codes became confusing Too many codes to keep straight 3 interviews Company concepts repeat Theory requires a lot of thought

1.0/ Analysis Revised approach Comparative Analysis Group interviews by company Use plain text and abbreviations Group and order concepts and revise with each interview – 15 groups Theory Development Consider impact of each interview

1.0/ Preliminary Findings Education / training and physical form seems to drive structure Library, records, archives Books, paper, electronic, 3d objects Top categories based on organization Companies, departments, law, customers Reluctant to change to “better” method Depends on volume of material

1.0/ Preliminary Findings For IP trained: Guilt for not following “principles” Original order Dewey Decimal “Standard” file categories Hierarchy dominates as “the right way” In practice, facets through metadata and workarounds are common

1.0/ Timeline Stage 1: April 2006-August 2007 Stage 2: May 2006-August 2007 overlapping stage 1 Stage 3: August 2007-December 2007 Stage 4: January 2008 Defense: February 2008 Graduation: May 2008

1.0/ Your Suggestions

1.0/ Research Questions 1. What basic principles and concepts do enterprise information professionals use to organize information and documents and to develop ontologies that support enterprise decision-making?

1.0/ Research Questions 2. What common theory may be developed from the principles and concepts from the first question?

1.0/ Research Questions 3. How does any theory, derived from understanding the findings from question 2, compare with theories in organization and classification literature?

1.0/ Research Questions 4. What do the results of the research questions imply for the development of integrated information structures or ontologies for public and private enterprise and for future research?

1.0/ Stage 1—Data Gathering Primary data Information professionals Open-ended interviews Secondary data Documented case studies Working information systems Public Presentations Conferences Symposia Other venues

1.0/ Stage 1—Theoretical Sampling Selected to support or refute the developing concepts and theory Selected for the breadth rather than the shape of the population Based on the data gathered so far Revisits likely Initially convenience/snowball

1.0/ Stage 1 & 2—Data analysis As it is gathered Constant comparative method Develops concepts Develops theory Bracketing to reduce bias Memoing 18 Months

1.0/ Stage 3—Comparison Comparison of results with similar concepts and theory in general literature Supporting theory contributes to validity Conflicting theory Change new theory with additional data Reject conflicting theory Write up results of stages 1 and 2 4 Months

1.0/ Stage 4—Implications Discuss with all interested Incorporate results in dissertation Defend dissertation 1 Month

1.0/ Data Management 17 categories Paper and electronic Backup provisions