Taxonomies and Classification for Organizing Content Elizabeth Wong INF 385E February 16, 2012
Presentation Outline What are classification and taxonomy? How classification and taxonomy are relevant and useful to IA Keep in mind Questions
Definitions by Distinction “Taxonomies? That’s classified information.” -Jordan Cassel from The Accidental Taxonomist
Classification vs. Classification Scheme IA Glossary Definition of Classification: The sorting of things into pre-defined categories.
Classification vs. Classification Scheme Classification Scheme: “A tool for systematic organization of information resources.” - GG Chowdury Organizing Information from the Shelf to the Web
Types of Classification Alphabetic Numeric Alphanumeric Taxonomies Facets Etc.
Many meanings of taxonomy Original Greek: taxis=arrangement and nomos=law or science (study of classification) Information- in general – 1990s Two common usages 1) Narrow: A hierarchical classification or categorization system 2) Broad: Any means of organizing concepts of knowledge - Heather Hedden The Accidental Taxonomist
Why organize? To make sense of information To understand and promote relationships To understand the world better
Taxonomies are . . . Any set of terms that share some organizing principle. – MSWeb team Constructs that help people search, browse, and manage (intranet) content more effectively
Seth Earley on Taxonomies http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BWoLObDvcY
Taxonomies include Controlled vocabularies Hierarchies Information thesauri Ontologies
Controlled Vocabularies “A restricted list of words or terms for some specialized purpose, usually for indexing, labeling, or categorizing.” Heather Hedden The Accidental Taxonomist
Hierarchical Taxonomies
Thesauri Show three types of relationships: Hierarchical (BT/NT) Associative (RT) Equivalence (Use/UF)
Ontologies Thesauri + more complex relationships Aims to describe a domain of knowledge Supports inferencing
Applications and Purposes of Taxonomies Indexing support Retrieval support Organization and navigation support Ch. 20 in Information Architecture for the World Wide Web
Meeting your taxonomy needs Buy one Adapt one Build one
Keep in mind Content Users Context Be flexible and multidisciplinary!
References Chowdhury, GG, and Sudatta Chowdhury. Organizing Information from the Shelf to the Web. London: Facet, 2007. Print. Doyle, Bob. "Glossary - Information Architecture Institute." The Information Architecture Institute. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. <http://www.iainstitute.org/en/learn/resources/glossary.php>. Hedden, Heather. The Accidental Taxonomist. Medford, NJ: Information Today, 2010. Print. Morville, Peter, and Louis Rosenfeld. Information Architecture and the World Wide Web. 3rd ed. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly, 2007. Print. Taylor, Arlene G. The Organization of Information. 2nd ed. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2004. Print.
Questions?