Upgrading a legacy taxonomy system OR Resuscitating a Dinosaur Robert G. Harp & Heidi Snead (For review purposes only. Permission to copy, publish or present all or any part of this material is specifically reserved to the authors and to no others.)

 ECLKC, managed by Head Start Knowledge and Information Management Systems, is the central repository for Head Start resources.  These resources underwent a large scale restructuring and overhaul in 2007 –  Content was broken down into revised and often new categories. ◦ Organization: Domain, Topic, Subject, Item, Sub Item, Focus…

 Content is assigned several pieces of metadata based on its location, purpose, language, status etc.  The creation, editing and removal of metadata is fundamental to robust and accurate search processes.  Focus: Subject level Taxonomy

Domain Topic Subject Revised Content Organization

 Content restructuring created hundreds of instances of defunct metadata: topics became subjects, domains became topics…etc  Previous metadata assigned based on folder structure  Outdated metadata resulted in difficult and often impossible searching ◦ Impaired keyword searches, site navigation  No workflow in place for updating since 12/06  Attempts to set a taxonomy workflow process failed due to over-complication and staff bewilderment.

 Resources left after said attempt: 1.Master Taxonomy  2 years to develop, complex, opaque, intimidating. 2.Implemented Taxonomy (Existing. Outdated & Useless) 3.Operational Taxonomy  Reflected current content structure

With the given resources and background, what would you do?

 Options:  Keep the old, legacy taxonomy  Not intuitive & poorly understood.  Make changes to legacy taxonomy  Lacked a key to color coded system on doc  Lacked access to creator of doc  Author took the right steps, but got out of control What do we do now?

 Creating a new foundation ◦ Dealing with technical implications ◦ Meeting with SMEs to discuss essentials. What did they need?  Function over Form: What works and why? ◦ Discarded top down taxonomy ◦ Created ground up taxonomy ◦ Ultimately more user friendly and accessible

 Creation of a governance structure.  The Taxonomy Group ◦ Composed of interested parties from content/SMEs, technical and supervision teams ◦ Set up policy and rules for allowances in edits, new additions, metadata removal  Establishment of the Workflow ◦ SMEs - Domain Manager - Taxonomy Chair - Technical Team – Testing - Ready for Prime Time

 The mission of the Taxonomy Group is to ensure the development, evolution and the maintenance of the HSKIMS controlled vocabulary.  It evaluates proposals for new terms and modifications to existing terms in the vocabulary through oversight of the various communities and arbitrates disputes.  It provides methods for assuring clarity, usefulness and minimizing overlap with existing terms.  The Taxonomy Group strives for consensus on terms and justifies its decisions and interpretations of definitions in cooperation with HSKIMS Organizations.

 HSKIMS provides new metadata structure and TAX IDs for a Domain (sometimes auxiliary)  Cleverex further defines into a spreadsheet readable by the content system ◦ Content in domain folder stripped of all metadata via script ◦ New metadata uploaded into Taxonomy structure ◦ Content in domain folders assigned higher level of metadata manually ◦ Metadata is populated to all content in the folder structure via script ◦ TEST

 Defined workflow and open communication  10 Domains and auxiliary metadata areas (and counting) have been updated to meet the current content setup.  SMES now have process of reorganizing content without negatively affecting user’s search experience

 Creation of an Global Metadata application  Automates technical process to allow for non-technical domain managers to add/edit/move/remove metadata  Based on same structure as the current process, taking out the time consuming manual work  Will save time/resources

 Decentralize process  Involve all stakeholders  Encourage input.  Reassure principals that responsibility is local, not global.  Disseminate Information  Simplify process. Best Practices