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Very interesting couple of articles on information architecture and information taxonomy and I agree totally that more Web-based information should be organised in some relevant way. I am a Web developer and did graduate work in biosciences so I understand the theories of taxonomy (as espoused for botany and zoology by Linnaeus at least) and information searching but how do I go about creating an information taxonomy from scratch? Is it just a matter of choosing an arbitrary set of starting categories or is there a science to it (I hope) that makes the tree structure fall-out in a sensible way for subsequent levels of the hierarchy?
Thank you for your interest and comments. The short answer is: yes, there is a science to it.
There are a lot to consider when building information taxonomy: business context, content, user, top down (identify a set of top level categories andthen build sub-categories) or bottom up (extract categories by analyzing content in scope), manual or automated approach for both creation and categorization.
In my experience, I usually do not have to start from scratch. There are existing thesaurus, glossary, file management categories, site index, site map that you can leverage. There are also a lot of relevant techniques we can borrow from the field of library science.
My next article will provide an overview on the How/Where to start. The previous two articles discuss the What and Why.
I would be interested in hearing your feedback on the last article. It should be published soon this month.
There are a lot to consider when building information taxonomy: business context, content, user, top down (identify a set of top level categories andthen build sub-categories) or bottom up (extract categories by analyzing content in scope), manual or automated approach for both creation and categorization.
In my experience, I usually do not have to start from scratch. There are existing thesaurus, glossary, file management categories, site index, site map that you can leverage. There are also a lot of relevant techniques we can borrow from the field of library science.
My next article will provide an overview on the How/Where to start. The previous two articles discuss the What and Why.
I would be interested in hearing your feedback on the last article. It should be published soon this month.
Thanks for the reply and I look forward to the next article. I would also be interested in your comments on how the science of designing information taxonomies relates to the W3C initiatives on the Semantic Web. As I understand them, these are guidelines (in development) intended to make meta information more accessible to software agents and search engines with the intention of more accurately matching information requests with information destinations, but also providing richer methods of targeting data sources. It seems to me that creating (or using existing) information taxonomies that can generate the necessary meta language constructs would be a huge step forward, so these two concepts are very closely aligned?
Excellent point. You are absolutely right. Semantic Web and Information Taxonomy share the same eng goal: improved information access. I see information taxonomy as one of the building blocks for Semantic Web. Another important related concept is XML.
Web is a type of media for delivering information and one of the different content types covered by information taxonomy. An information taxonomy should define content types, topical categories and meta tags. These can then used to generate Semantic Web. There are a thousands miles ahead of us and lot of details to consider. You are right, by leveraging information taxonomy, we will be one huge step forward.
The final part of this article series is out at: http://builder.com.com/article.jhtml?id=u00220030709jHm01.htm
Jie-hong
Web is a type of media for delivering information and one of the different content types covered by information taxonomy. An information taxonomy should define content types, topical categories and meta tags. These can then used to generate Semantic Web. There are a thousands miles ahead of us and lot of details to consider. You are right, by leveraging information taxonomy, we will be one huge step forward.
The final part of this article series is out at: http://builder.com.com/article.jhtml?id=u00220030709jHm01.htm
Jie-hong
Very interesting. Would you please tell me where I can find more information on this subject (information taxonomy)?
Thank you anyway.
Thank you anyway.
My third article will provide an overview on the how. See also my reply to the first posting.
Jie-hong (CellAtTechRepublic)
Jie-hong (CellAtTechRepublic)
Hi Liu
I am interested in the effect on taxonomy of requiring a multi lingual implementation. This is not covered in the article, but there are there not massive implications for classification translations, or introducing the different emphasis required by different countries?
I am interested in the effect on taxonomy of requiring a multi lingual implementation. This is not covered in the article, but there are there not massive implications for classification translations, or introducing the different emphasis required by different countries?
Is anyone aware of some sample IT taxonomies for documenting procedures? We have a lot of systems and a lot of software and I'm trying to organize our documentation from everything to how to set up a desktop to instructions on configuring server monitors. A lot of this has been documented, most has not - I plan to document it, but I'm having difficulty logically organizing the information.
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