Applied taxonomy frameworks

an article by Alan Flett (Smartlogic) and Judi Vernau (Metataxis) published in Business Information Review Volume 28 Number 4 (December 2011)

Abstract

Taxonomy is one of the most used and abused frameworks in all of Knowledge and Information Management. The attraction of taxonomies is obvious: ostensibly they have an everyday simplicity that is familiar to all – they help organize similar things into simple and accessible structures. However, their actual application often leaves a lot to be desired.

There are two main issues that crop up again and again in the application of Taxonomy frameworks.
First, Taxonomy often gets confused with arrangement; that is, classification and interpretation get confused with placement and presentation.
Second, there is often no practicable and principled mechanism for applying the taxonomy to the content.

This article addresses both these issues and maintains that, to be successful, Taxonomy should be held in clear distinction to arrangement and that it needs to be sustainably, consistently, and coherently applied to content.

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